How to use a skills matrix to build better rosters
A roster can have the right number of people and still fail, because nobody on Sunday can open the shop or run the coffee machine. A skills matrix is a simple grid of who can do what. Once you have one, cover decisions, swaps and training plans all get faster and safer. Here is how to build one and use it.
Most small business rosters are built on head count: four on the floor, two in the kitchen. The skills live in the manager’s head. That works until the manager is away, a regular leaves, or a busy shift turns out to have three people who can serve and nobody who can make coffee.
A skills matrix takes what the manager knows and puts it on one page: names down the side, skills across the top, and a mark where each person can do each job. It sits behind cover decisions, swaps, training plans and the question of who can be left in charge.
What a skills matrix is
A skills matrix is a table with one row per person and one column per skill or station. Each cell records how well that person can do that job. Keep the levels simple, because a matrix that takes an hour to update will not be kept up to date.
| Level | What it means | How to use it on the roster |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Not trained | Do not roster them on this station |
| 1 | In training | Roster only alongside someone at level 2 or 3 |
| 2 | Can do it alone | Can cover the station on a normal shift |
| 3 | Can do it and teach it | Can cover the peak and train others |
Add a column for each certificate that matters, with its expiry date, so the matrix also shows when someone’s food safety or first aid training needs renewing.
Decide which skills to list
List the skills that decide whether a shift can run, not every task in the business. A cafe might need eight or ten columns, a small shop five or six. Start with these groups.
- Stations. The coffee machine, the grill, the pass, the register, the bar, the floor.
- Opening and closing. Who can open up, set up, cash up and lock up.
- Responsibility. Who can run a shift, handle a complaint, approve a refund or deal with a no-show.
- Required roles. Any role that a law, a food safety arrangement or a liquor licence requires on site, such as a food safety supervisor, a first aider or staff trained in responsible service of alcohol.
- Equipment and systems. The slicer, the oven programs, the ordering system, the delivery tablet.
Leave out skills everybody has on their first day. A column where every cell says 3 adds nothing to a roster decision.
Required roles: who has to be available
Some columns are not about service at all. They are about what the rules require, and a shift without them can be a compliance problem rather than just a slow day. The rules depend on the kind of business and where it is, so check what applies to yours.
- Food safety supervisor. Food Standards Australia New Zealand explains that under Standard 3.2.2A, category one and two food businesses must appoint a certified food safety supervisor, whose certificate was obtained within the past 5 years, and make sure that supervisor is reasonably available to advise and supervise each food handler doing the high-risk food handling the standard describes. FSANZ says reasonably available means working on site, or being easy to contact, for example by phone.
- First aid. Safe Work Australia says workers must be able to access first aid equipment and facilities, and trained first aiders, at all times, including night shifts and overtime. A first aid column shows which shifts have a trained first aider and which rely on another arrangement. Your state or territory work health and safety regulator can confirm the rules where you are.
- Responsible service of alcohol. If you sell alcohol, your state or territory liquor regulator sets out who needs responsible service training. Record who holds a current certificate and when it expires, and check the regulator’s rules for your licence.
Build the matrix in an afternoon
- List the columnsWrite down the stations, opening and closing tasks, responsibilities and required roles that decide whether a shift can run. Aim for the shortest list that still tells you whether a shift is covered.
- List the teamAdd everyone who can be rostered, including casuals who only work weekends, and the owner if they cover shifts.
- Score each cellMark each person 0 to 3 in each column. Where you are unsure, ask the person and whoever works beside them, and mark the lower level until you have seen the higher one.
- Add certificates and expiry datesFor food safety, first aid and any licence-related training, record the certificate and the date it runs out.
- Count the coverAt the foot of each column, count the people at level 2 or 3. A column with only one or two names is a risk: one sick call and that skill is gone from the shift.
- Keep it next to the rosterStore the matrix where the roster is built, in the same spreadsheet or folder, so it is used every week rather than filed away.
Use the matrix when you build each shift
With the matrix beside you, build each shift by skill first and head count second.
- Mark the skills the shift needs: for a weekday breakfast, perhaps one level 3 on coffee, one level 2 on the register and someone who can open
- Place the people who hold the scarce skills first, because they are the hardest to replace
- Fill the remaining places with people who can cover the other stations
- Check that each required role is covered for every hour it is needed
- Look for the same one or two people carrying several scarce skills on the same days, and spread them across the week
When a shift needs cover, the matrix changes the question from who is free to who is free and can do the job. Filling open shifts and handling shift swap requests both go faster with it, and so does working out how many staff a restaurant needs per shift. For businesses with two teams, rostering kitchen and front of house covers skills that do not cross over.
Skills, classifications and higher duties
A skills matrix records what people can do. Their award classification records what they must be paid for, and the two need to line up. Under the Fast Food Industry Award 2020, an employee’s classification must be based on the skill level the employer requires them to exercise to carry out the principal functions of the job (clause 12.2). Under the Restaurant Industry Award 2020, employees are classified in line with Schedule A (clause 14).
Rostering someone into a more senior role can change their pay for the day. Under the Restaurant Industry Award, an employee who performs duties of a higher classification for 2 or more hours on a day is paid that classification’s minimum hourly rate for the whole day, or for the time spent if it is less than 2 hours (clause 18.8). The Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 has the same rule, except for food and beverage attendants grade 2 or 3 (clause 22). Under the General Retail Industry Award 2020, higher duties lasting more than 2 hours on a day or shift are paid at the higher rate for the whole day or shift (clause 17.5).
So when the matrix says a level 3 barista can run the shift while the supervisor is on leave, check the classification and cost the higher duties into the week. Rates for each classification are on the pay rates pages, such as the Hospitality Industry Award pay rates, and the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Find my award tool confirms which award applies.
A worked example: a cafe’s matrix finds two gaps
A cafe has eight staff and trades 7:00 to 15:00 every day. Ana and Dev work Monday to Friday, and the others are spread across the week, with Ben, Chloe, Grace and Hugo doing most weekend shifts. The owner builds a matrix with six columns and counts, at the foot of each, how many people are at level 2 or 3.
| Name | Coffee | Register | Kitchen | Open | Close and cash up | Food safety supervisor certificate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ana | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Yes |
| Ben | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | No |
| Chloe | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | No |
| Dev | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | Yes |
| Emma | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | No |
| Finn | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | No |
| Grace | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | No |
| Hugo | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | No |
| At level 2 or 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 certified |
Every column looks covered for the week as a whole. The gaps show up when the owner looks at the weekend. With Ana and Dev off, Ben is the only person who can open, and nobody on shift holds a food safety supervisor certificate. The owner wants a certified supervisor on site whenever food is prepared, and Grace is the only weekend cook, so the weekend depends on Ben for opening and on nobody for food safety.
The fixes go into the training plan rather than the roster. Grace, already at level 2 in the kitchen and on every weekend, does a food safety supervisor course. Chloe learns to open on two quiet weekday mornings beside Ana, moving from 0 to 1 and then to 2. After that, the weekend has two people who can open and a certified supervisor on site. Training an employee does as part of their job is paid time, and training new starters without blowing the wage budget covers how to plan and pay for it.
Keep the matrix current
- Update it when something changes. A new starter, a finished course, a certificate that expires, or someone who leaves.
- Review it every month. Look at each column’s count and ask whether one absence would leave a shift without that skill.
- Show people their own row. It tells each person what they could learn next, which turns the matrix into a training plan.
- Keep private details private. Certificate numbers and anything about performance belong with the manager, not on the staffroom wall.
Roster Flow looks after the week the matrix feeds into: availability and leave from staff phones, the roster published to everybody at once, clock ins that become timesheets, and approved hours sent to Xero, MYOB or a CSV file.
A skills matrix checklist
- Columns cover stations, opening and closing, responsibility and required roles
- Everyone who can be rostered has a row
- Levels are simple and marked conservatively
- Certificates and their expiry dates are recorded
- Each column shows how many people can do the job alone
- Each shift is built by skill first and head count second
- Required roles are covered for every hour they are needed
- Higher duties are checked against the award and costed
- Gaps go into a training plan
- The matrix is reviewed monthly and whenever the team changes
Questions
What is a skills matrix in rostering?
A table of who can do which job, with people down the side and skills or stations across the top. It lets you build each shift from the skills it needs rather than only the number of people.
How many levels should a skills matrix have?
Three or four is enough, such as not trained, in training, can do it alone and can teach it. More levels take longer to maintain without changing who you put on a shift.
Does a food business need a food safety supervisor available on every shift?
Food Standards Australia New Zealand says category one and two businesses must appoint a certified food safety supervisor who is reasonably available to advise and supervise food handlers, meaning on site or easy to contact. Check which category your business falls into.
Do I have to pay more when someone covers a senior role?
Often, yes. Under the Restaurant Industry Award, doing higher classification duties for 2 or more hours on a day means the higher rate for the whole day, and other awards have similar clauses with their own thresholds.
How often should a skills matrix be updated?
Whenever someone joins or leaves, finishes training or has a certificate expire. A monthly look at each column’s count catches the gaps that build up in between.
Can I build a skills matrix in a spreadsheet?
Yes. One row per person, one column per skill, a number in each cell and a count at the foot of each column is all it needs.
Sources
- Food Standards Australia New Zealand: food safety supervisor
- Safe Work Australia: first aid
- Fair Work Commission: Restaurant Industry Award 2020 [MA000119]
- Fair Work Commission: Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 [MA000009]
- Fair Work Commission: General Retail Industry Award 2020 [MA000004]
- Fair Work Commission: Fast Food Industry Award 2020 [MA000003]
- Fair Work Ombudsman: unpaid work and training
- Fair Work Ombudsman: find my award