driving engagement,” she explains. “That way they can focus on how best to engage their workforce and retain their best employees. Workforce management engagement plat-
forms, such as Fourth Engage, also replicate the type of technology employees use when at home. “By mirroring social media platforms, it allows seamless communication, but, as operators own the data and platform, it gives them direct access to information about their workforce that can be used to inform decision making,” Coen says.
FINDING THE STAFF BALANCE Workforce management technology can also immensely improve operators’ forecasting and scheduling, something that recent research car- ried out by Kronos and The Caterer has shown to be one of their biggest challenges. The survey revealed that the most chal- lenging workforce-related tasks for hospital- ity businesses are dealing with unplanned absences, forecasting demand and building accurate schedules, with 40% of respondents saying they are routinely understaffed and 25% saying they often have too many staff. Yet, most hospitality businesses aren’t taking advantage of automation to make time record- ing, forecasting and rostering easier. Indeed, while almost half use technology for recruitment and engagement, swapping shifts is 80% man- ual and paper-based, scheduling is 69% manual and forecasting is 54% manual. This is despite the benefits this sort of technology can offer. “Innovations such as automated demand fore- casting and optimised labour scheduling are instrumental in reducing managerial adminis- tration time and utilising people resources with far greater efficiency,” says Pickering. “By reducing under- and over-staffing, businesses are able to optimise revenues and control costs. Additionally, less time spent on administration of schedules, shift-swaps, holiday approvals and timesheet submissions mean managers can spend more time mentor- ing and developing their people.”
FORECASTING THE FUTURE
The advent of AI and machine learning is set to magnify these benefits. In fact, applying machine learning to the process of demand forecasting is already helping to improve accu- racy and reduce the need for human input. “Humans are creatures of habit that, on the whole, do not like change. Fourth’s labour pro- ductivity solution, driven by machine learning, is incredibly precise in its ability to predict labour requirements, giving employees certainty on when they will be required to work,” says Coen. “In turn, certainty gives employees sta- bility around financial planning and social planning, which creates happier employees. On the flip side, the ability to accurately schedule labour requirements means the necessary numbers of employees are on each shift, allowing them to create memorable guest experiences and not leaving them short- handed during a busy shift.” And there’s a lot more to come, according to
Pickering. “In the next 12 months, we will see more of this – more adoption, more innova- tion, and more excitement around the benefits
22 | Technology Prospectus 2020
www.thecaterer.com
Hawksmoor eliminates holiday confusion
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