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“goRoster gives a truer representation of what our costs really are.”Seth Hamilton, General Manager, The Pedal Pusher
The Pedal Pusher has been one of the success stories of Christchurch’s new hospitality scene.
Opening in 2012, it is now a favourite for locals wanting an escape from the rat race.
Seth Hamilton became its General Manager in 2015, after 20 years in hospitality. He had never used goRoster before starting at The Pedal Pusher. “My rostering system was a complicated spreadsheet that I sadly inherited from the last manager,” he says.
“The way I’ve done things in the past certainly had its drawbacks. My old rostering system, for example, never showed leave costs, holiday pay, ACC levies or Kiwisaver deductions as separate costs. That often threw our books out.”
Staying ahead of the pack
For Seth, one of the best features about goRoster is the ability to accurately estimate expected turnover for the week, over a holiday period, or for a specific event – like a major sporting event or concert at the nearby entertainment precinct.
“goRoster allows us to make notes on what’s coming up and refer to previous rosters to see what happened at similar times. It tells us the number of staff we require, front of house and kitchen costs, as well as estimated turnover. It means that we are always in control of things” says Seth.
Getting down to business
Seth says that goRoster gives a truer representation of what The Pedal Pusher’s costs actually are. “The system is customisable, which means we can calculate our turnover and business costs the way that works for us. Every business is different, so it’s great that goRoster helps us to run our business the way that works for us.”
Another Pedal Pusher will be opening in March and Seth says that goRoster will have a large part to play in its success. “We want to keep that consistency between venues and goRoster will help with that. The system makes it easy to share staff between sites – it’s easy to see who is working where or if there are staff clashes for example. It also allows us to use one cost-centre across the business.”
goRoster also allows relevant information to be exported straight into The Pedal Pusher’s payroll system, which has helped to streamline their pay processing. “Come March, when we open the new site, this will make our pay processing much more efficient,” Seth says.
Communicating to staff – not confusing them
Clearer communication with staff has been another benefit for Seth. “Staff get a text and an email with just their shift, so I know that everyone has received it.”
In Seth’s previous roles, a roster was printed and hung out the back, which was often a remedy for disaster. “If changes were made to the roster once it had been printed, it was really hard to communicate that to staff. But goRoster makes it easy to edit parts of the roster and resend to those staff who need it.”
“goRoster is just so effective in what it does. The interface is so simple, yet it offers so many features,” Seth says.