New Features - Swapping Shifts and Position Locations
For those using the ShiftNote Scheduler, we've now made it easier to swap shifts between employees, and also to specify where an employee might be working within your business.
Continue Reading »New Feature Friday: Bulletin Board Notification Settings, Schedule Printing and More Reporting
We've got a couple new features to share with you this week!
Continue Reading »New Features for Employees - Calendar, Messaging, and Setting Availability
We've got some big updates for you this week! Employees can now see specific events on the ShiftNote calendar, they can send and receive messages from management, and they can set their own availability (if management allows it). These features are available if you have either
Continue Reading »7 Restaurant Industry Experts to Follow on Twitter
Need some inspiration or new ideas? Or want to keep up with what's going on in the industry? These 7 restaurant industry experts are thought leaders and power Twitter users, and thus worthy of a follow. Whether you're a restaurant owner, looking to open a restaurant, or just want to know what's going on in the industry, these guys and gals have it going on.
Continue Reading »Access Permissions on Calendar & Daily Log Categories and Stat Sections
Do you have content in your ShiftNote account that you only want certain users to see? After many requests from existing ShiftNote customers, we have implemented a way to hide certain content areas in ShiftNote for specific users. Before the enhancement, all ShiftNote
Continue Reading »The History of Tipping
After a brief discussion on the origin of the word "tip," I was instantly curious as to how and when the process of leaving a tip began. And so I put together an infographic on the history of tipping. Enjoy!
Continue Reading »Day View, New Template Design, and Auto Scheduling Enhancements Added
Three big enhancements were added to the ShiftNote scheduling tools this week to continue our mission of creating the best employee scheduling tools in the world for restaurants, retail stores, hotels, and more! As always, shoot us a note if there is a feature you would like to
Continue Reading »Another Round of New Features Added to Our Scheduling Software
As we continue our mission to make the best scheduling software available, we've added a handful of new features that will make your life much easier! We will continue to release new features as fast as we can build them, and always welcome your thoughts and ideas on how we
Continue Reading »Employee Scheduling Tools Now Include Color Coding Options
New feature alert! The ShiftNote employee scheduling tools now includes a color coding option so that it's easier to distinguish different positions when building a schedule. To choose colors for each position, go to Schedules > Settings > Manage Positions. Then select
Continue Reading »4 Ways Restaurants Can Use Instagram to Drive Traffic
Social media can be an easy and inexpensive way to bring new customers to your restaurant. One social media outlet that is extremely effective for restaurants is Instagram, a photo sharing app for your mobile phone. Instagram is even more effective when it is tied to your Facebook
Continue Reading »PPACA Series: Strategy Two - Eliminate your Health Plan
The Affordable Care Act includes a plethora of new regulations, employer requirements, and potential penalties for employers that have group health plans. Almost from the moment it passed, many pundits suggested that frustrated employers should simply eliminate their group health plan and pay the penalty which they predicted would be cheaper than the cost of their current health plan. As we
Continue Reading »Day 4 - The National Restaurant Association Show
We're in the home stretch! Day 4 of the NRA Show was a little hectic in the morning, but things smoothed out and the day turned out great. We had a lot of traffic in the booth and enjoyed visits by ShiftNote users from Jack Stack BBQ, The Original Pancake House, Fresh Brother's
Continue Reading »Day 3 - The National Restaurant Association Show
The third day for the ShiftNote team, 2nd day for attendees, of the National Restaurant Association Show has been crazy!!! Crazy good of course. I would have to think that today is going to be the busiest day of the show. We had people streaming into the ShiftNote booth left and
Continue Reading »Day 2 - The National Restaurant Association Show
We've had another fantastic day at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. Today marks day 1 for attendees of the show, but day 2 for the ShiftNote team. We came to the convention center bright and early to finish off the final touches of our display. And as soon as the
Continue Reading »Day 1 - The National Restaurant Association Show
We made it through day 1! The whole team arrived in one piece to Chicago. I've been to Chicago many times, but this is my first ever National Restaurant Association Show. Several of the ShiftNote team members have been before, so they're helping me to prepare for what
Continue Reading »New Feature - Setting Overtime to Manage the Risk of Pay or Play Penalties
We've added a new feature to the ShiftNote employee scheduling tool which will help managers to set overtime to manage the risk of Pay or Play Penalties. Currently managers could select from 40 or 50 hours worked in a week to be considered overtime, but we have added an
Continue Reading »5 Reasons to Come Visit the ShiftNote Booth at the NRA Show
ShiftNote is heading to Chicago May 18th-21st for the National Restaurant Association Show 2013 or NRA Show - not to be confused with the National Rifle Association. That's cool if you're down with that, but we're more into food and stuff.
Continue Reading »Scheduling Notification Options: Text Alerts
Are you a current user of our employee scheduling software? If so, we've got new features!
New to our scheduling notification options, is the option to be alerted via text message about shift changes or pending shift requests. Previously employees were notified via email about open shifts, approved or denied requests, and schedule changes. Now they have the option to
Continue Reading »Multiple Currency Options
There are now multiple currency options for individual locations in each ShiftNote account. The currency format used to show as United States Dollars in the Stats section of the Daily Log, and you can now choose between the Pound, Riyal, or Australian Dollar.
Continue Reading »Talent Management: The McDonald's Model
So …What Are You Doing to Manage Your Talent?
Please, Don’t Say Nothing!
There is perhaps no bigger global brand than McDonald’s. For billions
Continue Reading »The ShiftNote Employee Scheduling Software is Here!
We are so very excited to announce that we have released a new add-on product for the ShiftNote Digital Logbook that is going to make your life as a manager so much easier! Our employee scheduling software will allow you to create and edit schedules right from your ShiftNote
Continue Reading »PPACA Series: Strategy One - Minimum Compliance
As we have already learned, large employers under PPACA may be subject to a new “Pay or Play” penalty. These potential penalties only apply to employers with 50 or more Full-Time Equivalent employees. While part-time employees will count against employers when determining whether they are subject to these penalties part-time employees do not count when
Continue Reading »PPACA Series: Non-Discrimination Rules under PPACA
Healthcare Reform includes several provisions that apply to all groups, regardless of their size. One of the most important provisions for the food service industry is the new non-discrimination rules. Included in the PPACA requirements was the expansion of existing non-discrimination rules to small, fully-insured groups. These rules will have limited impact in some industries, but will have a significant
Continue Reading »Preview the All New Admin Area
The ShiftNote team has been working hard on some much needed site updates. We have completely redesigned the Admin Area and have added in some exciting new features as well. You can access the beta version of the fully functional new Admin Area by clicking on the Admin
Continue Reading »PPACA Series: The Three Strategies for Healthcare Reform
PPACA has been a very perplexing challenge for employers and their consultants since its passage in 2008. Simply by its size it created confusion and frustration for those who tried to grasp its many complex provisions and requirements. Since it dealt with nearly all aspects of our healthcare system, the interaction of each section and ultimately how employers, employees, carriers and healthcare
Continue Reading »Site Slow Down Issues
We are experiencing some networking issues due to our web hosting service with RackSpace, which is causing slower than normal load times. We are working on the issue and hope to have it resolved as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Continue Reading »PPACA Series: 3 Steps to Managing your Workforce
In the previous articles we explained that the size of your workforce will be a key determinant in how troublesome your compliance will be under PPACA. If you have over 50 full-time equivalent employees you will be subject to potential Pay or Play penalties which could cost you tens of thousands of dollars. While this sounds scary, one of the unique aspects of PPACA provides an
Continue Reading »Would your restaurant benefit from a PR agency’s expertise?
As a public relations professional, agency life affords a wide variety of experiences. During my years in the field, I've had the opportunity to work with clients from high-profile restaurants, to award-winning breweries and nationally-recognized pizzerias. Though the services vary and are customized based on each clients’ needs, one thing remains constant: hiring the right public relations agency to
Continue Reading »We love you!
On a day where it is tradition to tell the ones you love that you care about them - we wanted to give a quick shout out to all those who use ShiftNote (and those thinking about it), and say....
Continue Reading »PPACA Series: Ten new words you’ll need to know to understand healthcare reform
Now that the chaos of court challenges and the election have subsided it’s time to get down to the task of living with PPACA. Some industries will have little problem with complying with the new healthcare reform rules, while other businesses (like restaurants) will see a quantum shift in how they run their operation. Those that adapt the quickest will be the winners.
Continue Reading »Understanding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
I have been asked by ShiftNote to write a periodic blog series regarding healthcare reform. At first I was skeptical, while I had been working on healthcare reform issues and their impact on my clients I didn't know if this format would work for such a complex subject matter. I have been a health benefit consultant for over 30 years and have been focused on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Continue Reading »15 Awesome Restaurant Websites
We've entered an age in which many restaurant goers will do a web search for specific eateries before taking the plunge to visit them in real life. Having a well designed, easy to navigate, and informative website is going to help give potential patrons the push they need to come dine
Continue Reading »The History of Fast Food
I've always been interested in the history of how things came to be, and since we've been doing a lot of fast food trivia lately for Trivia Friday on Facebook and Twitter, I decided it would be fun to put together a history of fast food infographic. It was hard to include every notable event that has occurred, so if you see something I've missed, please feel free to add
Continue Reading »ShiftNote Reaches 14 Million User Log Entries
We're pleased to announce that we have reached 14 million managers logbook user entries to date! In 2012 we had just over 5 million entries entered by managers, owners and other employees. The number of entries in the ShiftNote daily log has doubled almost every year since formation in 2002. We're very excited about continuing this growth into 2013, and we have some pretty exciting new features that we will be
Continue Reading »10 Things About ShiftNote That You Might Not Know
ShiftNote is a useful online log book that many of you sign into each day to log notes and communicate with team members. So we thought it might be nice to point out some tips and ideas that you might not be aware of to help you better manage your workforce and save time and
Continue Reading »Craft Craft Revolution
During the past few years, a new breed of consumer has been fast growing - those that prefer quality over quantity, and locally sourced over mass produced. The top two menu trends for 2013 as stated by the National Restaurant Association are locally produced meats and seafood, and locally grown
Continue Reading »Tips to Get Your Team on Board with ShiftNote
ShiftNote is an amazing communication tool for workforce management that will help save you time and money. You know it, we know it - but what about your team? A tool like ShiftNote will work best if your entire team is on board, as the saying goes, there's no I in team. So how do
Continue Reading »Making Communication Easier
We've made a minor update to both the Home and Search sections of ShiftNote to make communicating with your team even easier! Before the update you could see entries that were unread or that were filtered based on a search, but you could not see the entire conversation thread that resulted from that entry.
Continue Reading »The ShiftNote Mobile Site Gets a Facelift!
We're so happy to introduce the ShiftNote mobile website, 2.0! We've completely redesigned the entire mobile version of ShiftNote, so that it is faster, easier to use, and loaded with most of the same great features available on the regular website. This includes viewing unread entries in the daily log, replying to and
Continue Reading »Give Us Some Love, and We'll Give You a Shirt!
Tell us that you love us on Twitter, Facebook, and/or comment below, for a chance to win a beautiful new ShiftNote t-shirt! You've got until next Friday, the 12th to enter. We will pick 5 winners at random, and mail you out a shirt. If you give us love on all three websites - Twitter, Facebook and this
Continue Reading »Money Saving Ideas For Restaurants
Saving money is at the top of everyone's to-do list! When you're running a business, it's especially important to run as efficiently as possible and save costs wherever you can to maximize profits. It can be difficult to find ways to cut cost when you are trying to please customers and employees alike. To come up with the best money saving ideas for
Continue Reading »Issue with Replying From Daily Reports
Currently ShiftNote users are unable to reply from a log post in the Daily Report email. This is because of a third party DNS issue, and unfortunately we do not have a time line on when this should be fixed. We apologize for the inconvenience and will continue to monitor the situation. In the meantime, you can still reply to log posts by going directly to the ShiftNote website.
Continue Reading »Accountability, Cash Count and More - New Features This Week
We've added some brand new features to all ShiftNote accounts that will help keep your team on track and accountable for the things that are going on in your business. With our new tools, you can show that you've read your team member's notes, and in return see who has read
Continue Reading »4 Ways Your Restaurant Could Use A Mobile App
There's no denying that the boom of the smartphone age is changing the way we live and do business. More than 80% of smartphone owners are using their phones to access the web, yet only 4.8% of retailers have a mobile based specific website. 80% of people will search for a
Continue Reading »5 Contest Ideas to Run With Restaurant or Retail Staff
Whether you're a part of a restaurant or retail store, your staff is the face of your business. Staff that is happy, knowledgeable about your products, and eager to please the customers, will ultimately result in increased sales and customer satisfaction. A great way to get your staff
Continue Reading »ShiftNote Outage
We had an outage last night between 11:33 pm and 12:12 am CST. The outage was caused by a issue our hosting company had at one of their data centers. Here is what our hosting company said:
At approximately 12:33AM ET we experienced a power failure in our Newark, Delaware DC4 datacenter where possibly some of your infrastructure is located or services hosted. The power
Continue Reading »Browsers Supported & Browser Setting
Browsers We Support
- Internet Explorer 9+ to latest stable version
- Firefox – 3.6+ to latest stable version
- Chrome – 1+ to latest stable version
We've got an Announcement!
We've added a few new features to ShiftNote this month, including the long awaited - announcements! Now you can post a note to the daily log that is not specific to one day. The message can span multiple days as specified, and can also be shown as a popup message when you
Continue Reading »Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
We're very excited to announce some updates and enhancements to the ShiftNote website, as well as some features within the software itself. We decided that we were in need of a design overhaul in order to better convey our messaging, and to help better support new and
Continue Reading »Event color coding now available on the calendar
We've recently added in event color coding to the ShiftNote Calendar! Now you can more easily track important events by quickly scanning. The colors will automatically show up when you add an event to your calendar and select an event category. If you have suggestions or ideas to make ShiftNote better, please share them with us! We're always looking for ways to make the best product possible to
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