Cut management costs – managers are expensive!

a photo of two managers calculating labor expenses

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Oftentimes, just one salaried staff member can cost more than several non-salaried employees. Besides their hourly-wage, some management qualifies for benefits such as life and health insurance. Others might receive expensive overtime, or further perks such as free food or discounted merchandise prices. Below, I explain good reasons to cut management costs and how to go about it.

To cut management costs, schedule managers to do management tasks

Businesses should certify that salaried managers carry out managerial chores while clocked in; they should leverage non-salaried staff members for work-related duties that do not need a manager. Some chores that managers may be responsible for during a normal work day could include:

  • placing vendor orders
  • performing quality control
  • processing payroll
  • training new hires
  • building labor schedules
  • working with customers

When employees fail to show up for shifts, or when an unexpected rush requires more staff, managers should be able to jump in and help out. This indicates that the business cross trains their staff well, and that they’re not unduly dependent on a single employee. On the other hand, if managers commonly clean the restrooms or mops the floors because employees were no shows… One might suggest a re-evaluation of staffing and hiring procedures.

Managers must build effective schedules for the business on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis. Precisely scheduling the work force weeks in advance gives staff members a definite work schedule and allows management to predict forthcoming expenses (payroll is frequently the largest in hospitality, retail, restaurant, and similar industries). Throughout the process of putting together a proper labor schedule, managers will double check staff member availability, look over the request logs, modify personnel training and capabilities, take into account local/state/federal and corporate regulations, revise staff member work preferences, consider overtime, and certify minimum work hours will be met, all while staying within the budgets and other various business requirements! All together, the scheduling process frequently takes up 10% of a manager’s time weekly, costing the establishment several hundred dollars every week, if not more!

Changing the employee schedule uses manager time

Besides building the schedule, managers often edit the schedule on a daily basis. Staff members’ availability may change. Shift swapping is also commonplace in many industries and demands that a manager spends time on each trade. Managers may use a shift or request log for shift swaps that the employees initiate. Managers cannot watch for theft, communicate with customers, perform quality control, or train new hires at the establishment if they are in the back-office all day putting together and editing the work schedule.

To ensure that management spends time wisely, use technology devices to carry out many tasks. Software, such as TimeForge, improves employee retention and lessens the amount of time that building the schedule takes up. TimeForge includes various supplementary tools that will help managers in time management, including payroll processing, a daily manager log book, and other various tools – like easily approving shift swaps!

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