It comes as 69% of managers believe that employees are ‘more likely’ to call in sick during busy seasonal periods, with 55% admitting that it has a ‘negative impact’ on profits.
But while 66% said they have the right number of employees available to cover shifts, 45% would like to hire more permanent staff and 11% more people on zero hours contracts to “better manage fluctuations in staff requirements”.
This comes from HR and payroll provider MHR, who sought to uncover how the hospitality sector plans employee rotas in the run up to busy periods and cope with seasonal peaks in demand.
MHR business analyst, Stuart Price, commented: “Christmas is the busiest time of the year for the hospitality sector, so managers must optimise their rosters to meet seasonal demand and maintain exceptional customer service, while keeping a firm eye on the bottom line by minimising instances of overstaffing.
“Despite their best efforts to plan ahead, it seems managers accept that they are likely to experience a spike in employee absences.
“Most managers would choose to improve their situation by hiring more employees rather than investing in a workforce management system which would enable them to gain insight to create accurate rosters and react promptly to absences the moment they occur.”