Holiday Staffing and Scheduling Tips: How to Manage Labor Costs and Deliver Stellar Service During the Rush

The holidays are when restaurants and stores can really cash in on the festive rush. The holidays bring packed tables, record-breaking sales, and festive energy everywhere, but behind the scenes, chaos often reigns. Staffing headaches, increasing labor costs, and the struggle to keep your team and customers happy. 

Proper staffing and scheduling during the holidays can determine the success of your season. This blog covers efficient staff scheduling, managing no-shows and rushes, optimizing operations with tip reports, and utilizing POS tools effectively. Let’s dive in!

1. Create a Smart Employee Scheduling Plan

Scheduling during the holidays can feel like trying to fit everything together perfectly. Between vacations, sick leaves, and the influx of customers, it’s tricky to ensure you have the right number of staff on hand. Here’s how to build a foolproof plan:

Analyze Last Year’s Data to Identify Trends

Start by analyzing your previous holiday season’s staffing and sales analytics data. 

• Assess whether staff coverage during peak hours met demand or left gaps in service.
• Where labor costs are in line with the sales, a softPOS system can calculate and split a server's $150 tips per agreed percentages, minimizing disputes. Generated, or did they exceed expectations?
• Were there any no-shows or last-minute cancellations, and what was the effect on customer service?
• Which shifts were most profitable, and how did staff performance impact sales?
• What were the tip patterns, and how did they correlate with staffing levels?

Use this information to forecast your needs for this year. For example, if sales spiked by 30% on the weekends leading up to Christmas, prepare for similar patterns this year and staff accordingly.

Use an Employee Scheduling Report

Employee scheduling reports show you who’s available, their total working hours, and shift overlaps. Using scheduling reports helps you prevent issues like double-scheduling or overstaffing while also balancing labor costs for your retail store during holidays.

Build Flexibility Into the Schedule

Sure, you must create a structured schedule. But flexibility is also important during the holidays. Have backup staff or on-call team members ready to step in if someone calls in sick or the dining room suddenly fills up.

2. Optimize Labor Costs Without Compromising Service

Labor costs can quickly add up during the holiday season. But cutting back on staff can harm customer service. Here’s how to strike the right balance:

Schedule Based on Peak Hours

Don’t staff equally across the entire day. Use historical data to identify peak hours. For instance, your quick service restaurant, food truck, or liquor store might have experienced lunchtime spikes or evening rushes in the past. So, allocate more team members during these periods. Reduce staffing during slower hours to avoid unnecessary labor costs.

Cross-Train Your Employees

You might have cashiers, managers, and inventory staff, each with different retail POS permissions. But when staff members can perform multiple roles, you can operate with a leaner team while maintaining efficiency. OneHubPOS allows you to tailor employee roles and permissions for each level of your staff. 

For instance, a server who’s also trained to bartend can help when the bar gets crowded. Or during holiday happy hours, a cross-trained employee can handle serving tables and making drinks.  

Track and Adjust Labor Cost Ratios

Keep an eye on your labor cost ratio, which is your total labor costs as a percentage of sales. Aim for 20-30% during busy seasons. If your labor costs start creeping higher, check if you’re overstaffed or if shifts overlap unnecessarily. OneHubPOS comes integrated with employee tip reports. So, you can get real-time visibility into these metrics.

Grab our Tip Pooling Calculator to quickly and accurately split tips based on hours worked—for both front and back-of-house teams. Save time and keep everyone happy!

3. Prepare for Handling Staff Shortages or Overflows

The holiday rush is unpredictable, especially during holiday events. There’s always a chance that fewer employees show up for their shifts or that customer demand exceeds expectations. Here’s how to manage these situations:

When Fewer Employees Show Up Than Expected

Have a backup roster. And what’s that? A list of on-call employees who can fill in at short notice. Also, if you’ve cross-trained your staff, you can redistribute tasks without overwhelming the team. Here are the steps to create a backup roster for on-call employees:

1. List essential positions that need backup, such as servers, cashiers, and stockers.
2. Choose employees who are flexible, reliable, and familiar with the job.
3. Contact potential on-call staff to confirm their availability during peak hours or holidays.
4. Keep a list of phone numbers, emails, and preferred contact times for quick reach.
5. Outline when on-call employees are available, with a clear system for assigning shifts at short notice.
6. Review and update the list periodically to ensure accuracy.

An mPOS system with real-time updates can also help you reassign staff to high-priority areas. For instance, shift a server to take more tables while reducing the need for someone in the back. Say, if two servers don’t show up during a Friday dinner rush, you can quickly assess table coverage and reallocate the remaining staff efficiently.

When More Customers Show Up Than Expected

Focus on keeping things simple and delivering core services well. Tweak your menu, offer quick options, and focus on table turnover. Temporarily, have employees pitch in where needed. A busser can help serve water and bread, while the hostess can assist with taking drink orders if she’s well-versed with the hacks to operate your POS system efficiently.

But you need to keep morale up, too. So, offer small bonuses or extra tips for employees who help manage unexpected surges.

4. Boost Staff Motivation with Tip Calculations

During the holidays, tips can really help boost your team’s morale and motivation. But to keep things fair and transparent, accurate tip calculation is a must.

Implement a Tip Pool System

If your quick service restaurants operate on pooled tips, ensure the system is clear and transparent. Use your restaurant POS system to automatically calculate tips and distribute them based on roles or hours worked. Suppose the softPOS solution calculates that a server earned $150 in tips during a shift. If there’s a tip pool, the system can automatically split it based on agreed-upon percentages, reducing any disputes.

Use Tip Reports to Monitor Performance

Employee tip reports give you insight into individual and team performance. If you notice some employees consistently underperforming on tips, it may indicate they need additional training or support during the rush.

Final Thoughts

The holidays are both a time of opportunity and a challenge for businesses. By implementing a flexible scheduling plan, carefully managing labor costs, and preparing for contingencies for your small business, you can ensure smooth operations and a memorable customer experience.

Leverage tools like employee scheduling reports, tip tracking, and POS systems to reduce stress and stay on top of the holiday rush. With a well-thought-out plan, this holiday season can be your most successful yet. It makes operations smoother, keeps your team on track, and ensures your customers leave with a smile.

With the right plan in place, this holiday season can be the best one yet for your team, your customers, and your bottom line. Need help getting started with better staffing tools? OneHubPOS offers employee scheduling, tip tracking, and real-time labor insights. Book a demo with OneHubPOS today to know more!