Covid has changed the priorities of workers.
Throughout the course of the pandemic, people have become increasingly averse to exposing themselves and their families to unnecessary health risk. It has impacted our way of living, moving and working now and for the coming months.
Meaning new challenges for the employer.
The office is one of the top places people will spend time outside of the home and is therefore perceived as a high-risk environment. Bringing employees back to the workplace has become a true challenge. It is crucial that organizations identify and implement safety measures for a successful return to work strategy. The benefits of doing this include:
#1. Securing the workplace, reducing risk and limiting the organization's exposure/responsibility
#2. Gaining your employees' trust and making them feel comfortable returning to the workplace.
But a return to work strategy cannot be successful without addressing the ‘unsafe’ issue of commuting.
Workers start to expose their health and safety as soon as they exit their home and begin social interaction with strangers, as opposed to people they trust. Even though the responsibility of an organization is not engaged while its employees are commuting, forgetting about it is putting the organization at risk and compromising/threatening the success of a work return strategy.
Unless all of your employees have access to a safe commuting solution (like private vehicles),
#1. Employees won't return to the office as they don't want to expose their health and safety on their way to work despite safety measures put in place at the office.
#2. Employees utilizing public transit may not have the option to distance effectively and may infect co-workers once at the office.
#3. All employees may question the return to work strategy if some of them are at risk of being exposed. This may cause your employees to lose trust in your organization and leadership.
How can carpooling between co-workers help an organization secure all of their employees’ journey to work?
- Inclusive with a unique solution for all employees, those who drive and those who ride.
- ‘Safe bubble’ is created by merging only co-workers from the same organization as opposed to strangers.
- Physical distancing is a reality with only 2 people max in the car.
- Prevention with wellness questions asked prior to departure and trip history provided.
- Equity with an economical solution for drivers and riders that pay no more than public transit for a safe ride.
