Technology
Screens and real-time data: A killer combo for enhancing operations
Bob Michelson, president at UPshow, reveals how brands can boost employee productivity, increase staff engagement/retention and achieve operational excellence.
November 23, 2020 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com
Most restaurant operators would agree this year has been one of the most challenging of their careers. The industry is positioned to lose $240 billion by year's end and has turned over two-thirds of the workforce in the last four months. But there is a bright spot amidst all this turmoil and change.
Although times are tough, Bob Michelson, president at UPshow, a customizable engagement platform that capitalizes on a business' existing screens to deliver better audience experiences, revealed ways that brands can boost employee productivity, increase staff engagement/retention and achieve operational excellence.
Increasing employee productivity
The key to increasing employee production is motivating them to sell more and higher-priced items. One way to do that is through back-of house TV screens that display a ranking of employee sales performance for specific items.
"Behavioral studies indicates that people change their behavior if they believe other people see their actions or that there's peer pressure," Michelson said.
Since the displays highlight real-time data, employees are highly motivated to change their behavior because they can impact results and their ranking.
"When we showed this to a fast casual burger chain, they said, 'You know what, we currently produce reports similar to this, but they have little impact, because unlike yours, our data have buried on a screen in tiny font and the report reflects historical data from yesterday, thus negating the opportunity for employees to be able to change their rankings and impact our goal of increasing sales.'"
Restaurants can create leaderboards to track multiple stores (e.g. all those owned by a franchisee or within a district) to create inner-franchisee competition with rankings like change in same-store sales or average ticket size. These reports engage all employees in a restaurant and create a culture of team-winning instead of always relying on servers and front-line workers to upsell. One casual dining restaurant and sports bar franchise, for example, showed its employees how each location performed in real-time and then awarded the top-performing locations.
Increasing operational excellence
Operations teams are always looking for ways to better engage employees and support them in making it easier to access data. Allowing employees to engage by scanning g QR codes with real-time data will help increase operational excellence, Michelson said.
Instead of requiring a clunky corporate intranet, for example, back-of-house screens simply display messaging alongside a QR code. Employees use the camera apps on their phones to scan the QR code to access training modules or other information about new menu items or LTOs quickly and simply.
"It's super-easy to access," Michelson said.
Also, QR codes make scheduling and trading shifts easy, which goes a long way in retaining employees. A company, for example, can set up a QR code to allow everyone to see which shifts are available.
"Employees love this," Michelson said. "This will be your employees' favorite tool."
The screens are also a great conduit for HR information, including benefits and vacation, to ensure that everyone receives the same messaging.
Another way to keep employees happy is to collect their feedback, and Michelson said polling them at least twice a month is a great way to spark loyalty. Employees who feel heard tend to stay longer.
One of the largest American fast food restaurant chains, for example, used QR codes alongside their messaging to offer employees the opportunity to vote on the charity that the chain should support next.
"We have a tool that enables you to set up these surveys in 10 minutes or less," Michelson said.
Finally, recognizing employees is as important as ever when it comes to driving employee satisfaction and keeping them employed.
"These screens are terrific tools to be able to recognize employees," Michelson said.
With these tools restaurants have the opportunity to do more than survive throughout these difficult times. With well-executed digital signage campaigns, restaurants can minimize losses and truly thrive.
About Cherryh Cansler
