HotSchedules Reviews

Pros

Intuitive User interface
Easy to add new users
Great scheduling utility
incredible for contacting staff on a large scale
Has a mobile app that users can use

Cons

The mobile app costs money so most of my staff refuses to download this app which sends them push notifications in the event I need to contact them all. I believe that since we are already paying to use the software this app should be free to download. Without a login the application is useless so the fact you need to pay to download the app is very ridiculous.

Pros

Hotschedules changed the restaurant industry when it came out. I have worked in the industry for over 10 years, so when this software came out. It really changed the industry. Before we would have to wait for a photo of our schedules and sometimes we would miss our shifts or getting our shifts covered was so difficult. When hotschedules came out , you never wondered when your shift was. You are reminded when you have a shift and if you need a shift covered you simply post it up. It is a secure way to have everyone feel accountable and be accountable for work.

Cons

The only thing I had a trouble with when I first started using hotschedules was understanding how to update my availability for work but once someone showed me its a no brainer.

Pros

Makes scheduling easier. I've never had an issues when it comes to scheduling with HS. It's a great platform especially when you operate a high volume restaurant. Hotschedules has allowed me to focus on other aspects of managing my restaurant. Scheduling literally takes about 15 minutes every week. Employees past and present have also had positive things to say about hot-schedules. Employees like the fact that you can download the app and be able to see any updates made to the schedule. Go-Hire has also been a great tool for my company. Onboarding new employees is made so much easier now with eliminating paper appplications and documents. Go hire easily let's you conduct background checks on new hires with a click of a button.

Cons

As I stated above in the describe your experience section. The fact that getting a new employee synced in hotschedules after they have been entered into Aloha takes 24 hours is really a big inconvenience. For me personally, this has resulted in delaying the start date for new hires. I have documented about twelve different support requests to the support team to help get a new hire synced faster. I suggest maybe allowing admins to manually add employees to the staff list to help resolve this issues. Operating a restaurant with high turnover, it's crucial that new hire are able to start right away with no delay. This by far the biggest and only con that I can think of with this platform.

Pros

Users can be grouped into categories based on department, allowing for effective communication without clutter. Also users' title and contact information is kept in a master directory readily available to other users. Another great feature is push notifications regarding company announcements, published schedules, and schedule changes. No need to constantly check the app for changes.

Cons

There is no free version of the app, which could be problematic for some employees. Although not expensive, some users don't like to pay for an app to view their schedule.

Pros

I can access my work schedule whenever I want because it is both a website and an app. It not only tells you what your schedule is, but allows you to see who else you are working with. This is beneficial if you are trying to adjust your schedule for time off so you know exactly who is available and who is not, which saves a lot of time.

Cons

If you have marked yourself as unavailable it should flag someone from being able to add you to the schedule in that slot so that the person creating the schedule realizes they have made an error.

Pros

I love the features that hotschedules offers to maintain and publish accurate schedules. As a business operator, it is imperative that they are done accurately and while within our forecasted budgets. Hotschedules is easy for associates to access and navigate.

Cons

I often wish that alerts involving team members accruing overtime was more prominent, but overall like the ability to run overtime reports when necessary.

Pros

What I liked most about hot schedules is always being organized and being able to see my schedule ahead of time, eliminating the need to write it down or call/go in person to see when I was working next.

Cons

What I liked least is that not enough companies are using it! It’s a great platform, so I have nothing negative to say.

Pros

Great for scheduling and staff communication. Makes handling a large staff easy. Logbook is great for communication on all issues with mangers and staff, even starting to use it to track our hr.

Cons

Want to see the inventory system improve as well as better ease of use across multiple venues other than that continue to grow and develop

Pros

It makes getting your schedule out to all of your staff so much easier. I've written schedules and posted on a wall, I've texted screen captures to everyone individually, I've created email groups and submitted to everyone and this is much more simple. You can also track sales and it helps estimate labor against your predicted sales for the day and the week. But the very best part is that the staff can manage all of their shift trades via HotSchedules. No more calling, forgetting to tell the manager, or having neither shift member show and then denying that they knew they were working the shift.

Cons

Honestly, just that it's a program that costs money. If you have a small staff it's not worth the investment potentially. But a staff of greater than 20, particularly in the retail or restaurant world, it's a burden lifted.

Pros

This program was super easy to use and I enjoyed the level of communication

Cons

The only thing that was no fun was when I would be half way though a schedule and something would go wrong and I would loose my work

Pros

The communication side of it is great. I have less meetings now that I can send out mass messages. The scheduler itself is top notch. I can move shifts around quickly using the quick keys and copying schedules is a snap. Having the freedom to do my schedule anywhere and being able to approve or deny schedule changes from my phone makes those decisions more informed. We use it to document all incidents good and bad on employees, so when an evaluation comes around you have all that information at your fingertips. It makes a great reservation scheduler. The roster report is the first thing I print out in the mornings to make sure everyone is here and where they are supposed to be and if they are not I have all the phone numbers on that sheet. The fact that it gives you the number of hours for everyone helps with creating budgets for the week.

Cons

My biggest complaint is that part of the expense for the is put on the employee. I know it's very little but some employees don't have a bank account or credit card and have trouble making the purchase. It seems to me that the revenue generated by that could be built into the cost of the software on the employer side.

Pros

Hotschedules won our business by having the best Aloha POS integration of all the companies we spoke with. Employees that are added to our system are automatically synced with Hotschedules so you can quickly begin adding them to the schedule. The integration also allows us to restrict employees from clocking in too early or late with saves labor and allows you to quickly identify the less punctual employees. Finally, the integration also pulls historical sales data from our POS and uses it to establish a good sales forecast that you can use to budget your labor accurately.

Cons

The app and website are just not as intuitive and streamline as I would like. Previously we had used PeopleMatter schedule, which had a much less cluttered and more user friendly interface. Hotschedules also starts to think it knows how to schedule better than the manager and will start adding "House Shifts" to your schedule that employees can pick up, which frustrates me when I really don't need that shift covered.

Pros

Hotschedules was our go-to scheduling software for years in multiple restaurants, even as many more options came on the market. It was easy to use as a manager/scheduler & also for our staff

Cons

Hotschedules customer service was not quick to address issues but The price kept going up even as fixes weren’t betting put in place.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to HotSchedules

Pros

The mobile app is very user friendly, with it being easy to navigate for all individuals that are tech savvy AND those who are not. The quick access of information, ability to contact employees, and daily use in operations allow for high volume and fast paced environments to continue to be productive without the day being hindered in time and productivity.

Cons

The updates on occasion can result in removal of features that can sometimes be very helpful after being regularly used. Would like to see a communication piece from Hotschedules asking about latest updates and whether they are well liked by users.

Pros

I loved this ease of hot schedules compared to other software. Much better ease-of-use and staff LOVES IT. Swapping shifts, requesting off, and keeping track of shifts is streamlined!

Cons

I LOVE hotschedules. It is the preferred software for restaurant scheduling! No drawbacks!

Pros

We use HotSchedules mainly for scheduling and messaging the team (direct messages, broadcasts). The scheduling features are great - we especially love that team members can swap and pick up shifts on their own, that saves us a lot of time. And the broadcast messages are great for getting important information out - everyone looks at their schedule, so everyone sees the broadcasts.

Cons

The website and app are very slow to use. Creating the schedule can be a pain as the interface is very slow, and the app will load for several seconds between each page while navigating. This can lead to some frustration.

Pros

Makes schedule making quick.

Cons

The website goes down or kicks you off for extended periods of time. I will say this happens less frequently than it used to. I have used hotschedules for almost six years.

Pros

Hotschedules makes schedule creation and updates ridiculously easy. Not only can you input the schedules you need covered to receive optimization suggestions, but once you post the schedules, you don't have to track down your staff to inform them of their schedules.

Cons

When I utilizied Hotschedules my employees were not able to input one-off requests or identify preferred shifts, limiting the efficacy of the schedule optimization features.

There was also not an option to send internal communication notes to management emails so there was no way to verify when management was reading the information.

Pros

Ease of scheduling . We use the messaging every night to update all on how the day went. If there are any questions their customer support is easy to get a hold of and the problem has been fixed before hanging up. We like employees hour's tracking to keep everyone at or below 40 hours a week.

Cons

I don't like having to sign in everytime I want to use it. We would like to connect this to our POS system to have other tracking capabilities but there are additional fees for that.

Pros

I liked how much easier it made my job. No longer was I receiving phones calls from employees wanting to switch shifts and then having the other employee call and verify that they were picking up the shift. The request was made online and all I had to do was approve. It also helped greatly with accountability since it recorded who was working what shift and when.

Cons

It wasn't an easy program to learn how to use. I struggled with learning all of its functionalities which made schedule writing very stressful until I figured it out.

Pros

IOS Compatibilty, cloud based.

Cons

Reporting can be cumbersome at times. Not all functions work well on Safari Browser.

Pros

I absolutely loved HotSchedules!!! It was so easy to use, and so convenient to see my schedule in real time! It was also great to be able to send messages back and forth with other employees or mass emails for shift coverage. HotSchedules made my life as a server SO much easier and convenient!

Cons

There isn't much to complain about with HotSchedules. If I was going to suggest any change, it would maybe be to spruce it up a bit so it's a little more colorful. My schedule and messages were always in grey and black. Color isn't necessary, but it is a little more appealing.

Pros

RELIABILITY!!!It never goes down, support is always helpfulBest scheduler features in the gameTemplates for quick entry are great weekly startersColor coding makes my life so much easierTransparency, every stroke documented

Cons

Takes getting used to and learning as it is complex software but get hot keys down and you've got it! Make sure you have a fairly beastly computer...it's a lot of real time processing.

Pros

-It's available in a smart phone app
-employees are able submit days off for approval
-forecasting

Cons

Adding event to schedule calendar

Pros

I come from working in restaurants in late 90s & 2000s, so this app is a dream come true! It’s so awesome to be able to view schedule, swap shifts, & send messages to staff all in one place!

Cons

I dislike not being able to request off past a certain point (less than 3wks before the shift, I think?). But that’s likely a restaurant decision vs the app.