A new way to look at restaurant labor costs | Jim Taylor, BenchmarkSixty | 016

This episode was originally published as part of the Restaurant Growth Podcast. It has been rebranded as part of The Pre-Shift Podcast as of January 2023. The information presented may no longer be up-to-date and may differ from the viewpoints and insights currently shared on The Pre-Shift Podcast. The conventional methods of measuring restaurant labor cost—as a percentage of sales—are no longer enough to ensure success. One way to find success is to start measuring labor productivity—the number of customers your team can serve. We chat with Jim Taylor, founder of BenchmarkSixty, about why restaurants should be tracking labor productivity, the data you need how to do that and the huge impact it can have on your restaurant success. The Restaurant Growth Podcast is hosted by Dominick, “DJ” Costantino About Jim Taylor Before going into business for himself, Jim had a long and successful career with Cactus Club Cafe restaurants. Operating in multiple roles and several markets, Jim took a lead role in both the growth and financial strategies that helped make Cactus restaurants a household name in Canada. Jim is the creator of Benchmark Sixty - A one-of-a-kind restaurant financial optimization strategy designed for restaurateurs to dramatically increase their profit margins by understanding data, implementing benchmarks, and using metrics to improve productivity. This signature platform has helped hundreds of restaurants start on the right foot, land on their feet, or position for solid growth moving forward. It has also been battle-tested during the challenging Covid-19 restrictions. Using a proprietary strategy, Jim and his team work with restaurant operators to navigate the new normal of the restaurant industry where everything from wage structure to menu pricing and cost management have changed. Jim's business goals are focused primarily on doing what he can to improve the overall state of the restaurant industry. Having grown up in it and witnessing firsthand the challenges it and the people working in its face, he aspires to make it better for the next generation of restaurateurs. Ultimately Jim aims to "Change the way the entire restaurant industry looks at labor costs in order to protect profit AND employee experience." 00:36 Introduction 05:32 The traditional labor model 08:15 Results vs strategies 10:57 Measuring labor productivity 15:36 The data you need to use 20:41 How measuring labor productivity leads to a better employee experience 24:29 Improving productivity to raise pay Send us Fan Mail 📲 Connect with us Email us Follow on LinkedIn More 7shifts Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts Subscribe to Food Runner, our Monthly Restaurant Newsletter 7shifts on YouTube Follow us on TikTok Read the 7shifts Blog About Us 7shifts is the restaurant HR platform helping operators hire, train, schedule, pay, and retain their team in one place. With an easy-to-use platform and built-for-restaurant workflows, 7shifts replaces disconnected systems for 55,000 restaurants.