Questions & Answers:

Thanks for joining our recent webinar on Operational Excellence for Stronger Margins

We loved having you with us — and we’re extending our exclusive offer for attendees: a Goldilocks Deep Dive Audit, worth £600, available free until 31st October.

This audit will help you identify where there’s opportunity to improve performance which leads to stronger margins. You can claim yours now via the link below.

Claim your Goldilocks Deep Dive Audit

We also had some fantastic questions raised on the day, and thought you’d appreciate the chance to revisit the top ones — with expert answers shared below.

Asked by you and answered by experts

1. What would you class as accurate forecasting? Within 10%?

Absolutely – 5% up or down is great. From the projects we’ve done we find a lot of operators are typically 15% out, and usually over forecast. But being under forecast is equally as bad for the profit line. A lot of GMs will go “we smashed budget last week, beat forecast by twenty grand” – but the question we ask back is, “but how much did you leave on the table for being understaffed?”. 

2. What is the most common mistake you see operators do with their labour and teams?  

Block rotas and shift briefing. Typically, managers will have the whole team in for 12 o’clock, because they need to do the shift brief, but they’re actually not needed in the business at this time, so it’s damaging spend and sales.  

By staggering shifts and having a decent shift briefing sheet available to your team, you avoid overstaffing and the negative impact on your profit line.  

3. How long does it take to see results by staff thinking and focusing more on labour spend?  

Once you get into the detail of your rotas and start asking questions like: “why have we got this team member on at this time?”, the results are absolutely immediate.  

Actually, the real question shouldn’t be how quickly you’ll see an impact, but how quickly can you get in to make the difference? The process takes a while, but the results are quick.  

4. What is the percentage aim for FOH net labour to net sales?  

This one is massively dependent on service style, business type, layout, etc. Some sites will have a much higher base cost, therefore when they’re off season, their spend is going to be higher and you just need to plan for that. So, base and flex budgeting is key.  

5. What are your top team retention tips?  

Empowerment for managers, training, and inductions are a good starting three. First impressions set the standard – so be realistic about what the job is going to entail. There’s also nothing that will upset your team more than having to cope on a shift – so deploying your teams properly is crucial.  

Real Results from Real Operators

During the webinar, we talked a lot about the power of accurate forecasting, better labour deployment, and proactive management. That’s exactly what Thorley Taverns focused on — and the results speak for themselves.

By using S4labour to sharpen how they plan and manage labour across their sites, they’ve seen stronger margins and more profitable shifts. The system empowered managers to use data to place the right people, at the right time, doing the right things.

Watch this short video to hear Robert Bridger from Thorley share how they achieved it — and the impact it’s had on their bottom line.