Graduated Staffing

Scheduling crews to fit the stop-and-go pace of college foodservice demands special skill

By Margaret Sheridan, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 7/1/2003

Every foodservice operation has its busy seasons and its lulls, but nowhere are the peaks and valleys more pronounced than in college and university foodservice, where the entire customer base is prone to pack up and leave for holidays or spring break. Summers are another issue altogether.

Learning to manage cycles is a priority for campus foodservice professionals, who must find strategies that allow operations to hum during fast-paced periods but that also avoid job cuts in quiet times.

BENCHMARK ASSIST
Since his arrival at Northwestern University nearly two years ago, Sodexho USA Account Manager Tony Diar-Bakerli has charted student ebbs and flows to anticipate business swings from year to year. When the Evanston, Ill., campus runs full-tilt, 17 foodservice outlets with 360 employees serve 20,000 students, faculty and visitors daily. During summer, the population drops to 12,000. Thanks to 10-month contracts for full-time staff, Diar-Bakerli is able to maintain a smooth-running operation.

“Employees are scheduled to handle peaks, such as commencement week. They also know in advance when they will have vacation,’’ he says. Following the traditional lag after June commencement, the staff has nine days to gear up for the 10-week summer conference season.

“I benchmark data from three to four years to anticipate needs, including those of regular conference organizers. This allows me to accurately forecast for future expansion,’’ he says. Decisions to close units or reduce hours also are based on past traffic patterns.

“Manager training is key to handling college-traffic ups and downs,’’ Diar-Bakerli insists, and that means teaching managers to make decisions. “The goal is to have managers who analyze specific labor needs and make staffing decisions without asking various levels of management. A question we train managers to ask themselves is: ‘Can this employee be more valuable elsewhere? In the dishroom, wiping tables, in the kitchen?’”

Hiring right also helps Northwestern weather staffing challenges. About 90% of the full-time foodservice staff have prior restaurant experience and are accustomed to making a hectic schedule work. When the pressure’s on, Diar-Bakerli coaches managers to anticipate stress and to take 20-minute naps to recharge batteries.

A certain number of post-vacation no-shows are expected each year. In August, Diar-Bakerli sends letters to vacationing employees, checking their intentions to return. “If people don’t respond, we call,’’ he says.

To protect against unexpected turnover, he never stops interviewing potential employees. “We keep applicant names on file,” he explains. “I give loyal employees the first opportunity to fill the job, then reach for the candidate file.’’

CONSOLIDATE BUSINESS
The summer slump is no surprise for Eric Braun, director of dining services at Kansas State University in Manhattan. The majority of employees, on 10-month appointments, are off May to mid-August, when the campus shrinks from 22,000 students to 4,000, and the foodservice staff from 250 to 30. He consolidates work by focusing all operations at the student union.

Software that analyzes labor, sales and cost data helps Braun with scheduling. “After graduation, the campus is a ghost town. Hiring people for 10 months forces me to develop and maintain a core staff for slow times,” he says.

He also anticipates highs and lows in campus catering business, which contributes 40% to overall annual retail sales of $2.5 million. Summer weddings are a significant revenue source, with an average dozen weddings in June and three each in July and August. A designated catering staff of 75 is trained in white-glove service, pouring wine and crumbing tables.

Catering contracts also rise in April and May for year-end departmental banquets and commencement festivities. Unfortunately, the crush comes during final exams. “We’re flexible. If someone can spare only one hour here or there to work, that’s fine,’’ says Braun. Free meals, as well as wages, attract student workers. “If prime rib is on the guest menu, they get some too.’’

TALENT SEARCH
The University of Richmond in Virginia has a solid local reputation as a top employer, and that pays off for Diane Hardy, director of dining services. Since most students live on campus, it is easy to keep in touch with prospective employees. Student workers specify the shifts they want and Hardy’s computer system matches her needs with available names.

Catering contributes 13% to the school’s annual food-and-beverage sales of nearly $10 million. When pressed for labor to work catered events, Hardy has a clerical staffer “rattle the bushes” using e-mail and telephone to find willing temporary employees, she says. Keeping a list of high-school students who are able to work (usually children of faculty and administrative staff) also helps. Additionally, Richmond has a pool of professional servers and bartenders available to moonlight.

Computer programs aside, Hardy says there are no easy answers to the scheduling puzzle. “Workloads are not always consistent, nor is getting the right person with knowledge for the particular job. Doing table service is different than doing a buffet for 50. A professional can handle three tables with preset appetizers or salads. A student needs more training,’’ she says.

To attract more part-timers, she markets the value of the cross-training offered, noting that the abilities and skills to work multiple venues mean more money.

SUMMER SCHOOLED
Summer vacation and reduced residence-hall populations shrink Jeff Wold’s labor needs. The general manager of the Rotunda Dining Center, a complex of residences, cafes, dining and retail stores at Washington State University in Pullman, uses 17 managers instead of 25 to handle midsummer foodservice business.

He closes certain retail stores and reduces the number of food carts and kiosks. Chefs offer more all-you-can-eat buffets, reducing labor needs. Wold, a 19-year veteran of dining services, says computer software makes him a more efficient manager, a necessity considering that Rotunda alone accounts for $6 million of the school’s $15 million in annual foodservice revenues.

“We have more tools to keep track of purchases, costs and labor. Adding more venues means using employees to do multiple operations,” he explains. “We haven’t added more people. We just utilize them better.’’