Growing Your Restaurant Franchise: HR Software Benefits and Features

Running multiple restaurants will never be easy, but you might be surprised how much restaurant franchise HR software can help. When managing a franchise, each location must be fully staffed and scheduled, policies and training need to be consistent, and employee data and comparison reporting must be available.

HR and payroll software for restaurant franchises takes some of your biggest challenges and turns them into opportunities. Streamline onboarding, scheduling, timekeeping, and payroll deductions for your restaurant with more efficient restaurant franchise HR software.

• Consistent communication across franchise

Everyone has to stay synchronized with specials and promotions. When key ingredients run low and absenteeism leaves you short staffed, nearby franchise locations can help each other out. Collaboration isn’t possible without reliable communication channels.

• Ensuring HR policies and supervision 

Whether the policies come from your own leadership team or corporate HQ, all the franchise locations need to be kept up to date. Clear, consistent policies help make sure that everyone is treated fairly across your different shifts and locations.

The Important Role of Restaurant Franchise HR Software

Once you track and manage orders with a POS, it’s hard to imagine going back to handwritten tickets. HR software has the same transformative power for processes far more complicated than food orders.

• Increased transparency and consistency

There’s no real benefit to secrecy when it comes to payments and company policies. Rumors and perceived unfairness can lead to discontent and liability issues. Pay transparency is legally required in some parts of the country, and it’s relatively easy for restaurants. Send out schedule updates and notifications directly to workers’ phones. 

• Easier communication and data sharing

Changing a menu item? Update the kitchen and wait staff at all locations at once. 

HR software gives you secure, mobile-friendly portals for workers to access benefits, employee handbooks, and company information. Send links to online training modules, and you can confirm when each worker completes the course.

• Automation of tedious tasks

So far, the news from the IT revolution is great: robots aren’t coming for most jobs. HR software automates the most repetitive and mind-numbing tasks. Streamline administrative chores like scheduling, time and attendance tracking, and payroll.

Key Features of Restaurant Franchise HR Software

Whatever provider you use, make sure that your chosen restaurant franchise HR software has the essential features for restaurants.

Comprehensive payroll & tax management

The IRS expects Form 8027 for restaurants with more than 10 tipped employees. Restaurant payroll software manages wages, deductions, and related paperwork automatically.

At Netchex, many of our restaurant clients run payroll for franchise locations in multiple states.

Advanced scheduling and timekeeping

A centralized system makes it easy to make sure shifts are fully covered and nobody is asked to work two places at once. When the same staff help at multiple franchise locations, their time punches and tips need to be tracked automatically.

Enhanced communication tools

Effective management depends on clear and consistent communication. HR software makes communication easier with dedicated channels and push notifications. In-app messaging keeps work life separate from personal correspondence.

Hiring and onboarding

Use an ATS to sort through applications and guide hiring decisions. HR software for restaurant onboarding tracks the completion of paperwork and training materials. You can even get new hires started remotely. Solutions like NetRecruiter and NetGuide have helped clients like Walk-On’s find and hire top talent.

Training and development

Inexperienced hires need more training than veterans, but everybody needs access to the material. Help onboard and get new employees started, or help tenured employees develop their careers. Quizzes at the end of training modules verify that key policies are understood.

Data insights and analytics

It’s easier than ever to collect information, but you need reporting and analytics to make sense of all that data. It’s often the unexpected trends that lead to surprising new insights.

Compliance with wage and employment laws

Use software to make sure you follow minimum wage laws, overtime and tipping laws. Besides local and state rules, you’ll also follow the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act), the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act), and food safety laws. 

Mobile functionality

Restaurant staff don’t spend all their free time on desktop computers at home. Mobile access lets workers check the schedule and work notifications while they’re running errands and enjoying time off. 

POS integrations

Track sales and reported tips to flag when the numbers are out of whack. New hires may try buddy punching and tricks that worked with their previous employer. Integrated software can follow individual workers through each order and shift. 

Netchex software integrations make your tools work better. Eliminate manual work, gain powerful insights, and streamline your processes through secure data sharing with other industry-leading solutions.

As we already know, running a single restaurant is hard enough. With three or four franchise locations, however, you should be getting more and more efficient. Don’t make managers duplicate the same manual tasks three of four times across locations. Nobody can make your job easy, but there’s no benefit to using outdated methods for handling payroll and scheduling. Automate your whole network with HR software for one integrated system. 

Discover how Netchex can help improve your new hire process with industry-specific restaurant onboarding software: