If your restaurant labor is stuck above 30%, these simple scheduling and productivity shifts can drop your restaurant labor costs fast - without cutting wages or overworking staff.
In this episode of the Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast, multi-unit restaurant owner Andrew Scott breaks down proven restaurant labor management strategies that help operators reduce labor costs.
You’ll learn how to schedule smarter, increase productivity, and align staffing with sales volume so your restaurant runs leaner, smoother, and more profitably.
Tune in to hear about:
✅ Why your restaurant labor isn’t “too high”... something else is
✅ The ideal restaurant labor percentage for full-service vs quick-service
✅ How paying higher wages can actually lower your labor percentage
✅ Staggered start & end times to instantly reduce wasted labor hours
✅ How to schedule staff based on the data that matters
✅ The simple reason why overstaffing actually causes teams to work slower and get less done
✅ Daily checklists, prep windows, and operational standards that work
This episode shows you how to match restaurant staffing to sales, reduce waste, and build a more efficient operation using data and systems.
Key moments
00:00:45 Why your labor isn't high, your output is too low
00:02:25 Paying more to attract top performers
00:04:25 Staggered start and end times
00:06:25 Using a productivity calculator
00:09:05 Making cuts
00:10:45 Why over-staffed teams are slower
00:13:25 Creating artificial pressure
00:15:45 The daily checklist
00:17:45 Identifying anchor employees
If you're tired of bleeding money on labor while your team still feels overworked, this episode gives you the playbook to fix it.
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These proven strategies could transform your restaurant's bottom line.
✅ About Us ✅
The Restaurant Growth Accelerator Podcast is hosted by Andrew Scott - founder of OwnerShift Training.
Andrew successfully scaled his restaurant business to 4 locations while working a handful of hours each week. He’s since helped over 1000 restaurant owners increase their sales, profits, and free time - and he’d love to help you too.