Scheduling and workforce management for restaurants
4.3/5 (315 reviews)HotSchedules is an employee scheduling and workforce management application designed for use within restaurants, retail and hospitality industries, and other customer-facing businesses. The HotSchedules platform automates operational tasks such as scheduling, shift communication, reporting, forecasting, recruiting and training.
Users can manage time-off and shift-swap requests remotely using the native Android and iOS mobile apps, which are accessible to all employees. Store documents and employee information on a cloud-based database for access any time, anywhere. Use the HotSchedules Recruit tool to source and hire staff economically and the 'Schoox' tool to arrange training courses for employees.
Pros
The logbook feature, the advanced floor maps (which are an additional cost..), and the messaging feature.
Cons
Again the scheduling software is not very user friendly. Clearly there were some adjustments made that helped with writing a schedule, but not being able to view it as easily is frustrating.
Hey Carisa!
Thank you for the feedback. We apologize for the frustration you've been experiencing with our product and customer support services. Here is an article to an overview of the new scheduler that might be helpful.
https://help.hotschedules.com/hc/en-us/articles/218408118-HS-New-Scheduler-Overview
Please reach out if you are continuing to experience difficulty with the software.
The largest benefit was time management. I have a lot more time to do other things that improve our guest's experience, which is the bottom line of my job.
Pros
The communication side of it is great. I have less meetings now that I can send out mass messages. The scheduler itself is top notch. I can move shifts around quickly using the quick keys and copying schedules is a snap. Having the freedom to do my schedule anywhere and being able to approve or deny schedule changes from my phone makes those decisions more informed. We use it to document all incidents good and bad on employees, so when an evaluation comes around you have all that information at your fingertips. It makes a great reservation scheduler. The roster report is the first thing I print out in the mornings to make sure everyone is here and where they are supposed to be and if they are not I have all the phone numbers on that sheet. The fact that it gives you the number of hours for everyone helps with creating budgets for the week.
Cons
My biggest complaint is that part of the expense for the is put on the employee. I know it's very little but some employees don't have a bank account or credit card and have trouble making the purchase. It seems to me that the revenue generated by that could be built into the cost of the software on the employer side.
Overall its very good. I don't have much issue with it, but the UI could be definitely be better.
Pros
Hotschedules won our business by having the best Aloha POS integration of all the companies we spoke with. Employees that are added to our system are automatically synced with Hotschedules so you can quickly begin adding them to the schedule. The integration also allows us to restrict employees from clocking in too early or late with saves labor and allows you to quickly identify the less punctual employees. Finally, the integration also pulls historical sales data from our POS and uses it to establish a good sales forecast that you can use to budget your labor accurately.
Cons
The app and website are just not as intuitive and streamline as I would like. Previously we had used PeopleMatter schedule, which had a much less cluttered and more user friendly interface. Hotschedules also starts to think it knows how to schedule better than the manager and will start adding "House Shifts" to your schedule that employees can pick up, which frustrates me when I really don't need that shift covered.
One of the best scheduling websites I've ever seen or used.
Pros
As a user, I love how easy this product is. You can view your schedule, see who else is working, and swap and release shifts without an issue. It has an easy to use web browser, and mobile ap (although you do pay for it) so you can use hotschedules whichever way you prefer. It also has a great messaging system which allows you to message entire groups of people at once (management, kitchen, servers). It also tells you how many people are ahead of you on a wait list for a shift you picked up. The autopick up function is excellent as well for when you need to get a shift and non are available.
Cons
I am not a fan of the most recent update. Prior, you would be able to "see all schedule" and see the entire week, alphabetically, where everyone was working etc. Now however, you can't see the weekly schedule at once and you need to click day by day. This can be challenging when trying to swap shifts with other staff, or see others schedules.
I recently signed up for hotschedules for my business that opens up in March. The support staff was great and very knowledgable in questions I had for hotschedules.
Pros
I love that this software is more comman than it use to be. Most employees hired have heard or used hotschedules which makes the transition alot easier. Communication threw hotschedules makes this program a must for any business that has a decent sized staff
Cons
Software is great however it is a little pricey for what it does. Dont get me wrong its great but just a hair high
Anthony,
We know you're very busy, so thank you for taking time out of your day to provide us feedback. We appreciate your role in our community.
If you have any specific suggestions for product enhancements, please do not hesitate to voice your thoughts on our community forum page!
https://help.hotschedules.com/hc/en-us/community/topics/200388757-Feature-Requests
Happy Scheduling!
Contact HotSchedules for pricing information.
Below are some frequently asked questions for HotSchedules.
HotSchedules offers the following pricing plans:
Pricing model: Subscription
Free Trial: Available
Contact HotSchedules for pricing information.
HotSchedules offers the following features:
HotSchedules has the following typical customers:
Freelancers, Large Enterprises, Mid Size Business, Small Business
HotSchedules supports the following languages:
English, Spanish
HotSchedules has the following pricing plans:
Subscription
HotSchedules supports the following devices:
Android, iPhone, iPad
HotSchedules integrates with the following applications:
Aloha POS, DiscoverLink, Ordyx, Plate IQ, Toast POS, Upserve POS, Wisetail LMS
HotSchedules offers the following support options:
FAQs, Forum, Knowledge Base, Online Support, Phone Support
It is very difficult to get responses from customer support. It will take a day and up to 3 to hear anything back and that is in several different support groups. Also, the fact that you get shuffled from one type of support to another is quite frustrating. When you start you have 1 person that owns the majority of the experience.She was great! But once you get passed on to customer support it feels like you are lost.
I also have an issue with the scheduling functionality. It is impossible to view an entire day of a schedule either in the schedule or the template. There used to be a button at the top of the schedule that allowed you to see the entire day, who was scheduled in each station, all at a glance. The new functionality makes it incredibly difficult to manage the level of staff on a shift.