Written by Planday’s Vice President APAC, Matt Sallmann
As hospitality venues across the country prepare for the end of year rush, efficient staff management and communication will be key in ensuring smooth operations this festive season. Using our engaging workforce management software, Planday from Xero, is a powerful way to centralise staff management and communication, boost employee engagement and support efficiency throughout the organisation — all measures to alleviate stress during this high-pressure time period.
At a time that already faces its share of uncontrollable factors, we understand the Christmas period can pose an additional layer of uncertainty for businesses in the hospitality industry. Every cafe, hotel and restaurant manager knows that the holiday period can bring added stress — from struggling to fill extra shifts, juggling additional leave requests and navigating an increase in sick leave. We’ve witnessed time and time again how failure to plan is planning to fail. This busy time naturally goes hand-in-hand with increased rostering and staffing challenges, and managers will need to strike the right balance between keeping staff happy and running the business as efficiently as possible.
Between staying on top of that never-ending to-do list and frantically juggling that phone that won’t stop ringing, the last thing busy managers need on their plate is worrying about all the error-prone and time-consuming processes linked to time tracking, rostering, payroll, and compliance. Using our software to digitise these tedious and complex tasks gives business owners back valuable time to focus on what really matters this festive season — running their business, and building relationships with their valued customers. Xero’s Changing world of work report revealed that Aussie businesses find switching to digital software like Planday has helped to alleviate the stress and confusion of managing
payroll compliance.
End-of-year gatherings and festive celebrations no doubt drive up customer numbers, creating the need to roster extra staff, trade longer hours and extend shifts into overtime. Great for revenue, stressful for management! This often poses its own logistical challenges around accuracy and compliance, and, if nothing else, demands time and detail, which are scarce at this time of year as burnout encroaches. This is where Planday really comes into play. It provides an easy and efficient way to manage rosters and last-minute shift changes, tracks extra hours worked and ensures all staff are kept up to speed at all times.
On top of this, businesses must ensure they are complying with the various penalty rates owed to staff that work over key public holidays such as Christmas and New Year’s Day, which is no easy feat given Australia has one of the most complex awards systems globally. While we know hospitality businesses are adaptable, keeping track of the different award rates owed to individual staff members can still be complex and overwhelming. This is why we’ve recently expanded our award interpretation tool to further improve compliance confidence for Australian businesses paying their staff under the Hospitality Industry Award. This means business owners can pay staff correctly without hassle, and
without worrying about facing penalties for inaccurate payments.
Everything aside, the biggest determinant of success in the holiday period is arguably team
communication. In a high pressure environment, communication is often the first thing to drop and team morale can take a hit. A streamlined communication solution like Planday’s facilitates an enhanced customer experience where staff are informed and engaged. This ultimately leads to happier and more diligent team members that are more likely to choose to remain within the business. This is especially important when hospitality workers may be experiencing burnout following several years of critical staffing shortages post-COVID. Eliminating repetitive requests and avoiding miscommunication also helps to improve employee productivity, which results in an overall boost to engagement.
To find out more about Planday, visit Planday.com/au