Operations · 2 min read
Where Restaurant Labour Cost Grows Without Anyone Noticing
The signs that a rota is built on habit rather than service, and what it costs.
Labour is the other big number. With food cost it makes up prime cost, and most restaurants in financial trouble have a problem with one or both.
Signs the rota runs on habit
- Last week's shifts are copied, whatever is booked this week.
- A full team is paid through a quiet afternoon, then the peak feels short-staffed.
- Overtime appears every week and nobody can say why.
- Only one or two people can run a station.
- Headcount goes up whenever the kitchen falls behind.
Cutting the team is not the answer, and neither is adding to it. Which one a restaurant needs depends on what its sales pattern and its kitchen are actually doing.
