Is this the future?
Hot Schedules is coming. Its rapid growth has it on track to become the dominant scheduling system in restaurants. As a user for several months, I want to provide a frank and unbiased view of the system. These opinions are mine alone and in no way represent the company that I am employed by. They simply represent some ideas to keep in mind when considering adopting this system.
Read the full post at The Manager’s Office
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Hot Schedules Reviewed: Part One « Tips on improving your Tips
Oct 20, 2010 @ 09:18:10
Oct 22, 2010 @ 14:52:03
It is interesting to read a review of hot schedules from someone working at another restaurant using it. It certainly has it’s flaws, but it does have it’s benefits as well. Hot schedules is actually quite customizable to fit the needs of the specific restaurant it is working for, and some of the problems you have mentioned seem like kinks that your store simply has yet to work out. For example – the shift end time feature does not have to be used. At my restaurant it is set up so that there is a start time only. Also, all requests off are approved on a first-come-first-served basis, and hot schedules lets you know your place in line so if you are say, the 25th out of 26 people to request New Year’s Eve off, then you know you’re not going to be making any party plans. You might mention some of these problems to your management, and hopefully your scheduling process will run a little smoother. Can’t say anything about reducing turnover though! 😉
Oct 22, 2010 @ 15:28:08
I agree with this. I think the point still stands though that the benefits they advocate are not particularly practical, For example eliminating out times takes away from all of the benefits of the forecasts and proformas. At my restaurant we have a set schedule which means there is no requesting off. I can see where knowing your place in line could be more helpful, but it still leaves a cloud of uncertainty that having a manager sign off on the request in advance would eliminate. It still seems like a really expensive way to do something that most restaurants have been doing for a long time.
A coworker of mine said after reading this post, “Want to reduce turnover? How about not buying this schedule and giving me a decent health insurance option.”
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Nov 07, 2010 @ 01:41:42