Scheduling at Hard Rock Café Whether it's scheduling nurses at Mayo Clinic, pilots at Southwest Airlines, classrooms at UCLA, or servers at a Hard Rock Cafe, it's clear that good scheduling is important. Proper schedules use an organization's assets (1) more effectively, by serving customers promptly, and (2) more efficiently, by lowering costs. Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios, Orlando, is the world's largest restaurant, with 1,100 seats on two main levels. With typical turnover of employees in the restaurant industry at 80% to 100% per year, Hard Rock General Manager Ken Hoffman takes scheduling very seriously. Hoffman wants his 160 servers to be effective, but he also wants to treat them fairly. He has done so with scheduling software and flexibility that has in- creased productivity while contributing to turnover that is half the industry average. His goal is to find the fine balance that gives employees financially productive daily work shifts while setting the schedule tight enough so as to not overstaff between lunch and dinner. The weekly schedule begins with a sales forecast. "First, we ex- amine last year's sales at the cafe for the same day of the week," says Hoffman. "Then we adjust our forecast for this year based on a variety of closely watched factors. For example, we call the Orlando Convention Bureau every week to see what major groups will be in town. Then we send two researchers out to check on the occupancy of nearby hotels. We watch closely to see what concerts Video Case are scheduled at Hard Rock Live-the 3,000-seat concert stage next door. From the forecast, we calculate how many people we need to have on duty each day for the kitchen, the bar, as hosts, and for table service." Once Hard Rock determines the number of staff needed, serv- ers submit request forms, which are fed into the software's linear programming mathematical model. Individuals are given priority rankings from 1 to 9, based on their seniority and how important they are to fill each day's schedule. Schedules are then posted by day and by workstation. Trades are handled between employees, who understand the value of each specific shift and station. Hard Rock employees like the system, as does the general man- ager, since sales per labor-hour are rising and turnover is dropping. Discussion Questions* 1. Name and justify several factors that Hoffman could use in forecasting weekly sales. 2. What can be done to lower turnover in large restaurants? 3. Why is seniority important in scheduling servers? 4. How does the schedule impact productivity? *You may wish to view the video that accompanies this case before answering the questions.
Scheduling at Hard Rock Café Whether it's scheduling nurses at Mayo Clinic, pilots at Southwest Airlines, classrooms at UCLA, or servers at a Hard Rock Cafe, it's clear that good scheduling is important. Proper schedules use an organization's assets (1) more effectively, by serving customers promptly, and (2) more efficiently, by lowering costs. Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios, Orlando, is the world's largest restaurant, with 1,100 seats on two main levels. With typical turnover of employees in the restaurant industry at 80% to 100% per year, Hard Rock General Manager Ken Hoffman takes scheduling very seriously. Hoffman wants his 160 servers to be effective, but he also wants to treat them fairly. He has done so with scheduling software and flexibility that has in- creased productivity while contributing to turnover that is half the industry average. His goal is to find the fine balance that gives employees financially productive daily work shifts while setting the schedule tight enough so as to not overstaff between lunch and dinner. The weekly schedule begins with a sales forecast. "First, we ex- amine last year's sales at the cafe for the same day of the week," says Hoffman. "Then we adjust our forecast for this year based on a variety of closely watched factors. For example, we call the Orlando Convention Bureau every week to see what major groups will be in town. Then we send two researchers out to check on the occupancy of nearby hotels. We watch closely to see what concerts Video Case are scheduled at Hard Rock Live-the 3,000-seat concert stage next door. From the forecast, we calculate how many people we need to have on duty each day for the kitchen, the bar, as hosts, and for table service." Once Hard Rock determines the number of staff needed, serv- ers submit request forms, which are fed into the software's linear programming mathematical model. Individuals are given priority rankings from 1 to 9, based on their seniority and how important they are to fill each day's schedule. Schedules are then posted by day and by workstation. Trades are handled between employees, who understand the value of each specific shift and station. Hard Rock employees like the system, as does the general man- ager, since sales per labor-hour are rising and turnover is dropping. Discussion Questions* 1. Name and justify several factors that Hoffman could use in forecasting weekly sales. 2. What can be done to lower turnover in large restaurants? 3. Why is seniority important in scheduling servers? 4. How does the schedule impact productivity? *You may wish to view the video that accompanies this case before answering the questions.
Chapter1: Taking Risks And Making Profits Within The Dynamic Business Environment
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1CE
Related questions
Question
![Scheduling at Hard Rock Café
Whether it's scheduling nurses at Mayo Clinic, pilots at Southwest
Airlines, classrooms at UCLA, or servers at a Hard Rock Cafe,
it's clear that good scheduling is important. Proper schedules use
an organization's assets (1) more effectively, by serving customers
promptly, and (2) more efficiently, by lowering costs.
Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios, Orlando, is the world's
largest restaurant, with 1,100 seats on two main levels. With
typical turnover of employees in the restaurant industry at 80%
to 100% per year, Hard Rock General Manager Ken Hoffman
takes scheduling very seriously. Hoffman wants his 160 servers
to be effective, but he also wants to treat them fairly. He has
done so with scheduling software and flexibility that has in-
creased productivity while contributing to turnover that is half
the industry average. His goal is to find the fine balance that
gives employees financially productive daily work shifts while
setting the schedule tight enough so as to not overstaff between
lunch and dinner.
The weekly schedule begins with a sales forecast. "First, we ex-
amine last year's sales at the cafe for the same day of the week,"
says Hoffman. "Then we adjust our forecast for this year based
on a variety of closely watched factors. For example, we call the
Orlando Convention Bureau every week to see what major groups
will be in town. Then we send two researchers out to check on the
occupancy of nearby hotels. We watch closely to see what concerts
Video Case
are scheduled at Hard Rock Live-the 3,000-seat concert stage
next door. From the forecast, we calculate how many people we
need to have on duty each day for the kitchen, the bar, as hosts,
and for table service."
Once Hard Rock determines the number of staff needed, serv-
ers submit request forms, which are fed into the software's linear
programming mathematical model. Individuals are given priority
rankings from 1 to 9, based on their seniority and how important
they are to fill each day's schedule. Schedules are then posted by
day and by workstation. Trades are handled between employees,
who understand the value of each specific shift and station.
Hard Rock employees like the system, as does the general man-
ager, since sales per labor-hour are rising and turnover is dropping.
Discussion Questions*
1. Name and justify several factors that Hoffman could use in
forecasting weekly sales.
2. What can be done to lower turnover in large restaurants?
3. Why is seniority important in scheduling servers?
4. How does the schedule impact productivity?
*You may wish to view the video that accompanies this case before
answering the questions.](/v2/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.bartleby.com%2Fqna-images%2Fquestion%2F990e2519-8241-488a-b2ee-5f9ae2efd0c7%2F9163bcdb-5bac-4e4c-b8bc-b89bced1a759%2Fuw0ions_processed.png&w=3840&q=75)
Transcribed Image Text:Scheduling at Hard Rock Café
Whether it's scheduling nurses at Mayo Clinic, pilots at Southwest
Airlines, classrooms at UCLA, or servers at a Hard Rock Cafe,
it's clear that good scheduling is important. Proper schedules use
an organization's assets (1) more effectively, by serving customers
promptly, and (2) more efficiently, by lowering costs.
Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios, Orlando, is the world's
largest restaurant, with 1,100 seats on two main levels. With
typical turnover of employees in the restaurant industry at 80%
to 100% per year, Hard Rock General Manager Ken Hoffman
takes scheduling very seriously. Hoffman wants his 160 servers
to be effective, but he also wants to treat them fairly. He has
done so with scheduling software and flexibility that has in-
creased productivity while contributing to turnover that is half
the industry average. His goal is to find the fine balance that
gives employees financially productive daily work shifts while
setting the schedule tight enough so as to not overstaff between
lunch and dinner.
The weekly schedule begins with a sales forecast. "First, we ex-
amine last year's sales at the cafe for the same day of the week,"
says Hoffman. "Then we adjust our forecast for this year based
on a variety of closely watched factors. For example, we call the
Orlando Convention Bureau every week to see what major groups
will be in town. Then we send two researchers out to check on the
occupancy of nearby hotels. We watch closely to see what concerts
Video Case
are scheduled at Hard Rock Live-the 3,000-seat concert stage
next door. From the forecast, we calculate how many people we
need to have on duty each day for the kitchen, the bar, as hosts,
and for table service."
Once Hard Rock determines the number of staff needed, serv-
ers submit request forms, which are fed into the software's linear
programming mathematical model. Individuals are given priority
rankings from 1 to 9, based on their seniority and how important
they are to fill each day's schedule. Schedules are then posted by
day and by workstation. Trades are handled between employees,
who understand the value of each specific shift and station.
Hard Rock employees like the system, as does the general man-
ager, since sales per labor-hour are rising and turnover is dropping.
Discussion Questions*
1. Name and justify several factors that Hoffman could use in
forecasting weekly sales.
2. What can be done to lower turnover in large restaurants?
3. Why is seniority important in scheduling servers?
4. How does the schedule impact productivity?
*You may wish to view the video that accompanies this case before
answering the questions.
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