The Gratuity

Learning and Development Manager at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill Kevin Rufty and HotSchedules Learning and Technology Evangelist Angie Hubert sat down to discuss the importance of investing in your people, implementing a strong culture, and combating turnover.

Forecasting is often considered a cost savings exercise. The name of the game is reducing labor right? Not always. Restaurants who want to win in today's competitive environment should focus on providing an optimal guest experience that drives repeat traffic, higher check averages, and positive social media sentiment. We sat down with Dean Haskell of National Retail Concept Partners and Dylan Wattecamps of HotSchedules to discuss the benefits of Activity-Based Forecasting - a form of forecasting that takes your company's business rules and marries it with sales forecasting to generate a blueprint schedule for your stores. We talk about their roles in helping corporate teams drive business results through today's proven solutions. Dylan also explains where forecasting is headed and how next-generation technology can make your managers better at forecasting.

What's the difference between a "Growth Company" and a "Company that Grows?" A focus on the employee experience. That's exactly what we dug into when we sat down with Lean Hanson of Punch Bowl Social to discuss how her organization views growth and development - of footprint and people. Leah's operational background in restaurants and experience opening those first Punch Bowl Social locations was a perfect stepping stone into her role as Director of Training & Implementation. During the episode, you'll hear how she is building brand ambassadors through thoughtful and effective training and development programs that give their teams career growth paths as well as the autonomy to craft a unique experience for every Punch Bowl Social guest. 

Our 2018 HotSchedules' Spark Conference came to a close in late September. It was three days of learning and sharing between some of the restaurant industry's biggest brands. In this episode, we sat down with Anthony Mejia, VP of Technology for Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar. Don't be fooled by the 18-minute mark - Anthony and host Laura Price, cover off on quite a few topics including Anthony's expert view on how brands like Lazy Dog are taking advantage of cloud technology, back office platforms, as well as integration partners to design a successful technology ecosystem. They also touch on the employee technology experience and how that attracts and retains talent while keeping the business buzzing efficiently and effectively. To learn more about Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar, visit www.lazydogrestaurants.com. And stay tuned for more episodes recorded during our 2018 HotSchedules Spark Conference.