The Au Sommet Place Ville Marie restaurant is Les Enfants Terribles’ first franchised location. It certainly stands out thanks to the impressive view it offers its clients from the 44th floor, one of Montreal’s highest points.
Both praised for its unique situation and typical Québécois fares, the restaurant has more than a hundred employees on its payroll, many of whom are students. From preparing food at 6 a.m. to closing at 11 p.m., many interdependent tasks must be coordinated daily, seven days a week.
Before / After (time per week)
Important Challenges
Before starting at Les Enfants Terribles, Martine was in charge of a much smaller restaurant. The scale of her new responsibilities quickly made her realize that Excel would not do the trick to manage a hundred and some employees.
The sheer number of requests made in person or by email would often lead to oversights. Each schedule change also had to be made by hand. The new schedule then had to be put up in the employee lounge and sent out by email. This was quite the time sink.
Time-Consuming Timesheets
Previously, the employees would clock on the restaurant’s POS (point of service). Although computerized, the system did not integrate the timesheets to the schedule. This means that Martine had to rewrite the clocked hours in the timesheets manually, then compare these to the planned hours. This time-consuming process could lead to mistakes. Managing extra hours was also challenging.
Ancient Means of Communicating
When there would be schedule changes or inconsistencies in the hours clocked, those concerned had to be contacted by phone or by email. On top of being time-consuming, Martine wasn’t always able to get in touch with everyone. Sometimes, the employees would swap shifts with one another without letting managers know, which could cause pay issues.
Ever Up-To-Date Schedules
Excel schedules are a thing of the past at Les Enfants Terribles. Nowadays, since all employee requests are managed on Agendrix, nothing gets past Martine. Upon verification and approval by a manager, the schedules are updated automatically, and the employees concerned are sent a mobile push notification. Those without a phone can simply use a computer.
One hour is all I needed to learn how to use Agendrix. I’m still shocked by how quickly I managed to publish my first schedule.
No more missed calls and ignored emails. This time saved now goes towards training and other tasks that are essential to the restaurant’s growth.
Convenient Timesheets
Instead of clocking in and out on the POS, the employees now use a tablet on which the Agendrix app is installed. Starting, break, and finishing times are transmitted to the timesheets integrated to the app automatically; Martine no longer has to transpose anything manually. After quickly validating work hours, she simply exports the timesheets to payroll. She can even generate a report to help her split tips evenly among all employees.
Respecting Employees
Agendrix helps with managing time constraints by enabling employees to submit their availability to managers. Martine can then simply build her schedule around these periods of availability. On top of making scheduling easier, this flexible approach builds up employee loyalty; better work-life balance ultimately improves staff retention.