F&B

One of the things that Singapore’s most well-known for is its food and beverage or F&B industry. This is the island where a hawker stall once earned a Michelin star. But it’s not all stars and rainbows on the horizon for F&B businesses here. With a year-on-year decline in F&B sales of 26% in 2020 and continued uncertainty ahead thanks to the pandemic, there are clear challenges for any F&B business owner. Fortunately, there are many strategies available for overcoming those challenges. Among other things, business owners can strengthen their human resource management. Doing so is beneficial for any business, as it keeps the many parts of the organisation aligned in pursuit of common goals. It makes for an efficient and effective organisation. Today, the task of human resource management has to deal with new issues. A shift to the digital age, remote work, and the like are all realities today… which is part of why even human resource management has turned digital. Cloud-based HRM software is now one of the chief tools business owners can wield in this area. If you’re not sure if you need one in particular, then let’s go over some of the signs that you do: Your HR team may show signs of low productivity during salary periods They may take a lot of time to disburse wages due to complexities of figuring out the appropriate figures for each worker, for instance. This usually happens when there’s a wide range of part-time and full-time employees or employees with different levels and positions. That may mean differing hours, pay grades, and so on. When this happens, getting rid of your antiquated payroll system is usually the better way to go. Simply automate or streamline the process with an HRM that can keep track of salaries better than an entirely manual system. Never-ending pain points If you seem to have a list of never-ending pain points, it may be a sign that your HR isn’t able to handle your operations smoothly. Especially for a business that’s still growing, this may mean regularly outgrowing current business practices and tools. There are so many things to manage in a business, from recruitment and training to incorporating employees in the system. Then there’s the matter of recording leaves, claims, payroll, etc. The policies for those things can shift as a business ages and evolves. If your current system can’t cope with the growing or changing demands of your business, you may need HR software to fill in the gap. Trouble keeping up with compliance requirements With the frequently changing compliance guidelines and employee regulations, it’s key that any F&B HR department keeps up to date on myriad rules. Otherwise, it could very well fall into serious trouble. Some oversights may even lead to legal issues… or even the closure of your business. That’s the last thing you want for something you worked hard to build and grow. Luckily, it’s not something you need to struggle with too hard if you have capable HR software. The better examples of such software aren’t just flexible enough to adjust easily to regulatory changes: they’re even updated by developers so certain regulatory changes reflect immediately in your policies. Confusion of processes Just as it’s important to consistently produce the best quality of food and drinks your business is able to provide, you know how important management is when it comes to maintaining that quality. Processes and standard operating procedures have to be clear and enforced for a consistent, high-quality experience. That applies to everything from inventory management (which obviously affects food quality and hygiene, as well as availability) to order processing (which affects service quality). If your HR has trouble with that, you can use HR software to make it easier. That’s because it can help you keep track of processes and policies while streamlining them. Having a high turnover rate Have a high turnover rate in your workforce? That may come down to messy workforce management, interestingly enough. That’s because this can lead to confusion in scheduling, poor employee engagement, duty manager problems, lower service quality, and more. It means having to retrain new employees regularly, which can take a serious toll on resources. And of course, all of this can affect your business’s reputation. So that you’re not left during a busy dinner shift with barely any employees and the remaining ones running around in a frenzy, get HR software with a strong attendance feature. Having a good attendance rostering system will help! Conclusion An F&B business faces quite a few challenges in Singapore today, especially where its HR is concerned. But as you can see, several of them can be addressed quite effectively by good HR software. Modern HR software can make an F&B business owner’s life much simpler by automating and streamlining a lot of traditionally manual tasks. These range from complex payroll calculations to regulatory compliance checks. All of it is about strengthening your HR department’s capabilities to suit your specific situation. Software like Adaptive Pay, for instance, can allow an extremely lean HR department to manage a fairly large team. Yet, it can also function capably as HR software for startups in the industry with only a handful of employees. Ultimately, software of this type is the future of HR as the world grows increasingly more integrated with the digital realm. F&B businesses seeking to survive and thrive in this new world should take note.