I’ll continue my string of posts with one of the quick-hits identified through the use of video. Labor is always scheduled against sales targets. On nights when we met or exceeded sales targets, no problem – labor kept in check. However, on nights when we didn’t, were resources being let go early enough to stay ahead of the curve?

Despite the assurances from management, I thought I’d peek into why labor crept up to 27% of net sales. What I found was that my employees were stealing from me. The chit-chat during slower periods, constant smoke-breaks and text-messaging were cutting into more productive uses of my labor dollars. The fix was simple: Eliminate chronic “B-team” players whose behavior changed materially in the absence of mature management, Reduce downtime by closing pro-actively, Stretch and reward “A-team” players.

The result? I was able to eliminate nearly six-hours of daily labor, moving labor costs just under 25% of net sales. For a business achieving $60,000 in net sales per month, I just gave my P&L a $1,200 raise.