What is a Labor cockpit?

The Labor cockpit is where department heads manage their staff schedules. There is a Labor cockpit for each department in PMI and a department head has been assigned to each one. Here, they manage the staff schedules according to the needs and activity in their department.

As department head, the main goals in your department’s cockpit are: 

1. Keep your schedule as closely aligned as possible to the daily SMART forecast.  
2. Observe if your team is achieving their productivity target and, if not, find what can be changed in the way they work to improve productivity.  
3. Stay within your month-end SMART hours.
   • This can be accomplished by keeping your schedule aligned to the SMART forecast as much as possible and closely monitoring your month-to-date hours.   

Doing these well ensures a good score in the Do section of the PMI adoption index. 

There are monthly, weekly and daily routines that we recommend when working with the Cockpit. Completing these consistently will ensure that the data recorded is accurate. This allows you to adjust future schedules optimally, ensuring there is always enough staff on hand to manage the workload without overstaffing. 

There are two types of Labor cockpits – those with fluctuating hours to meet the business demand, and those with fixed hours, where the hours remain the same each week regardless of business activity levels. 

Labor cockpits with fluctuating business demand

These types of Cockpits include:

• • Housekeeping
  • Front office
  • Restaurants
  • Bars
  • Breakfast
  • Kitchen
  • Stewarding
  • F&B service
  • M&E
  • Public area cleaning

Daily routines: Monday – Friday

1. Review: Ensure your previous days’ productive and non-productive hours (blue bars in the graph) are correct. If incorrect, make the adjustments in your TKS, not in PMI.

• Note: If you are working with PMI’s scheduling module, make any changes in the Cockpit for the past, or update the schedule for the future. 
  • If something noteworthy happened or you used significantly more or less hours than forecast, add a comment.  
    • E.g., staff are on sick leave and you had to bring in replacements, there was staff training, etc. 
    • Comments will also be visible to management from the Management perspective.

1. Adjust: Check that your future hours scheduled for the next week is aligned to the daily SMART forecast. Make any needed adjustments in your timekeeping system. 
   • • It is critical that you do not exceed your SMART hours month to date or month end without approval. 
2. Save: Don’t forget to click Save once you have finished.

Weekly routines: 

1. Align: Once a week, align the schedule for the next 2 – 4 weeks in your timekeeping system to the recommended number of hours in PMI and add a new week to your rolling 6-week schedule. Adjust in the timekeeping system as needed. 

• • If you are working with the scheduling module in PMI, make any changes in the cockpit for the past, or update the schedule for the future. 

         Discuss with your GM on a weekly basis: 

• • How well are your team’s schedules aligned to the daily SMART forecast and following business demand?
  • Is your team reaching their forecasted productivity target?
  • Is your department within your SMART forecast hours month to date and month end?

Monthly routines: 

1. Review last months results. Did you meet the productivity/hours forecast? Were there any major discrepancies from the SMART forecast? Consider why that may have been.  
2. Aim for improvement over last month/last year. This requires looking at the routines and finding new and smarter ways to be more productive and reach the targets. 
3. Look ahead to next month. Are there any changes needed in the forecast? If yes, updates should be made in Budget & forecast module. If you aren’t sure what a realistic forecast looks like, look at the same month last year, and use that as a starting point. The Staffing guide is also helpful to figure out a realistic forecast.

Labor cockpits with fixed hours

These types of Cockpits include: 

• • GM 
  • Admin 
  • IT
  • Purchasing 
  • Sales 
  • Security
  • Repairs & maintenance 

The routines for Cockpits with fixed hours are similar to those with fluctuating business demand, with a few differences. 

Daily routines

1. Review: Ensure your previous days’ productive and non-productive hours (blue bars in the graph) are correct. Adjust in the timekeeping system if needed. 
2. Adjust: Add a comment If something noteworthy happened or you used significantly more or less hours than forecast. E.g., staff are on sick leave and you had to bring in replacements, there was staff training, etc. Comments will also be visible to management from the Management Perspective.
3. Save: Once you have verified the hours are correct, click Save.

Weekly routines: 

1. Align: Once a week, align the schedule for the next 2 – 4 weeks in your timekeeping system to the recommended number of hours in PMI and add a new week to your rolling 6-week schedule. Adjust in the timekeeping system as needed. 

Monthly routines: 

1. Review last months results. 
2. Look ahead to next month. Are there any changes needed in the forecast? If yes, updates should be made in Budget & forecast module.  

Sticking to these routines will improve your hotel’s GOP and ensure a consistent standard of guest service. 

See this article for more details on a Labor cockpit.