Dear Bud the Manager,

Controlling labor costs is more critical than ever. In 2019, hotel labor costs per available room (PAR) were about 60% of RevPAR. In 2020, LaborPAR is now more than 87% of RevPAR. There is zero tolerance for inefficient labor cost management. Despite this, many hotels are still using the same shift schedules week after week even though occupancy is all over the place and static scheduling produces a lot of waste. It is time to dump the spreadsheet approach to labor planning and scheduling. Fortunately,PerfectLabor™ is the perfect solution to both perfect scheduling AND perfect cost forecasting.

Have you ever played the game Rose, Bud and Thorn? I learned this game after my daughter attended summer camp. We play it at the dinner table as a means for starting conversation. The “thorn” is a challenge you experienced or something you could use more support with. Scheduling is definitely a thorn if you aren’t a Hotel Effectiveness customer. The “bud” is a new idea or something to look forward to experiencing. I know you all want to bring more cash to the bottom line. This is definitely where PerfectLabor™ can help.  The “rose” is a highlight, success, something positive that happened. Let’s consider scheduling to forecast -- a beautiful Rose!

There are several additional benefits from using the PerfectLabor^™ scheduler.

1. Reduces the time required to create a perfect team schedule to a few minutes per week.
2. If forecasts are accurate and labor standards are up to date then it automatically ensures the hotel is not over- or under-staffed.
3. Ensures employees know when to report to work with clear, timely communications.

How does the forecast in the scheduler work? If Hotel Effectiveness is getting the forecast from your BI tool known as RevSync™ then the forecast will post automatically, but should be reviewed. If not, then the forecast is based on the same day last year and the most recent 8 week trend for the hotel's occupancy and ADR. A forecast will not be automatically generated for F&B. The F&B Manager or DOC should update these numbers each week prior to the forecast being approved and team members begin to schedule.

The Hotel Effectiveness^® HOPS - Schedule Cost (Group) summarizes key labor metrics, like CPOR, Labor Cost %, Scheduled OT, Hskp Minutes per Room Sold, for the upcoming work week for each hotel. The report compares forecasted occupancy and schedule hours for the upcoming work week to the previous week. If you are forecasting for the entire month then using the Monthly Halftime: Position Details report will identify positions that are currently losing or on track to lose against their Labor Standards.

Accurate labor forecasting can increase your hotel’s overall bottom line and success. Stop being a thorn and help your hotel achieve success by scheduling to forecast.

By the way, roses do not have thorns they have prickles. Rose prickles are used to help anchor rose branches into nearby plants. As roses grow they monopolize the sunshine, and the plants underneath starve and die.