Culture-building programs have become a hot topic in organizational leadership circles, and for good reason. Business development professionals increasingly recognize the strong links between company culture, financial performance, and recruitment success:
- 90% of executives polled by the Arbinger Institute say that culture is becoming more important in the contemporary employment market
- Businesses with strong cultures enjoy four times the revenue growth of competitors with unsuccessful cultures, according to Harvard Business Review
- Harvard Business Review also tracked performance improvements of 17% among culturally unified business units compared to teams that lack a shared sense of purpose
In its research, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has found that 65% of job-seekers in major employment markets around the world want to work for employers with strong social values. The PwC poll queried job-seekers in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, India, and China.
These results paint a compelling picture of global trends, highlighting sustainability’s status as a universally appealing value. Because it promotes sustainability while also nurturing a positive work environment, a commuter recognition platform can be a very effective tool in your culture-building program.
Let’s explore:
Targeting the daily commute creates a powerful engagement opportunity
Commuting is a stressful, unproductive, and often unhealthy activity that many people dread. In an International Workplace Group (IWG) study involving 15,000 people from 80 countries, 40% of respondents said commuting is the worst part of their day.
It’s also damaging to the environment. The International Energy Agency (IEA) found that in 2022, privately owned vehicles accounted for about 10% of global carbon emissions. In a 2022 global consumer survey of six highly populated countries around the world, personal vehicles were the undisputed commuting mode of choice in all six cases.
Yet, employees crave change: 69% of respondents to a March 2023 Deloitte survey said they expect their employers to make strong, clear sustainability investments. A commuter recognition platform offers an affordable and rewarding way to make a highly visible sustainability investment.
How a commuter recognition platform drives employee engagement
With a commuter recognition platform, you can leverage the impact of group psychology to create powerful social rewards. Pave Commute’s social recognition features connect team members by creating a strong sense of common purpose in advancing the important shared goal of building a more sustainable and socially responsible workplace.
This simple yet powerful combination of sustainability and social recognition generates attractive benefits for organizations of all sizes. These include:
- Employee recruitment and retention advantages
- Higher levels of job satisfaction
- Significant savings on health insurance, parking, and hiring costs
Gallup research from 2023 found that businesses with engaged employees have far lower rates of employee turnover, and that they’re significantly more profitable. From this perspective, a commuter recognition platform can generate returns that far exceed the modest investment needed to get one up and running.
Best practices for building a strong and positive workplace culture
Don’t expect a commuter recognition platform to generate such sweeping benefits by itself. Recognition tools need to be integrated into a complete set of green employee programs designed to build a culture of sustainable commuting from the top down.
If you’re starting from scratch, these tips can help you build a thriving and positive workplace culture that inspires people:
- Communicate your values. The most effective programs engage every employee. A commuter recognition platform can only help you do that if you clearly communicate your program’s availability and goals to everyone in your organization.
- Empower employees to live by those values. Create a system that rewards team members who contribute to the success of your sustainability program. Combining social reinforcement with material incentives, like prizes and freebies, is highly effective and a commuter recognition platform makes it easy and fun.
- Celebrate success. Make sure your team knows about the progress it’s making towards your sustainability goals. Quantify them: track the carbon emissions and the vehicle miles you’ve saved. Spread the word to everyone in your organization, and give special shout-outs to key contributors.
Shared values are the key to company culture, and they start at the top. Leaders should lead by example, and make visible efforts to participate in the same sustainability programs they’re encouraging commuters to adopt.
Ideas for engaging employees
Building a culture of sustainable commuting takes time. A commuter recognition platform can help you get there, but only if it’s part of a complete program that’s easily visible and accessible to everyone.
To that end, try these strategies and ideas:
Keep it real
Don’t just pay lip service to sustainability: employees see through this, and it’s demoralizing. Instead, back up your commitment with actions:
- Schedule environmental stewardship days, where team members put work activities on pause to take community-focused sustainability action.
- Implement an energy savings program and complete recycling infrastructure at your workplace.
- Consider creating green teams within your organization to give your sustainability programs an added social dimension.
- Choose a commuter recognition platform with strong built-in support services for transportation alternatives. Make it easier for team members to use carpools, take public transit, and get active instead of driving.
Open communication channels across the organization
Prioritize and promote healthy, open communications, both between employees and management and among employees themselves.
Ask your commuters what services and supports they need to make sustainable commuting a more viable option. Then, show you’re listening by responding to their suggestions.
More generally, strive to build a social and interactive office culture. A 2022 Job Sage survey found that 95% of employees are happier when they have friends at work. When colleagues are also friends, employers enjoy productivity benefits along with lower employee turnover rates.
Invest in employee health and wellbeing
As a final tip, make sure you’re providing the infrastructure your commuters need to make healthier, more sustainable choices. Provide things like:
- Secure bike lock-ups
- An on-site gym
- Showers and lockers
Also, be sure to include support for mental health and wellness in your benefits program. Healthy minds build healthy workplaces.
Discover the organizational benefits of the Pave Commute commuter recognition platform
High-profile organizations including Fast Company and the Association for Commuter Transportation have recognized Pave Commute with major awards and accolades. More importantly, our clients have reported huge successes since adopting our commuter recognition platform:
- 97% of Pave Commute users say they’re having a positive impact on their employer’s sustainability efforts
- 71% of users receive recognition that inspires them to continue building more sustainable commuting habits
- 63% of employees say they’ve seen a positive change in their workplace culture since adopting Pave Commute
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