The flow of business in the hospitality industry is erratic. At times during the day there are few customers or guests; at other times there are lines of people waiting to be served or to check in. At times, then, employees have nothing productive to do, yet they are being paid for their time. The idea of storing employee labor is to utilize the employee's time when demand is low in ways that will contribute to the organization when business is brisk.
Find slack time
The first step in this process is to determine whose time is slack at what periods. This can be accomplished through observation. Which employees are standing around; when is that occurring?
Planning in advance
Advance planning is necessary to utilize properly the slack time that has been identified. Advance planning of menus, for example, might reveal that a particular entree to be served in a few days requires a great deal of pre- preparation. Slack time could be used, say, to steam cabbage leaves in preparation for stuffed cabbage rolls. Servers could fold napkins for a major banquet the following day. The key is knowing what is ahead and using slack time to carry out tasks in order to save time later.
Preparation and storage constraints
Employee labor can be stored only within quality and safety constraints in the preparation and storage of certain items. Food items cannot be prepared too far in advance, for fear of spoilage. Flower centerpieces for a function will wilt if put together too far ahead of the occasion.
Within the constraints of quality and safety, though, management can identify who has any slack time and, with knowledge of short-term future events, can put that slack time to productive use. The products of the employees' efforts are then stored until the demand for them occurs. The employees' labor, thus, is effectively stored.
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