Kronos® Announces Kronos for Dining

Business Wire, May 16, 2008

Offering of software and services helps restaurants deliver superior guest service by effectively hiring and managing the best staff

CHELMSFORD, Mass. -- Dining industry executives increasingly believe that attracting repeat business and driving same-store sales has a direct correlation to the workforce. To enable leading restaurants to hire and manage the best front-of-house and back-of-house staff and deliver superior, consistent guest service, Kronos([R]) Incorporated launched Kronos for Dining.

Kronos for Dining is a comprehensive offering of software and services designed to improve customer service, reduce labor costs, improve employee satisfaction, and ensure compliance. Kronos helps leading restaurants recruit and retain the best people, forecast and schedule to meet customer demand, track time and attendance, and manage absences. The solution is supported by a dedicated team of experts who deliver deep domain knowledge and industry best practices.

Kronos for Dining helps restaurants deliver superior customer service, reduce labor costs, and help mitigate compliance risk by giving managers the tools and information they need to:

* easily recruit, select, and hire best-fit employees for existing and new locations

* create schedules based on projected customer volume and staff availability to reduce understaffing while increasing productivity and morale

* enhance workplace satisfaction to motivate teams that increase table turns, up-selling, and customer loyalty to grow revenues and profits

* gain clear views of overall operations, allowing managers to control labor costs by optimizing the use of front- and back-of-house staff

* automate compliance tasks, reducing liability and enabling managers to focus more time on meeting the needs of guests, staff, and business

Recruit, select, and hire top talent

Recruiting, selecting, and hiring best-fit employees is a tall task in dining. Leading restaurants are turning to the recruiting application within Kronos for Dining to forecast on-the-job behaviors using behavioral and environmental fit assessments to hire the best people. In addition, restaurants are using Kronos for Dining to automate manual aspects of their distributed hiring process, such as candidate sourcing, screening, interviewing, hiring, and onboarding.

"The importance of hiring best-fit employees will be amplified as the labor shortage looms in the dining industry," said Kara Barker, director of hospitality marketing at Kronos. The dining industry, which provides work for 12.5 million individuals in the U.S., is projected to rise to 14.8 million by 2017.

Drive same-store sales

Restaurants must be laser-focused on increasing same-store sales, which is dependent upon driving repeat business. Many factors -- such as quality of food, price, and location -- impact a customer's dining experience and likelihood of returning. Research indicates that the most important factor is quality of service. Kronos for Dining helps restaurants not only hire top talent, but also ensures that the right people with the appropriate skills are working at the right places at all times, which can lead to an enhanced guest experience, and, ultimately, increased sales.

Cut costs and protect operational margins

Increases in payroll expenses as a result of federal- and state-mandated raises in minimum wage are escalating the price of goods and services in the dining industry. Kronos for Dining helps alleviate declining operational margins by reducing hiring expenses related to improved turnover; reduces the cost to hire and time to hire; lessens over-scheduling and payroll inflation; and minimizes costly reliance on float pools and overtime pay. The solution also reduces buddy punching, payroll errors, and unauthorized time off.

Mitigate non-compliance risks

The risks of non-compliance are high in the restaurant business. Non-compliance with a wide array of labor-related laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which govern the use of minors, can cost millions in lawsuits, settlements, penalties, and fines. Kronos for Dining helps to mitigate this risk by automatically enforcing policies uniformly across an organization; automatically validating employee time punches against appropriate shifts, breaks, and meals; and applying and enforcing attendance policies, paid time off, and leave.

Kronos in dining

Kronos has been providing solutions to help organizations manage their workforce for more than 30 years. Leading organizations such as Caribou Coffee, Claim Jumper, Krispy Kreme, McMenamins, and Original Roadhouse Grill depend on Kronos' expertise to empower them to effectively manage their workforce.

"The dining industry faces many challenges, most important of which is providing fast and friendly guest service while keeping labor costs and compliance in check," said Barker. "Kronos is the ideal software and services bundled offering for both full- and limited-service restaurants who want to hire the best people and maximize their performance."