With the launch of the e-tolls and the ongoing increase in petrol, more than eight out of ten business people in South Africa face extra costs. Not only do South Africans face expensive costs when commuting, they also spend more than an hour each day commuting.
As a result, SA workers are arriving at work exhausted and stressed out, unable to give their best to their job or their colleagues.
So why do we do it? Do we really need to write off five hours a week, in order to commute at peak times to faraway offices?
Kirsten Morgendaal, area director for Regus, says, “People around the world wish they had more time and energy to devote to relationships and family. Meanwhile, employers want to boost workforce productivity. These two goals sound incompatible, but they’re not.
“Businesses that offer flexible work options tell us they see huge benefits. For example, 76% say it leads directly to greater productivity.”
Businesses can assist their employees to reduce their commute time by offering any of the following flexible-working options:
- Working remotely – reduce the number of times in a week that your employees travel to work by allowing them to work from home at least one day of the week. In a recent Regus report Managing at arm’s length it shows that 48% of South Africans now work remotely for at least half their working week.
- Allowing your employees to work at third-party spaces located closer to where they live for some or all of the week, such as a business centre. This will allow you to save costs on e-tolls and petrol and reduce the time wasted in traffic jams. This also enables people to retain the aspects of office life that they like, but with lower levels of commuting stress.
- Instead of travelling to meetings, use video-conferencing facilities. This will save management time, travel costs and reduce your business’s carbon footprint.
- Flexible working offers the option of flexible working hours – instead of traveling to work during peak hours, allow employees to leave later to avoid traffic and have more time and energy to spend at work. In a Regus report The flexible road to workforce productivity, 76% of South Africans say flexible working leads directly to greater productivity.