You would think corporations have enough to concern themselves about without also taking on the commute of their employees. How far someone lives from work should certainly be his or her own concern, shouldn’t it? Or should it?
Over the years, studies and interviews have shown that the long distance commute has had adverse effects on the worker and work production. After 40 or 50 minutes on the road, the need to resist a break to relax and recoup is strong. Some people even plan on getting to work early so they can have time to reenergize before they begin the work day. There is no doubt that long commutes have adverse effects on work production throughout the day.
Still, why should corporations care? Because the loss of revenue creeps into the millions of dollars. Because making decisions when chronic fatigue has set in can have devastating effects. Because the accident rate increases significantly. Because absenteeism, health problems, relationship problems all have a major effect on the bottom line.
Corporations should care because the way to make money is to have well-oiled parts, both mechanical and human. From top to bottom, the employee who functions well, who makes good decisions, who produces outstanding work, is the employee who moves the company forward. And the employee who has difficulty in functioning, making poor decisions, producing poor work, is the employee who is causing the company to stumble on its march to excellence. And the road-weary employee can easily be the one having difficulty.
What’s a company to do? There are a number of things, both big and small that will that will ease the employee’s commute and have beneficial side effects for the company as well. There are services aimed at providing companies with tools to help their workers with the commute (for a list, visit our website at Commuter-Assist.com).
Asking your employees what is needed or how you can help, will not only score big points among employees, but it will also increase performance and productivity. And for people wishing to achieve balance and success in your life, there are ways to get through and turn around anything in your life that is not in balance.