Smart Labor is an add-on feature that enhances your experience in R365 with its ability to forecast Labor smarter through advanced configurations. Enabling Smart Labor in your instance will include the additions of the Labor Matrix for constructing the Labor configuration specific to your Organization and Hourly Forecasting so that you can forecast the exact amount of Employees needed per hour each day.


Once a Labor Forecast is created, additional widgets and graphs are included in both the Labor Dashboard and Operations Dashboard to display Actual and Scheduled Labor against Forecasted Labor for a deep dive into Labor efficiency at your Restaurant Locations.


Keep a better eye on Labor and drive down Labor costs with Smart Labor!


Note: This feature works in conjunction with the Smart Ops Release.


Smart Labor Features


When Smart Labor is enabled for your Organization, the following features are enabled in the Admin Page (Labor Matrix), Forecasting List (Hourly Forecasting), Operations Dashboard, and Labor Dashboard within Smart Operations.



Admin Page - Labor Matrix



The Labor Matrix is one of the most powerful additions of Smart Labor. The Labor Matrix is the foundation of your Organization's Labor configuration and is where details about Labor are maintained and coincide with the Hourly Forecasts made each day for a more accurate look at Labor based on your specific Organization's needs.


Learn more about the Labor Matrix.



Forecasting List - Hourly Forecasting



Once a Labor Matrix is configured, creating an Hourly Forecast from a set Daily Forecast can show you exactly how many Employees are needed per hour based on the forecasted Sales for that hour. The forecasted Sales amount comes from an advanced algorithm that looks at the amount of Sales made each Operating Hour of each week day for the past eight weeks.


Learn more about this advanced algorithm and the Hourly Forecast.



Operations Dashboard


The Labor Metrics widget and the Hourly Labor Analysis graph are added to the Operations Dashboard when Smart Labor is enabled.



Labor Metrics Widget



This contains two gauge-style graphs that will adjust the needle to visually match their listed metrics. These metrics are:

  • Optimal Labor Variance- The total Labor variance for the day. Future days will be grayed out with no results displayed while historical days will display the total Labor variance for the day. The gauge will initially be centered on a '0' variance but will be adjusted based on the Labor variance. This gauge will range between 0 and +/-10 in the following color-code: 
    • Green - Less than (+/-) 1 
    • Yellow - Between (+/-) 1.01 and (+/-) 5 
    • Red- More than (+/-) 5 
      • Note: If the variance exceeds the (+/-) 10 range, the needle will remain at the limit of the gauge and the numerical value will display the true variance
  • Labor % of Sales- This displays the Unburdened Labor percentage of Sales with the gauge centered on the Goal % for the Location and a range of (+/-) 10 from the center (Goal %). For future days, this will be grayed out with the Goal % displayed for the Location while the historical days will display the total Labor % of Sales for the entire day. This percentage will be color-coded as: 
    • Green - Less than (+/-) 2% 
    • Yellow - More than (+/-) 2% and less than (+/-) 5% 
    • Red- More than (+/-) 5% 
      • Note: If the Actual Labor % exceeds the (+/-) 10 range, the needle will remain at the limit of the gauge and the numerical value will display the true Labor %



Hourly Labor Analysis Graph



The Hourly Labor Analysis graph displays the Labor by hour. Each hour includes the variance in Actual versus Optimal Labor at the bottom of each hourly bar. When hovering over a point on the graph, a User will be able to view each of the four sets of data: 

  • Optimal Labor - This blue line graph displays the forecasted Labor for a given hour 
  • Forecasted Labor - This gray line displays the total amount of Employees forecasted to work. The amount of Employees scheduled to work is listed just below this amount for an easy comparison. This line graph can be easily displayed by clicking the menu barand checking 'Show Forecast'
    • Note: This will not be displayed by default. When displayed, a '0' will be listed if no forecast exists 
  • Overtime Hours - The striped section of an hour's bar graph, if any, displays the total amount of overtime hours worked that hour 
  • Actual Labor Hours- The solid color bars display the actual Labor for each hour. This will be listed as '0' if no forecast exists. These hours will be color-coded based on their variance with Forecasted Labor for the hour: 
    • Green - Less than 1 hour 
    • Yellow - Between Greater than or equal to 1 and less than 3 hours 
    • Red - More than 3 hours


Learn more about the Labor Metrics widget and the Hourly Labor Analysis graph.



Labor Dashboard


The Labor Analysis widget looks into how the forecasted, scheduled, and actual Labor compares for a set day or week. From this widget, Users can assess the variances for the top or bottom 5 Locations in Labor dollar, percentage, or hours. 


While this widget is already included in the Labor Dashboard, more Labor comparisons can be selected to show additional variances when Smart Labor is enabled for your database.  



Two additional analysis types, which can be selected from the widget title, will change the Labor comparison and, hence, the variances that are displayed in this box. Additional options include:

  • Forecasted vs Actual
  • Forecasted vs Scheduled


Learn more about the Labor Analysis report.