by Alastair Scott | Jan 13, 2025 | Thought Leadership
I suspect we are entering January 2025 with a slightly different mindset than usual. The cost pressures we’re facing in April mean we need an approach that differs from the norm. We need to be braver, more determined and more laser-focused than we ever have before.
Whether we are trying to trade our way out of the cost headwinds or manage costs more effectively, we all know we have three months to deliver a significant level of business improvement if we are to even maintain our profitability. And even if we are going to raise prices, with relatively weak consumer sentiment, price changes must be executed with real skill and precision.
Of course, the natural approach is to try a combination of all these strategies: raise prices as much as possible, put significant effort into growing sales, and drive some level of productivity improvement. I want to focus the remainder of this article on the productivity improvements we could achieve.
As always, the opportunity in January is to focus on a change in habits. Having just been through all my January rotas, the real question I was asking myself was how much I want to encourage habit change, and how much I want to impose habit change on the business. We all find this debate exceptionally difficult. As operations managers, we know we aren’t in the business often enough to ensure compliance if we simply impose changes. We also understand that service levels could suffer if we do not win hearts and minds by clearly explaining how the changes can be implemented effectively.
But equally, if we simply encourage and cajole, we might not achieve much, as our ideas could be rejected, ignored, or, most frustrating of all, the team may agree but fail to follow through. More on that later.
Our Focus in January
So, what are the specifics I am focusing on this January? First is the number required in the kitchen on a quiet Monday. The team like two, and we are better with one. Who is right? How do we design a quiet Monday to enable us to operate with one chef? Should we compromise and have two at lunchtime and one in the evening? How much we take this forward is of course the result of that eternal tussle between head office ignorance and site-level intransigence.
Second is front of house closing. Here, we must have several debates. What is a safe number of staff to close the business? What do we do if a couple of guests are still drinking? What tasks are acceptable to do before the guest leaves? And then of course, what are the closing tasks themselves? All create a level of complexity that means the solution isn’t easy, but there are precious hours to be saved if we can do this right.
And what about breaks? The team often prefers to not have breaks during the day, but straight shifts are not beneficial for either us or them. This is a good opportunity to revisit break schedules and adjust rotas so that everyone in the business gets their break at the right time.
There are also a few days when our standard staff rota is a bit too generous. We have always faced a challenge on Fridays, where we feel we need a larger team than the metrics suggest. As a result, the team ends up with a fixed shift allocation on Fridays, causing the rota to exceed the actual requirement. January is the time to reset and reassess this.
Service and Reputation
But another key aspect of January is that it is a time to focus on service. Teams can sometimes reduce staffing on the busiest shifts, which can negatively impact both service and our reputation. This Christmas, we have delivered the best service in our history, and it would be a shame to undermine that by cutting staff on the busier shifts in January. We still need to add more on Sundays!
So, as always, there is plenty to be done. But changing habits is valuable work. Finding the right balance between imposing change and encouraging the team is challenging. As a business, we are increasingly called upon to help with this, but there is no reason you cannot tackle it yourself if you make the time. And the money saved now brings us a step closer to offsetting the impacts of the NI and minimum wage increases in April. It is time to take action!
by Alastair Scott | Dec 16, 2024 | Thought Leadership
We have recently had cause to plan a complete re-lay of one of our kitchens. For those who are interested, it all comes down to the extraction flow rates. We have some of the most crucial equipment, like the chargrill, currently operating under the slowest flow rate in the kitchen (one cubic metre per second). We need to relocate it to an area where the flow rate is 2.5 metres per second.
And, of course, whenever there is a project like this underway, there is a real opportunity to make wider improvements to the kitchen, which is exactly what we intend to do. It has been a long time since I worked with Deterministics, a company that measures everything to death, focusing on process control, productivity, operations, design engineering and analytics for the restaurant industry. For me, the detail was not always the most useful, but the process was, and still is. In fact, we are using the process to drive maximum productivity in the kitchen. It is a win-win, as it also makes life easier for our kitchen team.
Optimising Kitchen & Fridge Layouts
At the moment, we have ended up feeling a bit like a Blue Peter set rather than a restaurant business. But it is really good. We have taken every session, every style of food and every number of staff on shift and mapped out exactly where they have to go to complete their tasks. We have tried to minimise walking where there are few chefs and given each team member the right workspace when we are at maximum. Not only does this structure force the kit to go in the right place, but it also forces the fridge layouts to be incredibly well thought through, which was previously an issue in our business.
Fridge layouts are the most poorly executed areas for us – my big frustrations stem from there being nothing in a line fridge, or raw items being there. It is also difficult when each chef lays out their section differently and spends half an hour relaying their section because that is how they prefer to work. We are aiming to eliminate all these items in our new kitchen.
Holding Ovens and Prep Space
We are also investing in a large hot holding oven, to both drive capacity from our chefs and, in truth, to drive quality where they have developed substandard workarounds. I think hot hold ovens, if used well, make such a difference to speed, with only marginal drops in quality. But beware the chef cooking everything off at ten and chucking it in the hot hold!
Optimising prep space has been another key focus for us when planning the kitchen. We have decided to build in dedicated prep areas so that chefs can drop off the line when it is not too busy and crack on with some prep, and then step back on the line when a ticket comes in. With the new wage rates coming in, we must start moving to this model to drive efficiencies where we can.
The final area we have looked at is a drop off space for pot wash. The reality is, we cannot justify having a pot wash when it is quiet, so we need to have the capability to let the plates pile up to a certain point.
Final Thoughts
There really is a lot to think about when it comes to kitchen design, and I think getting it right is a real skill. Each time a menu changes, it has an effect on how the kitchen is laid out and functions. If we are not careful, a really well thought out kitchen evolves into a poorly laid out, or poorly managed kitchen.
I still have the image in my head of a really big kitchen, with the pass at one end of the line and the fryers at the other end. Think about the poor chef, who either has to work up and down the line to make a portion of chips, or better yet, think of the poor customer who has to eat a portion of chips that has been held with ten others under the lights to sweat. When we do, we realise how important kitchen details are.
It is such a challenge to keep up to date with kitchens, but it is one of the many challenges that is worth the investment. The extract issue may have forced us to adjust, but the process will now add loads of value to the quality and efficiency of our business.
by Alastair Scott | Oct 28, 2024 | Thought Leadership
One of my team members recently asked for an article I wrote a few years ago on labour and sales growth. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find it, which means it’s time for a new—and hopefully better—version about the true cost of stress.
The importance of aligning supply with demand in our industry cannot be overstated. It’s one of the most challenging tasks we face, as it directly affects both customer experience and profitability. At its core, it’s about getting the right number of team members at the right time, which sounds simple but can be difficult to execute consistently. This is where two key principles should always guide our decision-making when planning labour: avoiding overstaffing and managing stress effectively.
First, overstaffing is a bigger threat to service quality than understaffing—something I find myself repeating more and more. As the saying goes, “If you want something done, give it to a busy person.” This saying holds particularly true in the hospitality industry, where staff performance tends to drop when they aren’t busy. Overstaffing not only increases costs but also often leads to worse service. When staff have too little to do, service is slow and lacks energy, and your team will often lose focus. This not only affects guest satisfaction but also wastes resources. If you need a compelling reason to avoid adding extra team members unnecessarily, this is it. Overstaffing doesn’t just cost more—it can degrade service, which is the opposite of what we aim for.
On the flip side, the more obvious breakdown in service and sales happens when you don’t have enough staff. This is where managers and assistant managers are most likely to raise concerns, as it leads to stress for the team—a feeling we’re all familiar with and something we can actually measure. Stress on the floor, whether in the kitchen or front of house, is a real performance detractor, and it’s important that we understand its dynamics. We divide stressful periods into two categories: short stress and sustained stress.
Short stress is when understaffing happens for a brief period, maybe an hour, but before and after that window, the team can still deliver the required service. This often happens at peak times—around 1 p.m. for lunch and 7:30 p.m. for dinner. During these short bursts, the team can step up a gear, temporarily delaying tasks like resetting tables or washing glasses. These short, intense periods of stress are manageable and, in many cases, preferable to overstaffing, as they don’t usually last long enough to lead to poor service. In fact, some level of short stress can actually enhance team performance, allowing employees to focus and work efficiently without the need for additional staff during the less busy portions of the shift.
Sustained stress, on the other hand, is an entirely different thing. When the pressure lasts for two hours or more, delayed tasks start to pile up, and the shift unravels into chaos. The team can’t maintain that higher gear for long, and as a result, service quality suffers. Orders are delayed, bills don’t go out, and guests aren’t offered second drinks. Dwell times increase, leading to more complaints. Worst of all, guests may tip less, complain directly, or simply not return.
But how do we measure the true cost of stress?
Wasted labour is relatively easy to quantify—most businesses can save around 10% of their labour costs by cutting slack. Our experience is that reducing stress can result in about a 6% uplift in sales, depending on how bad things were before. That can translate into a massive 40% profit increase, assuming a few factors I won’t dive into here.
So, what’s holding us back? Oddly, many managers deny the sales potential from reducing stress. The two biases I hear most often are “we cope” and “no one complained.” But these are just self-soothing lies. Being honest about the opportunity requires breaking old habits—and sometimes a nudge from someone with a more objective view.
Understanding the true cost of sustained stress—chaos, poor guest experiences, missed sales opportunities, and unhappy staff—is crucial for driving sales growth. Balancing labour and service levels might require a slight increase in spending, but the returns—more tips, fewer complaints, repeat customers, higher average spend per cover, and happier teams—far outweigh the cost.
by Alastair Scott | Oct 14, 2024 | Thought Leadership
I always believed it took just four weeks to change a habit, but it turns out I was wrong. A few weeks ago, we had a training session in our office on the “lies we tell ourselves”, otherwise known as personal bias, led by the brilliant Dulcie Swanston. She pointed out that, on average, it actually takes 66 days to solidify a habit. She also made the intriguing observation that the more intelligent you are, the stronger your personal bias tends to be—which makes it hard to argue! So, we’re either unintelligent and unbiased, or smart and biased. What a choice!
Habits are arguably the most important factor in hospitality. Our routines form the backbone of everything we do. When these habits are well-formed, new team members adopt them effortlessly, almost without thinking. It’s a great place to be when your habits are strong, but a terrible situation when they aren’t.
To change a habit, it takes around 10 weeks—and even longer for part-time staff. This requires significant effort, but it’s necessary. The key lesson from the 66-day rule is that trying to implement too many changes at once often leads to failure. Instead, we need to slow down, focus on fewer changes, and make sure they stick.
I also follow the rule of three. Make three changes, implement them fully, and then move on to the next set of three. By dividing the year into terms, you have three chances to implement three new habits each term, resulting in nine new habits a year.
Nine new habits will make a massive difference. If I were to pick nine for the industry based on my experience, I would pick:
1 – Smiling: The first article I ever wrote was about the power of a smile, and it still holds the top spot for our teams. A genuine smile creates an immediate connection with guests, sets the tone for positive interactions, and reinforces the warm, welcoming atmosphere we strive for in hospitality.
2 – Hellos and Goodbyes: There’s nothing worse than being ignored when you arrive or leave. A warm, enthusiastic greeting sets a positive tone for the guest’s experience from the start, while a cheerful goodbye leaves a lasting impression.
3 – “OK”: I can’t stand this word. We don’t aim to deliver an “OK” experience; we want to offer a great one. So why do we ask guests if “everything is OK”? It’s lazy and disengaged, like a quick pass-by. Instead, we should be more thoughtful—ask if they’re enjoying their meal or if they’d like another glass of wine. That’s real service.
4 – Full out, full in: The number of team members I see drop off something and then pass by lots of empty plates, glasses and customers on the way back is immeasurable. Think of the efficiency if we got it right.
5 – Fact Finding: We all remember those wonderful experiences where someone showed genuine interest in us. Simple questions like, “are you celebrating something special?” or “how far have you travelled?” can spark connections. I don’t care what the questions are; just ask something!
6 – Ask them before they have to ask you: When a drink is empty, or nearly empty, it is pretty obvious. Time to make the suggested sell. Can I get you another? Obviously, “are you OK for drinks?” is banned!
7 – 4-foot rule: This is a rule Walmart certainly used to have. If you are within 4 feet, say hello and smile, even if you are on your way elsewhere. The guest will understand and will be grateful for the contact.
8 – Eye contact: In the modern world, eye contact is even more essential. It creates a connection that makes such a difference. I once asked the bar team to tell each other the colour of the customer’s eyes.
9 – Restaurant eyes: This is perhaps the hardest, but there is nothing worse than trying to get someone’s attention and they never look at you. Scanning your section is a part of the job.
If we could make these nine service habits stick, imagine how much better, and busier we would be!
by Alastair Scott | Sep 30, 2024 | Thought Leadership
One of the most frequent questions I get asked is, if you are an ops manager, how do you organise yourself to deliver on labour in the most effective way, and in the least amount of time? The flippant answer is that it depends on a number of factors like the manager, the objective and on the ops manager themselves. But answering the question in this way is not entirely useful, so I am going to try and set out a few guidelines that will help to deliver this.
1 – Setting objectives for teams is essential, but they must be clearly defined so that progress can be measured weekly. In the past, this was often tied to labour percentage targets. Today, it is more likely to involve aligning with deployment goals that meet corporate objectives—or even hitting specific cash targets. Surprisingly, many large businesses still prefer managing at the cash level, despite having advanced deployment systems. While assigning objectives is common practice, the real challenge lies in achieving them!
2 – Establishing templates for business thresholds is more effective than relying on weekly signoffs. While you might expect weekly signoffs to be necessary, they demand excessive effort to make work and encourage sites to see if they can get away with it. This either results in a time-consuming overhaul or a repetitive process that drains resources. Managing fifteen sites could easily turn into a full day’s work. Instead, I recommend agreeing on templates for sales thresholds. Well-designed templates streamline the process and can be quickly adjusted, saving time.
3 – Schedule a weekly visit to adjust, refine, and discuss operations. This may seem like a big commitment, but it ensures each site has a deep conversation about labour roughly four times a year—a small investment given its impact on cost, service, and sales. The challenge comes if this process slips. Without regular review, template rotas become outdated, get ignored, and new, unapproved rotas will surface. If you are not careful, you will end up reverting to the process of weekly sign-off, which is time-consuming and destructive.
4– What does an effective process look like? It involves several stages, varying in length based on time and the quality of the team. Nailing these stages and embedding them into your business as best practice will really make a difference to how you deliver on labour.
Stage 1 – Tasks: First, identify all tasks within the business, categorise them, and determine whether they are fixed or slack. It is crucial to coach new assistant managers and managers on this properly, so that slack tasks do not become fixed, and fixed tasks do not get moved to pre or post opening times.
Stage 2 – Management Rota: Creating a solid management rota is key to ensuring proper leadership without overstaffing on slower days. By carefully structuring the rota, you can maintain a balanced and efficient operation.
Stage 3 – Deployment: Matching supply and demand is essential. A rota must be designed to align with these needs while delivering excellent service throughout the week. Keeping in mind that the worst service often occurs when you are the most overstaffed. The key is finding the right balance to ensure efficiency without sacrificing service quality.
Stage 4 – Shift Planning and Leadership: This is the most crucial step. By agreeing a shift plan, you focus on the essential tasks and the necessary structures to ensure the leadership team is actively managing the business. It is about organising operations to be guest-focused and effective. This level of detail is vital for maintaining a well-run, efficient operation, both on busy days and during slower times.
Stage 5 – Kitchens: Kitchens have always been the major source of overspend in our industry. Too often, we have sacrificed front-of-house teams to add more staff in the kitchen. Kitchens alone, with their challenges of line structuring, prep, and pot washing, require immense attention. In fact, effectively managing a kitchen could easily take a full day or more. But the rewards for getting it right – both in terms of cost control and operational efficiency – are substantial.
Maintaining these steps may seem challenging, but they are a crucial part of running a successful business in today’s high-labour-cost environment. By implementing these guidelines, you can create a more efficient operation that not only controls labour costs but also delivers great service across the board. It is all about putting the right systems in place to get your teams and your business set up for success.
