Turn shift management stress into success 

Fully booked, understaffed? Yeah, we’ve been there too. So we made a brand campaign about it.

Restaurants are shift-based businesses - but that doesn’t mean you want to spend hours juggling shift plans and staff availability. If this is a task you secretly dread - a scheduling tool could be the key to your success.  

Hospitality businesses revolve around shift plans. But creating and keeping up with schedules, time tracking and staff availability can be extremely time-consuming and challenging for those at the helm. Wouldn’t you rather be spending time focusing on what you love most about your business? 

Turns out - there’s a scheduling tool for that. And it doesn’t just save you time spent scheduling - it can turn scheduling into business success. 

Make scheduling a breeze  

Just ask Paul Mitchell. The founder of Moogies– an organisation which helps turn local pubs into sustainable businesses – he’s no stranger to scheduling stress. As the business grew, he was juggling tons of casual staff and losing time keeping up with their different availability and leave requests. 

It was time to abandon Excel shift plans and the hours spent creating them – and get help from Planday’s digital scheduling tool. Suddenly, Moogies had an immediate overview of staff availability and could create shift plans, fast – and quickly update and adjust them. 

Less scheduling rigmarole, more rigatoni  

UK company Pasta Evangelists also adopted Planday to cut back on time spent scheduling – and instead spend more time creating delicious Italian cuisine to deliver to its rapidly-growing customer base. 

“Planday has saved us a lot of time in terms of scheduling and payroll,” says Charles Wells, People Coordinator. “​​We love planning by shift types and positions – such as certified chef – as it makes it easy to allocate qualifications, and train and develop our teams.” 

Younger staff want digital workplaces 

Saving time on scheduling isn’t the only benefit from taking your shift plans digital. The modern workforce demands connectivity – in fact, one-third of Gen Z employees expect their workplaces to provide them with modern technology. 

A digital scheduling solution has exactly what younger workers want - and makes you more likely to hold on to them. 

“Being an app, it was a real strength that Planday is easily accessible to people,” says Paul. Now, his employees can log in and see the shift plan from their own device – at any time – and choose between different languages. 

Recording hours is also made easier – team members simply punch in and punch out via the digital punch clock on their device. 

The shift-swapping feature meets younger workers’ demands for flexibility, too. While Excel shift plans make it hard to accommodate last minute requests - this feature lets managers instantly see and approve swap requests. It’s a win-win. 

No more missed pay 

At the end of the day, workers are here to get paid. With high staff turnover in hospitality, businesses can’t afford to get payroll wrong. 

Luckily, one big advantage of a digital shift plan that updates changes in real-time (and according to a digital punch clock) is that hours – and therefore pay – are always accurate. 

By integrating that shift data with popular HR and payroll systems, hospitality businesses like Pasta Evangelists can improve their payroll processes and keep staff happy. 

“The integration with our payroll system reduces human error,” says Charles. Which is great news for employees and businesses alike. 

So as it turns out, digital shift plans offer so much more than time saved – with happier staff, more accurate processes, and an overall easier work day. If you want to turn your shift stress into success - give our commitment-free 30-day trial a whirl.