From Chaos to Control: Choosing the Best HR Tech for Your Restaurant

Running a restaurant is demanding, and managing people adds another layer of complexity. From hiring and scheduling to payroll and compliance, the right HR technology can make a world of difference. But with so many options, how do you know which one is right for your business? As a team of hospitality HR experts, we’ve helped countless restaurants navigate these decisions—here’s our guide to making the right choice. 

Identify Your Biggest HR and Payroll Challenges 

Before you dive into the solutions, take some time to pinpoint the issues your restaurant faces. Are you struggling with fragmented communication, messy scheduling, payroll errors, or compliance concerns? Knowing your pain points – really knowing them – will help you focus on the features that matter most. 

For example, one of our clients, an F&B team within a busy New York City hotel, found one of their biggest pain points was the large number of manual time edits processed with payroll each week. They selected an HR Information System (HRIS) that integrated with their time tracking system and enabled employees to review and approve their own timecards, saving their HR team and operations hours per week and reducing payroll inaccuracies and overpayments by thousands.

Prioritize Must-Have Solutions

Once you understand your needs, look for technology that addresses them directly and deliberately (and not as an afterthought). Spoiler alert – a perfect solution unfortunately doesn’t exist, so it’s a matter of choosing what matters most to you and your team and combining multiple technologies to achieve the best possible solution. Essential solutions to consider include:

• Scheduling: Helps manage shifts and reduce conflicts.
• Timekeeping: Tracks working time.
• Staff Communication: Transfers key information to employees in an accessible, timely manner.
• Payroll & Compliance Support: Ensures accurate payments and labor law adherence.
• HR Information System (HRIS): Manages employee workflows, like onboarding, and stores employee documents.
• Employee Self-Service: Gives staff access to schedules, pay stubs, and benefits.
• Applicant Tracking: Simplifies hiring and onboarding.
• Learning Management: Hosts training materials and monitors training completion.

Think about what would make life easier for both you and your team. If your restaurant sees a lot of seasonal hires, an applicant tracking system that speeds up onboarding might be a priority. If payroll errors are eating into your time, an integrated payroll and compliance tool that specializes in hospitality is a must. And if your staff keeps “accidentally” swapping shifts at the last minute, a system with automated approvals could save you from weekly scheduling chaos.

Integration, Ease of Use & Support

Your HR technology should work seamlessly with your existing systems—POS, accounting, or scheduling software. It also needs to be user-friendly, especially for busy managers and employees. Look for platforms with strong customer support to ensure a smooth transition. And ask your teams, colleagues and trusted experts which platforms they are familiar with and have good track records – having a trusted champion involved could make transitioning to a new tool much easier for your team.

One of our clients, a family-owned restaurant with an experienced and long-tenured management team, had recently chosen an HR system so feature-rich and robust that it required a certain tech-savviness and intensive training just to learn the basics. As a result, they did not fully utilize the new system and did not know how to activate many of the features. After struggling to set it up for months, they switched to a simpler, more intuitive system that could be mastered in just a few days, reducing frustration on their team and allowing them to use many of the available features.

Consider Cost vs. Scalability

Choose a solution that fits your budget today and can grow with your business. Some platforms charge per employee, while others offer flat-rate pricing. As mentioned, we’ve seen many restaurants waste money on overly complex systems—so finding the right balance is important.

Unlike our family-owned client, a growing restaurant group we worked with initially chose a budget-friendly HR system, only to find less than a year later that it couldn’t scale with their expanding team. They ended up transitioning to a more robust solution the next year, costing extra time and money. Thinking long-term from the start – and factoring in the long-term strategic roadmap for your company – can save you headaches down the road. And let’s face it—no one enjoys explaining to the team why “we have to switch systems again.”

Trust the Experts

We know that no two restaurants are the same, and finding the right HR technology can feel overwhelming. That’s why working with industry experts—ahem—can make the process much easier. Whether you’re a small café or a multi-unit operation, having a partner who has lived many lives in the hospitality world can make all the difference. We’ve seen enough to know which solutions work great during the sales demo, and which ones work great in the real world when you need them.

Overall, by identifying your challenges, prioritizing key features, and seeking expert guidance, you can make a confident choice that sets your restaurant up for success. This will make the management of your restaurant’s HR functions smoother, more efficient, and—most important—less stressful.