Our guide to ensure drama only happens on your screen or stage
Scheduling employees in your cinema, theatre, or event venue can be tricky.
You have varied show times, different roles for different events, and multiple areas to manage.
So how can you ensure that you are scheduling your employees in a way that works for you, for them, and for your customers?
That’s the question we’ll be answering in this article.
We’ll look first at why good scheduling can have a positive impact on your business.
Then we’ll dive into our tips to make sure that you’re equipped to make the best staffing decisions.
Why is it important to schedule staff correctly?
There are several reasons why scheduling your staff well can have a positive impact on your business. By understanding these, you will also be better placed to meet these aims.
Better customer service
First and foremost, having the right number of employees available at any given time will ensure that you are able to meet the needs of your customers.
And doing this is one of the best ways to set your business up for success! There are a lot of different roles your employees can carry out in your business.
Whether it’s selling tickets, answering queries, offering drinks and snacks, or setting up for the show, all of these provide opportunities to please your customers.
Having enough employees available to tackle any and all jobs in a timely fashion will ensure your visitors leave happy. Ensuring you have someone to sell drinks and snacks can be critical, since this makes up a significant proportion of a cinema's profit.
Cost efficiency
Equally, there will be times when you don’t have many customers around. Ever been to the cinema in the middle of the day and had the whole screen to yourself? In cases like this, it may be perfectly acceptable to have far fewer employees available.
It could even be the case that one person could handle much or all of the tasks on their own at slow times.
By limiting the number of employees you have present during these off-peak periods, you will save your business money by not paying wages to employees who aren’t needed there.
Engaged employees
Another effect of only scheduling the employees you need at any given time is that you won’t have bored employees lounging around. There is only so much you can do when there are no customers in.
And bored employees are likely to be less satisfied with their roles. That means they could end up more likely to leave and provide worse customer service, all while costing you money!
While you might be able to find some tasks that can be carried out when no one else is around, it may often be better to just have fewer people in at these times.
This will ensure that the employees who are working have more to do and stay engaged.
How to schedule your cinema or theatre employees
We’ve covered why smart scheduling is a good thing. But what do you need to bear in mind when scheduling your employees? How do you actually make a good schedule?
Match staffing levels to your event timetable
Luckily, in theatres and event venues, you often have a very clear timetable of when your quiet and busy periods will be. You’re unlikely to have dozens of customers wandering in when there are no shows on!
Cinemas have a slightly trickier time of it in that they do show films throughout the day, some of which are busy and others quiet.
In time, you will get a good sense for when your peak periods are and how many employees you need on at any one time.
Even if you’re not in personally for all these times, checking your sales records or asking employees can help you to understand the times when you’re not there. Trim your roster down for quiet spells and add extra hands for peak times.
Schedule flexibility to meet customer needs
Having employees that can carry out multiple roles is very important in these venues where staffing levels can vary so much. As discussed above, it’s perfectly possible for one person to handle almost every aspect of a cinema if there are only a few customers in.
Building flexibility into your employees by training and upskilling them, and scheduling flexibly can allow you to cover any circumstance.
Know your employees
Of course, to have the flexibility to adjust your rota to your demand, you need to understand when your employees are and aren’t available. Some might have care commitments, other jobs, or transport issues.
Be sure to stay up to date on your employees’ capabilities and limitations so you can schedule in a way that suits them and you.
With these tips in mind, you’re ready to schedule your cinema, theatre, or event space employees better than ever. Be sure to check out Findmyshift’s features for employee scheduling in the event space.