Capability template for people and HR
Service roster options
For a department manager building a rota for expected occupancy, covers or events: two or three roster options side by side, with each role's need, the staff confirmed available, the periods left uncovered and the labor-cost assumptions you supplied. You verify and approve; nothing is published.
Listed under
Add it to a workflow in the Fully Powered Planner, beside the teams and roles that will run it. Book a fit call
The outcome
Before the week is committed, the manager sees the choices on one page. For every service period, the page shows how many people each role needs for the demand you expect, how many are confirmed available, how many are only pending, and how many places stay empty. Each option then shows what it would cost at the rates and on-costs you supplied, so a gap and its price can be weighed against each other.
The unknowns stay visible. A person whose availability nobody has recorded is counted as unknown, never as free. A supplied rule that an option would strain is flagged next to that option. Your department still decides: which option, who works which shift, and what goes to HR.
Who starts the work, and when
The department manager starts it when the forecast for the coming service differs from the standing rota: a busy weekend, a large event order, a quiet week. It runs again when availability changes or an event order moves. The manager verifies the figures and the constraints, and approves the chosen roster with HR where the property's process requires it.
What they supply
- The service window and the periods in it, with how long each period's shift is.
- The expected demand for each period: rooms occupied, covers or event guests, from your forecasts and event orders.
- The staffing rules you approved: how many guests or covers one person handles, and the minimum per role.
- Staff availability, by reference code rather than name, with each cell marked confirmed, pending or unavailable. A blank cell is treated as unknown.
- Hourly rates, the on-cost percentage and any rules you want checked, such as a cap on shifts per person.
What comes out
One page in a fixed order. The supplied assumptions, then each role's need by period, then the availability counts. Then two or three roster options, each with the staffed number, the uncovered number and the spare number for every role and period, its pending staff, any rule flag and its cost. A comparison line for each option follows, then the questions only the manager can settle.
The options work in headcounts. They do not name who works, and they do not rank or compare individuals. The page contains no schedule to publish and nothing to send.
An invented example
Illustrative example with invented data. The restaurant, the staff codes, the forecasts, the rates and the rules below are all invented, and the staff are reference codes, not people. The restaurant is an invented dining room inside an invented hotel, and the restaurant manager is asking for roster options for one weekend with an event on the Saturday. First come the inputs the manager supplied, in full, then the page the capability returned.
The inputs
1. Settings
Department: Restaurant floor
Manager role: Restaurant manager
Window: Friday 20 November to Sunday 22 November 2026
Periods and shift length: Dinner 6 hours; Lunch 5 hours
Hourly rates: Server 16.00; Host 15.00
On-cost: 12 percent, applied to every role
Rules to check: A. No person works more than 3 shifts in the window.
Rules not to check here: B. Closers do not open the next morning
(the manager checks this when naming people).
HR: sees any option that relies on pending staff or shows a rule flag.
Today: Tuesday 10 November 2026
2. Demand forecast (demand.csv)
date,period,measure,expected
2026-11-20,Dinner,covers,70
2026-11-21,Lunch,covers,45
2026-11-21,Dinner,covers,95
2026-11-21,Dinner,event guests,36
2026-11-22,Lunch,covers,60
3. Staffing rules (requirements.csv)
role,measure,per_staff,minimum_per_period
Server,covers,20,2
Server,event guests,12,2
Host,covers,60,1
4. Availability (availability.csv)
staff_ref,role,2026-11-20 Dinner,2026-11-21 Lunch,2026-11-21 Dinner,2026-11-22 Lunch
S01,Server,confirmed,confirmed,confirmed,unavailable
S02,Server,confirmed,unavailable,confirmed,confirmed
S03,Server,confirmed,confirmed,pending,confirmed
S04,Server,pending,confirmed,confirmed,
S05,Server,confirmed,confirmed,,pending
S06,Server,unavailable,pending,confirmed,confirmed
S07,Server,,confirmed,pending,confirmed
H01,Host,confirmed,confirmed,confirmed,confirmed
H02,Host,confirmed,unavailable,confirmed,pending
H03,Host,pending,,pending,unavailable
The output
SERVICE ROSTER OPTIONS: Restaurant floor, Friday 20 to Sunday 22 November 2026
For: Restaurant manager. HR sees any option that relies on pending staff or shows a rule flag. Prepared Tuesday 10 November 2026 from the settings, the demand forecast (5 rows), the staffing rules (3 rows) and the availability file (10 staff).
Assumptions as supplied. Shift length: Dinner 6 hours, Lunch 5 hours. Rates: Server 16.00, Host 15.00 an hour. On-cost: 12 percent on every role. Rules checked: A (no more than 3 shifts per person in the window). Rules not checked here: B (closers do not open the next morning). No other pool of staff was supplied, so there are two options.
Need by role and period.
- Fri 20 Nov Dinner: Server 4 (70 covers, 20 each, rounded up). Host 2 (70 covers, 60 each, 1.17 rounded up).
- Sat 21 Nov Lunch: Server 3 (45 covers, 2.25 rounded up). Host 1 (45 covers at 60 each rounds up to 1, the minimum).
- Sat 21 Nov Dinner: Server 8 (5 for 95 covers plus 3 for 36 event guests, 12 each). Host 2 (95 covers; no host rule for event guests, so none counted).
- Sun 22 Nov Lunch: Server 3 (60 covers, exactly 3). Host 1 (60 covers, exactly 1).
Availability counts (confirmed / pending / unavailable / unknown).
- Server: Fri Dinner 4 / 1 / 1 / 1. Sat Lunch 5 / 1 / 1 / 0. Sat Dinner 4 / 2 / 0 / 1. Sun Lunch 4 / 1 / 1 / 1.
- Host: Fri Dinner 2 / 1 / 0 / 0. Sat Lunch 1 / 0 / 1 / 1. Sat Dinner 2 / 1 / 0 / 0. Sun Lunch 1 / 1 / 1 / 0.
Option 1: confirmed staff only.
- Server (staffed / uncovered / spare): Fri Dinner 4 / 0 / 0. Sat Lunch 3 / 0 / 2. Sat Dinner 4 / 4 / 0. Sun Lunch 3 / 0 / 1.
- Host: Fri Dinner 2 / 0 / 0. Sat Lunch 1 / 0 / 0. Sat Dinner 2 / 0 / 0. Sun Lunch 1 / 0 / 0.
- Pending staff needed: none.
- Rule A (no more than 3 shifts per person), checked as capacity: Server, confirmed staff can work at most 17 shifts under the limit against 14 staffed, no flag. Host, FLAG: confirmed hosts can work at most 5 shifts (H01 3, H02 2, counting only periods where each is confirmed) against 6 staffed. One host shift cannot be filled from confirmed staff without a fourth shift for someone. The headcounts above are left as they are.
- Cost: 112 staffed hours (Server 78, Host 34). Wages 1,758.00; with on-cost 1,968.96. Uncovered: 4 server places on Sat Dinner, 24 hours.
Option 2: confirmed and pending staff.
- Server (staffed / uncovered / spare): Fri Dinner 4 / 0 / 1. Sat Lunch 3 / 0 / 3. Sat Dinner 6 / 2 / 0. Sun Lunch 3 / 0 / 2.
- Host: Fri Dinner 2 / 0 / 1. Sat Lunch 1 / 0 / 0. Sat Dinner 2 / 0 / 1. Sun Lunch 1 / 0 / 1.
- Pending staff needed, at least 3 shifts: 2 server shifts on Sat Dinner (all pending servers available that period) and 1 host shift, because confirmed hosts reach only 5 of the 6 host shifts under Rule A.
- Rule A, checked as capacity: Server 21 against 16, Host 8 against 6, no flag.
- Cost: 124 staffed hours (Server 90, Host 34). Wages 1,950.00; with on-cost 2,184.00. Uncovered: 2 server places on Sat Dinner, 12 hours.
Option 3: not supplied (no other pool).
Comparison.
- Option 1: 20 shifts staffed, 4 uncovered (24 hours), no pending staff, one rule flag (Host), 1,968.96 with on-cost.
- Option 2: 22 shifts staffed, 2 uncovered (12 hours), at least 3 pending shifts, no rule flag, 2,184.00 with on-cost.
- Difference: Option 2 staffs 2 more places for 215.04 more.
- For reference, filling every need would cost 2,399.04 with on-cost (2,142.00 in wages, 102 server hours and 34 host hours).
Unknowns that remain. Availability is blank for S07 on Fri Dinner, S05 on Sat Dinner, S04 on Sun Lunch and H03 on Sat Lunch. They are counted as unknown in every option.
Questions for the restaurant manager.
- Sat Dinner is short in both options (4 places, or 2 with both pending servers). Will you ask about the blank Sat Dinner cell (S05), and how do you want to handle the shortfall that remains?
- Option 1 leaves one host shift that only a fourth shift for someone can fill. Will you accept that, or work from Option 2?
- Option 2 depends on at least 3 pending shifts (two servers on Sat Dinner and one host). Who will ask for those confirmations?
- Rule B was not checked. Will you check it when you name people?
- Both options go to HR, because Option 1 has a rule flag and Option 2 relies on pending staff; which do you bring first?
Every figure traces to the five demand rows, the three staffing rules, the ten availability rows and the settings above. The page names no one to work a shift, ranks no one, and sends and publishes nothing.
Where it fits
- People and HR, which owns the approval of the roster and the rules it is checked against.
- Operations and process improvement, where the day's service is made to work with the people available.
- Hospitality, where occupancy, covers and events move the need from one day to the next.
- Ecommerce and retail, where shop-floor and fulfilment cover follows promotions and peak days.
- Media and entertainment, where venues and productions staff to an event's size.
- Established businesses, where a rota has run the same way for years and a busy week exposes its gaps.
What has to change for your company
Decide the periods and their lengths. Set your own staffing ratios and minimums, and decide which measures drive each role. Name the rules you want checked and the ones you check by hand. Decide whether the on-cost percentage applies to every role. Keep staff as reference codes in what you paste, and agree when HR sees an option. It stays a different piece of work from the headcount plan, which plans roles for a year, and from payroll preparation and timesheet review, which handles hours already worked. For events with their own run of show, the event plan comes first. It runs in ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini from the files you supply, with no connection to your scheduling or payroll system.
What has been checked
Fully Powered AI wrote this capability template. It was editorially reviewed on 10 November 2026. It was tried on its invented example on 10 November 2026 in Claude; the record is published with it. The template was clarified in small ways afterward, and those clarifications have not been run again. It has not yet been tested in a client environment. It has not yet been tested as a packaged version in ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini.
The template judges no working-time or employment-law limit. It applies only the rules you supply, as arithmetic, and says nothing about whether those rules are enough. Testing in your environment means running it on a past week your manager already knows, plus hard cases written in advance: a blank availability cell, a renamed column, a rule the options strain, a request to say who should work. The manager checks every figure before anyone relies on it. Pilot acceptance-test preparation builds that test set, and what we test before we call an AI workflow ready describes the record we keep.
The full capability template
Everything above is the outline. The complete capability template is the working version: the roles, the inputs, the procedure, the exceptions and stop conditions, the output format, the reviewer checklist, the acceptance tests, the instructions for an AI assistant and what to customize for your company. It comes with a download and the link to its folder in Fully Powered’s public repository.
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