Understanding labor standards

A labor standard is the amount of time required to complete a task or set of tasks while meeting the minimum quality requirements. Standards provide a tool for consistent performance that can be tracked and measured. These established standards also provide defined direction to employees, so that employees know how their performance is measured. For example, a standard might be the number of rooms that a housekeeper should complete in a shift to meet the expectations set by the property, or it could be the number of covers that a server should handle in a meal period while still providing an expected level of service.

Labor standards must be established for each job and are the basis for determining how long it takes to perform tasks associated with a specific job. Properties often perform a study to record the average time an employee takes to complete a task. Once the standards are determined, the labor standards are associated with KBIs. Standards can be shift related, task-based, and/or spread related.

How are standards developed?

Standards are developed through several different means. Most commonly, standards are established through historical analysis of hours and volumes to determine how the operation has performed to date. While this provides a baseline approach, more data is required to achieve the most accurate measurements.

The most accurate standards are developed through processes involving task lists, actual observations of work, and times to complete this work. The completed tasks are followed up with checklists detailing that the work has been completed to a level of acceptance set by the property.

Once a property is confident in their measurements, they can attach the defined standards to KBIs. KBIs are the key business indicators on which all staffing guidelines are built. They are countable factors, which, either alone or in combination with other KBIs, assist in calculating staffing needs to meet the appropriate work standards. For example, a KBI for a morning coffee break is a relevant variable for the Stewarding job that performs this task. When you create the labor standards for this job, you attach this KBI and any others that are relevant.

Note: Every job must have at least one KBI attached. 

RMS uses historical data to identify the percentage of a KBI that ordinarily occurs at any time, on any day. RMS then calculates the staffing needs and schedules employees to meet demand according to labor standards.

Types of labor involved in standards

Labor standards can be based on combinations of different types of work. The most common types are referred to as fixed and variable. Fixed work is a set number of tasks and time required, regardless of any increase or decrease in volumes associated with the work. For example, there is a set amount of cleaning required to open the doors for any level of business. This cleaning, which is not based on any predicted business level, is referred to as fixed.

Another example of fixed labor is the amount of work required to prepare a kitchen before mealtime. The kitchen has a set amount of preparation that must take place to open the doors of the restaurant. After that, the work becomes variable according to how many guests are present for the meal.

Unlike fixed work, variable work might not need to be completed if no volume is predicted. For example, cleaning a guest room is purely variable work. If no one stays in the room, there is no need to clean it. (There are always exceptions, but the general rule is that this is variable work.)

In RMS, numerous combinations of fixed and variable work types can be used when building standards for different jobs. In addition to the different types of labor, standards can be based on the many different measurements. The following are the most commonly used:

  • None—This standard is used for support positions such as accounting and human resources where shifts are not dependent on guest demand. Standards are based on total hours in the workday.

  • Minutes per Unit—Number of minutes required to complete a task. For example, this standard is often used in restaurants to designate how many minutes a server devotes to a cover (or per guest). This standard can also be used for kitchen work, such as the number of minutes needed to prepare a meal.

  • Hours per Unit—Number of hours required to complete a task. Hours per unit is used in a similar way to minutes per unit. 

  • Units per Hour—Number of tasks that can be completed in one hour. This standard might be used to determine the number of rooms that a housekeeper cleans per hour.

  • Units per Shift—Number of tasks that can be completed in one shift. This standard is used frequently in housekeeping to allot room attendant work. For instance, the standard might be 16 credits per shift or 15 rooms per shift.

  • Volume Ranges—Ranges can also be used, especially in banquet situations, to allocate a fixed number of hours for ranges of volumes. For instance, 1-25 covers might take 8 hours of cook time while 26-50 covers might take an additional 4 hours, or 12 hours total. This is a good method when increases in volume do not necessarily require increases in labor.

As a manager or supervisor, you must immediately communicate with the system administrator if any operating changes take place in your department, for example, if your restaurant's operating hours have changed or if a  remodeling of guest rooms necessitates revised cleaning procedures. If changes are not communicated and discussed, the operations will have less than desirable information on the daily and weekly reports.