Getting to work in the winter can be challenging, especially when there is a heavy snowfall or the roads are slippery due to low temperatures. This concerns both employees who have their own cars, as well as those who commute to work by public transport or go by foot. The sudden unexpected winter attack can cause even more problems than you think. Check out what you can do, as an employer, to help your staff keep commuting to work this winter despite the adverse weather conditions.
Is commuting always necessary?
The first thing that you should ask yourself as an employer is if it is really necessary for your employees to always be physically present in the office. You have probably been in the situation when almost all employees were late for work in the morning because of snowfall, black ice, extremely long winter traffic congestion, or simply because they needed to scrape ice off their windshield.
Perhaps it is not necessary for them to always be in the office? As a modern employer, you may consider allowing your staff to work from home on some of the most severe winter days, e.g., when the weather forecast predicts huge amounts of snow or extremely low temperatures. Think of introducing some technological advancements like communication tools or office management systems in advance to make remote work efficient.
What if they need to work from the office?
There may be many situations in which your employees need to be present at work even if the weather makes commuting a hassle. Fortunately, with a bit of goodwill, you may increase their safety while getting to work. Hiring a snow removal company, establishing flexible working hours or introducing a parking spot booking system are only a few examples.
Get rid of snow
What makes winter commuting difficult is snow accumulation. Although larger streets are usually well-ploughed, the situation is much worse coming out of the main arteries. If your company is located in an office building, you usually don’t need to worry about snow removal. However, if you’re the owner of your office building, it is your responsibility to have the snow ploughed.
Give your employees more freedom
Establishing flexible working hours can help employees avoid many problems related to commuting. They can, for instance, skip rush hour and arrive at work when traffic is much lower. Letting your employees come to work earlier is also a great option for all early risers.
Introduce winter parking rules
If many of your employees commute to work by car, you can introduce some general parking rules that will do good to all parking users. These can include the obligation to remove snow before entering the indoor parking lot or leaving your car only in designated places so that it is easier to snowplough the area.
Keep your parking space neat
It is usually said that most car accidents take place in a parking lot. This is mostly related to reckless driving and the lack of vigilance. However, a messy parking lot with lots of slushes and thawed snow can also increase the braking distance and cause collisions.
Introduce a parking space booking app
In order to make it easier for your employees to navigate the parking lot, you may consider introducing special parking space booking software. This will reduce the amount of time your employees need to spend searching for a place to leave their car, as well as enable them to instantly notify you about some possible winter parking issues.
As you may see there are many ways in which you can make commuting easier this winter. Keep in mind that regular snow shovelling, de-icing and all parking facilities that you can introduce should become your priority as the safety of your employees should always come first.
If you’d like to introduce Parkalot – our car park management app – in your company, please contact us at contact-us@parkalot.io or book an onboarding call.Start using Parkalot in an hour. Allow your colleagues to commute by car, and park on the parking spaces assigned to those who are working from home.