Gaining Visibility Into Performance in Every Store

Since the growth of the first chain restaurants in the early 1900s, multi-unit operators have struggled with “visibility” across their operation – knowing which work is (or isn’t) happening in each store, if it’s being done right, or if it’s being done on time. Nowadays, news and information about poor customer experiences, food safety issues, and more have dramatically increased the importance of and risks associated with maintaining visibility across every location. 

Building a best-in-class operations execution strategy can help operators gain important insights into every store to not only get ahead of some of these risks but ultimately run their operation more effectively. But why is visibility into your operations so valuable, and how can operators accomplish this today?

Know and Verify What’s Happening in Every Store

Multi-unit operators are investing in new processes and technologies that not only make teams more productive and uplevel the quality of work, but also give ops leaders more visibility across the whole operation. Here are some of the key components:

1. Identify Common Issues and Trends 

Newer tools help identify trends and common issues across your stores. Common problem areas can be hard to identify if your field manager is relying on disjointed information (i.e. checklists and the occasional site visit) and sifting through the data can take weeks or even months to address. With a solution that helps gather all this information in one location, you can immediately identify trends and address wide-spread problems earlier with training opportunities.

2. Temperature Logs and other Food Safety Work

Food service workers are required to regularly log temperatures for food storage equipment. But what if an employee forgets to log the temperature or neglects sanitation issues? You’re looking at potential fines by the Health Department and, even worse, the spread of foodborne illnesses. Using tools that integrate with smart technology like sensors can help provide instant readings and temp logs so your staff can take action immediately if temperatures go out of range.

3. Identify Top Performers and Opportunities for Improvement

What if you could see which team members are going above and beyond so you could incentivize and reward them for their work? Or if you could better identify underperformers and know in exactly which areas they could use coaching and guidance to improve? This recognition can help improve engagement and increase retention, which is key to reducing high turnover.

With stricter and more transparent health inspections as well as the widespread availability of public opinions and photos, the impact on brand reputation has risen. A successful operations execution strategy can help provide greater visibility into all of your metrics across stores to tackle any problems when they arise and, in turn, keep your reputation in tact.

Want to learn more about measuring and maximizing operations execution at your stores? Download the Savvy Restaurant Operator’s guide here! It’s full of tips and helpful strategies on improving operations execution.