Return to office: 3 tips to make commuting easier for employees

1. Adopt a flexible, hybrid workplace

Many people have found a rhythm working from home, so bringing everyone back full time may not be necessary for a lot of organizations. In these cases, a hybrid model-or a workspace that combines remote work with office work-is an ideal alternative. With a hybrid workplace, employees can ease into an in-office schedule while maintaining their work-from-home flexibility. 

Not only do hybrid models give your people the confidence to go back to in-person work, but they also help with traffic overflow. By letting departments determine their own flexible, onsite schedules, you'll be able to stagger commute times and reduce the amount of incoming/outgoing traffic. 

2. make parking a seamless experience

Bringing people back onsite also means ensuring there are enough parking spots for when they're at the office. Is your office in an area with limited parking? Or maybe you want to do away with monthly parking permits since employees will only be commuting a few days per week? If so, be sure to check out Luum: a seamless commuter solution to better utilize existing parking lots and promote sustainable travel modes.  

With Luum's app, employees can find, reserve and pay for nearby parking spaces on the days they need to drive to the office. As an organization, you can also reserve entire parking garages or even lease out your private parking spaces to nearby businesses to save extra money. This way you can give your people flexibility and peace of mind, while maximizing parking usage and reducing costs for your organization. 

Additionally, these automated Luum tools integrate with your existing parking, payroll and Human Resource (HR) systems for streamlined management across departments and a remarkable employee experience. 

3. incentivize public transportation and other sustainable modes

While we're refining office life, it's a great time to consider incentivizing employees to use public transportation, ridesharing or even a carpool to get to work. These incentives will not only make the commute less stressful for employees, but it will also open up parking spaces and reduce commuter-related traffic. 

In addition to using Luum for parking reservations, you can also use Luum to connect with rideshare companies and directly provide incentives in the form of subsidies for ridesharing, bikesharing, and public transportation. The app brings commute and parking together-effortlessly managing flexible commute stipends and engaging employees through gamification and rewards. 

conclusion

We're all navigating this new normal together. As long as we keep our people at the heart of these decisions, we'll be able to make going back to the office an enjoyable experience for everyone. As always, HealthEquity is here to simplify your benefits and provide help along the way.  

Liked these return-to-office tips? Stay tuned for more in this series soon. 

HealthEquity does not provide legal, tax or financial advice. Always consult a professional when making life-changing decisions.