Restaurant Employees Overwhelmingly Embrace Online Scheduling
Ann Arbor-based WhenToManage Restaurant Solutions Friday released the results of a nationwide user survey demonstrating the value of online labor scheduling.
The survey shows how restaurant operators, faced with multiple employee scheduling demands, using the Web-based communications and scheduling technology, can now more effectively optimize employee-to-management information sharing through a fundamental improvement to the labor scheduling process.
The 2010 Survey of WhenToManage Online Employee Scheduling Users, a national Web-based survey of more than 700 online restaurant employees conducted throughout June and July, found that 90 percent of users experienced improved communications to the point where they would highly recommend the application to employers. More than 70 percent of respondents stated the seamless communications, enabled by the application, increased productivity through improved workforce collaboration.
The survey findings highlight new thinking about personnel management in the restaurant and retail industry. The data posits that increasing employee engagement through seamless and interactive scheduling technology makes for more productive employees and efficient scheduling procedures.
"The fact that 90 percent of employees would recommend WhenToManage to future employers says volumes about our tools," said Jeff Schacher, CEO of WhenToManage. "Many of them commented saying that it 'totally opened up communication. We discovered that many of our employee users ended up being the power users of our technology. They are one of the driving forces behind adoption at their restaurant. Frankly, because WhenToManage is so easy to use, we believe it will reduce scheduling headaches now and in the future. Some personnel matters will go away leaving more time for essential management duties resulting in happier employees to boot."
Employees using the application can review their schedules and manage availability requests from either the internet, email or mobile text messages. Using secure login functionality, employees interact with the system by requesting days off, set preferred shifts, update availability and swap shifts with other employees. Employee requests are then sent back to the store manager for approval.
"With employees having less time to accomplish more, the online scheduling application addresses key productivity challenges by opening up communications and encourages employees to work together," Schacher said. "This key development keeps the entire operation running smoothly."
WhenToManage Restaurant Solutions was founded in 2005 to build simple Web-based software for the restaurant and retail industry. It offers scalable systems that simplify reporting, inventory management, employee scheduling, and guest relations, with an emphasis on connecting the people in an organization.
More at www.WhenToManage.com.
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