Commuting and going: how to make sure your workers can easily get to the office and back home
If your company currently still has work-from-home employees you are trying to tempt back into the office, you need to keep in mind that the necessity of commuting could prove a major stumbling block.
In a recent study by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, 29% of participants revealed that they would leave their employer if requested to work in the office every day. The onus is therefore on you as a business owner to ease your workers’ commutes as far as you can. Here are some ways you can do this.
Offer flexible working
This would be an obvious move to make, as much of the stress associated with commuting comes from having to do it at the same time as many other people trying to get to work.
If you give members of your team more control over when they start their workday and when they finish it, they will be able to hit the road at times when it is mercifully quieter. You could also let people do some of their working from home, even if it’s just one day a week.
Introduce a cycle-to-work scheme
This works by giving staff access to bikes and relevant accessories with which they can travel to work each day. According to one statistic shared on the Investors in People website, employees can make estimated savings of 25-39% via a cycle-to-work scheme.
Cycling to work can save time — as, compared to car drivers, cyclists are less vulnerable to traffic conditions. The activity of cycling is also, of course, a form of physical exercise — and comes with protective and endorphin-boosting benefits as a result.
Rent an office in a readily accessible place
Yes, the idea of switching to a workplace that your employees don’t have to jump through too many hoops to reach in the first place could initially strike you as one of “it might just be crazy enough to work” strategies.
However, if you anticipate struggling to find just the right location for your next workplace, you could engage an office broker capable of assisting you in your search. For example, you could ask Office Freedom to peruse serviced offices in Marylebone, which has excellent transport links.
Subsidise bus travel
Despite the points made above, the fact remains that, whatever the quality of any given area’s public transport connections, members of your workforce could often struggle to meet the required costs of regularly using this transport.
This risk underlines why it could be a very good idea for your business to subsidise the cost of bus travel for your employees — especially as this move would also encourage greener journeys.
Recommend soothing materials for commuters to use
According to stress researcher Dr David Lewis, commuters can be prone to “greater stress than fighter pilots going into battle or riot policemen.” That’s basically because commuters have less control over the anxious situation they are in.
However, drivers can alleviate their feelings of helplessness by listening to audiobooks and relaxation tapes, while people on trains can similarly benefit from reading traditional books or watching educational videos.
