The Nory Operating Playbook is our simple step-by-step framework that helps restaurants improve labour productivity, inventory control, and overall operating performance. It’s based on best practices we’ve seen across thousands of venues and is designed to be simple, practical, and measurable inside Nory.
Step 1: Understand Your Operating Context
Every restaurant is different. The first step is understanding your segment, scale, and operating model, so you can benchmark performance against comparable businesses - not unrealistic targets.
You can use below guidelines to help you understand:
What “good” looks like at your stage
Where you’re already strong
Where the biggest opportunities sit
Step 2: Understand Your Business with Nory
Before you improve performance, you need visibility. Nory helps you understand how your business performs across three core areas:
Sales & Demand
Use Nory’s forecasting and sales insights to:
Identify peak and quiet trading periods
Understand how demand shifts by hour, day, and week
Forecast your sales to confidently plan ahead
Food, Margin & Waste
Use Nory’s inventory and GP insights to:
Understand your expected GP % using theoretical GP
Identify key gaps in your actual vs. theoretical GP
Pinpoint which items and behaviours are driving waste
Labour
Use Nory’s labour reporting to:
Track SPLH (Sales Per Labour Hour) week-on-week
Understand your current productivity range
Define and hit your planned Cost of Labour (COL %)
Step 3: Set Clear, Measurable Targets
Once you understand your baselines, Nory recommends setting realistic, incremental targets across three core KPIs:
Gross Profit (GP %)
Waste as a % of sales
SPLH (Sales Per Labour Hour)
These give you a clear scorecard for labour and inventory performance.
Step 4: Drive Improvement Using Nory
This is where insight turns into action.
Improve GP Performance
Nory helps you:
Track the gap between theoretical and actual GP
Identify what margin is being impacted by:
Waste
Portion control
Pricing inconsistencies
Stock handling issues
Use weekly GP reporting to:
Spot trends early
Take action before gaps widen
Reduce Waste
Using Nory’s waste and inventory tools, you can:
Track waste by item, reason, and location
Create a waste leaderboard to drive staff engagement
Order in line with forecasted demand
Monitor ordering consistency vs. actual sales
Increase Labour Productivity (and Sales)
With Nory’s scheduling and productivity tools, you can:
Build rotas from sales forecasts and SPLH targets
Track daily sales vs. labour targets
Flex shifts in real time to stay on target
Roster a strong core team, supported by flex staff during peak demand
Step 5: Lock in performance with weekly rhythm
Nory recommends a simple weekly performance rhythm:
Each week:
Review:
GP % vs target
Waste % vs target
SPLH vs target
Adjust:
Rota templates
Ordering volumes
Waste behaviours
Celebrate:
Strong productivity
Reduced waste
Improved GP
This creates a culture of continuous improvement - without adding operational complexity.
What following the Nory Operating Playbook can help deliver
By consistently applying this approach in Nory, operators typically achieve:
Tighter labour control
Stronger inventory discipline
More predictable margins
Better alignment between sales, staffing, and stock
A healthier, more scalable restaurant business