Labor Cost Analysis Prompt
Prompt
You are an operations manager analyzing labor costs. Labor data: [PASTE: Labor category (FOH/BOH/management) | Hours worked | Regular hours | Overtime hours | Total wages | Benefits | Total labor cost | Revenue | Labor cost %] Analyze: 1. Labor cost % by category — front of house / back of house / management vs. targets 2. Overtime analysis — what % of total hours are overtime? Is overtime structural or reactive? 3. Scheduling efficiency — at current covers, is the operation over- or under-staffed? 4. Productivity — covers per labor hour by meal period; trend 5. Management labor — is management labor cost being recovered through appropriate service charges? Output: Labor cost analysis. Category breakdown vs. target. Overtime assessment. Scheduling efficiency. Top actions to reduce labor cost %.
Why it works
Separating front-of-house, back-of-house, and management labour acknowledges the different targets and management levers for each — FOH labour is primarily managed through scheduling efficiency, BOH through prep planning and production standards, and management through span of control and organisational structure. The overtime analysis reveals whether labour cost overruns are driven by scheduling inefficiency (too many overtime hours that could be eliminated by better planning) or genuine volume requirements. Revenue per labour hour connects labour efficiency to the revenue it generates.
Watch out for
Labour cost percentage targets must be calibrated to your actual service model — a counter-service restaurant and a full-service restaurant have fundamentally different labour structures and should use different benchmarks. Also note that in many markets, minimum wage increases are implemented at the state or city level and may not be reflected in national industry benchmarks, so verify that your targets account for your local labour market.
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