The Carino’s Italian casual dining chain in May is scheduled to roll out the use of a new advanced sales forecasting and labor scheduling system in partnership with HotSchedules.
Outlining the system in a break out session Monday, Ray Gallagher, senior director of operations for Austin, Texas-based Carino’s Italian, said the system has been tested in eight stores, where it has proven to reduce labor costs and boost guest satisfaction ratings. The chain is planning to roll out the program to 71 company stores within the 140 domestic units starting in May, and franchisees will be invited to participate.
“I think they’ll want to use it,” said Gallagher of the franchise partners. “It’s difficult to say what the true ROI is, but my managers would probably shoot me if I tried to get rid of it.”
The HotSchedules software takes sales and guest counts in 30-minute increments and develops averages, creating a system that plans staffing based on need.
The company also been able to integrate their own rules the scheduling system will follow, such as the need for a minimum of two servers at all times, or staffing one server for every 8.5 guests.
The schedule then sets guidelines for managers to assess staffing needs, as well as producing reports on what was forecast, what actually happened and how managers adjusted their team.
“This forecaster has been able to help us get to the point where now we know what’s right and wrong, not just guessing about what’s right and wrong,” Gallagher said.
In the eight stores where the program was tested, guest satisfaction surveys showed improvement in the area of service specifically, indicating that the restaurants were staffed at the right levels.
Those stores also showed reduced labor costs, in part because the units were able to cut back on higher-wage back-of-the-house employees, even while beefing up front-of-the-house staff during peak hours.
Best of all, said Gallagher, “Operators are begging for it. And when operators are begging for something, that’s the best thing in the world.”
--Lisa Jennings
