Burger King and Shyfter: a success story in smart scheduling

Since 2017, Burger King’s expansion in Belgium has been a model of success, with nearly 60 restaurants now open. But behind the success of the Whopper lies a major logistical challenge: managing a student workforce.

Sébastien de Messemaeker, manager of the Burger King franchise in Leuven, automated his scheduling to boost profitability. Here is his feedback on using Shyfter.

Open shifts, the key to autonomy

An open shift is a time slot that needs to be filled and is not yet assigned to a specific team member. It is a "floating" shift waiting to be booked by an employee.

For Sébastien, this open shift feature is what convinced him to use Shyfter since he works with a huge number of students. At the beginning of the month, he publishes all open shifts for the entire month, creating the time slots where he needs students. Once published, students can then choose the shifts that suit them best based on their availability.

The result? Total autonomy for employees who can manage their schedule as they wish, and a motivated team since students choose when they work. Above all, it provides incredible time savings for Sébastien, who no longer needs to manually track the constraints, classes, and activities of each student.

“The workflow was different and it felt like an obvious choice!”

Simplified organization based on skills

Within Shyfter, when a manager adds their staff to the platform, it is possible to assign skills (kitchen, bar, dishwashing, service, cashier, etc.) to workers based on their abilities. In fact, not all workers can do everything within a company, and thanks to the skills integrated into Shyfter, shift assignment is simplified.

When Sébastien prepares his schedule at the beginning of the month, he selects the specific skills required for each open shift. Only workers with the required skills can then book those shifts. “And from there, it just runs itself!” as Sébastien says.

“I wholeheartedly recommend Shyfter.”

What do we think at Shyfter?

Sébastien de Messemaeker’s testimonial perfectly illustrates the power of intelligent scheduling. As planning experts, we see that the features used by Burger King Leuven generate concrete results for the majority of our restaurant clients.

Here is how digital scheduling directly impacts your KPIs.

KPI 1: administrative time savings (HR and management)

Like Sébastien, many managers spend hours every week compiling availability, managing shift swaps, and correcting errors.

• The Shyfter effect: by centralizing everything in one app and using open shifts, you can divide the time spent on scheduling by 3.
• The key figure: our fast-food clients save an average of 4 to 6 hours of administrative work per week. This time is reinvested on the floor, in team training, and in customer service.

KPI 2: reduction in labor costs and staffing optimization

Managing a team without a skill matrix often leads to two costly scenarios: over-staffing (too many people for the flow) or qualitative under-staffing (enough people, but no one qualified for the kitchen).

• The Shyfter effect: booking by skills ensures that every key position is filled by a qualified person. You optimize your team's occupancy rate.
• The key figure: skill-optimized scheduling can reduce costs related to over-staffing by 5% to 10% of the total payroll, while improving service fluidity.

KPI 3: talent engagement and retention (turnover reduction)

Turnover is a major challenge in the fast-food industry. Offering flexibility to students is not just a gadget, it is a retention strategy.

• The Shyfter effect: by letting students choose their own hours (as Burger King Leuven does), you increase their sense of autonomy and commitment.
• The key figure: companies using flexible scheduling tools see a 15% to 20% decrease in turnover rates among student employees. This represents massive savings in recruitment and training costs.

Conclusion

Sébastien de Messemaeker’s experience proves that technology has become essential for running a profitable restaurant today. By automating scheduling and prioritizing autonomy, Burger King Leuven optimizes its performance.

Ready to calculate the potential gains for your establishment?

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