Build a weekly staff schedule that hits my labor cost target
A forecast-driven front- and back-of-house schedule that controls labor cost and follows break and scheduling rules.
The prompt
Help me build next week's staff schedule.
Department: [e.g. restaurant FOH and BOH / housekeeping / front desk]
Forecast by day and daypart: [COVERS, SALES, OR OCCUPIED ROOMS AND ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES]
Productivity standards: [e.g. 1 server per 20 covers, 14 rooms cleaned per attendant per shift, 1 cook per 60 covers]
Labor cost target: [e.g. 28-30% of sales, or hours per occupied room]
Staff: [NAMES OR IDS, ROLE, PAY RATE, AVAILABILITY, MAX HOURS, MINORS]
Fixed positions and management: [ROLES ALWAYS ON]
Rules that apply: [break and meal periods, overtime threshold, minor work hours, predictive scheduling notice or clopen rules in my city - or "unsure"]
Steps:
1. Convert the forecast into required staff by hour or shift using my standards; show the curve.
2. Build shifts that match the curve with staggered starts and cuts instead of everyone on a full shift.
3. Assign people by availability and skills, spreading weekend and closing shifts fairly.
4. Flag overtime risk, clopens (close then open), minor hour limits, and missing breaks.
5. Calculate scheduled hours, labor cost, and labor % by day and for the week; show what to cut first if sales come in under forecast and who is on call if over.
Return the schedule as a table (day, shift, role, person, hours), the labor cost summary, a list of rule conflicts to check, and a short note to post for staff. Scheduling laws vary by city and state; confirm with HR or local law, and do not schedule in breach of a rule I named.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Projects & Operations prompts
What to fill in
- e.g. restaurant FOH and BOH / housekeeping / front desk
- COVERS, SALES, OR OCCUPIED ROOMS AND ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES
- e.g. 28-30% of sales, or hours per occupied room
- NAMES OR IDS, ROLE, PAY RATE, AVAILABILITY, MAX HOURS, MINORS
- ROLES ALWAYS ON
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the Few-Shot structure (Few-shot prompting). A few-shot prompt includes one or more worked examples of the input and the output you want, so the model can copy the pattern instead of guessing it.
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