Three tips for managing rota demands in hospitality

Managing rotas is an enormous undertaking for those in hospitality. 

A good hospitality rota helps ensure you have the right number of staff in the right place, at the right time.  

However, this is easier said than done.

While rotas are intended to help your business operate and ensure you have coverage, they often bring quite a bit of admin and numerous inefficiencies.

As such, we advise investing in a modern rota scheduling tool to streamline processes and improve the employee experience.

Below are three ways a modern rota tool can revolutionise your staff schedules.

1) Simplify shift changes with self-service

Typically, staff have to rely on phone calls, texts or in-person conversations to request changes to their shifts, often resulting in miscommunications, errors and delays. 

On the other hand, this informal method of handling shifts means managers are stuck in the middle, wasting their valuable time coordinating swaps and tracking down approvals. 

A digital rota system, that features employee self-service, enables staff to easily view shifts and request shift changes all from a handy mobile app without needing to rely on managers to coordinate everything. 

Managers can also benefit as self-service eliminates the time-consuming back-and-forth with staff as they can simply approve or decline requests in the app with just a few clicks.

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2) Easily spot scheduling gaps

Without the right tools, spotting scheduling gaps and filling last-minute shift requirements is without a doubt frustrating and time-consuming for all involved.

Businesses without a digital rota system have to rely on printed schedules, clunky spreadsheets, panicked texts/phone calls and piecing together notes to try to figure out who’s missing and when.  

With a digital rota system, you can revolutionise staff scheduling, as the system provides a real-time overview of shifts and highlights any unfilled slots or conflicts. 

See gaps at a glance and take action, whether that’s sending out notifications to available staff or reallocating resources.  

3) Provide staff greater visibility

A digital rota system ensures staff can access rotas whether they are at home, on the go or at work.  

Staff can view the rota from any device with an internet connection, helping:  

• Give staff greater visibility
• Simplify rota communications
• Offer staff better accessibility

Managing modern rota demands  

Today’s workforce has new priorities, requiring many to adapt their approach to planning and communicating their rotas.  

The modern employee expects to seamlessly access their rotas, via their phone, like they would with any other communication.

Businesses that can meet this demand are in a much better position to secure and retain top talent, offering staff a modern workplace experience.

The top three HR challenges impacting hospitality 

Staff rotas aren’t the only challenge impacting those in hospitality! 

Our recent guide covers the top three HR challenges impacting businesses, offering tangible advice and tips. 

Download the FREE guide here, and discover practical solutions and insights to help you tackle these HR challenges head-on.