Brexit is all over the news and if you consider the worst case scenarios for Kent, these could have serious implications on whether staff will be able to get to work or not. The Kent Resilience Forum has been working alongside Highways England and Kent County Council to prepare for potential delays at our cross-channel ports and the impact on traffic across the county doesn’t look pretty.
Operation Brock, the transport plan prepared for the worst case scenario, predicts a potential capacity of 12,350 lorries and vehicles across the whole of Kent lasting for 3 months. Encompassing the A20, M20, M2, M26 and Manston Airport, if your staff commute to work they could find themselves in a traffic jam nightmare. So, it’s worthwhile preparing for potential disruption and, as a silver lining, if gridlock doesn’t happen, you will still have new working methods which will attract a dynamic young workforce.
Consider introducing flexible and remote working
With changes and advances in technology, do all of your workforce need to be on site? Providing staff with the option to work from home will not only alleviate the stress of trying to get to work should there be transport carnage but also, if implemented as a policy anyway, will attract new staff who require greater flexibility.
Flexible and remote working practices have been shown to increase productivity, enabling workers with families for example to pick up and drop off their children and attend school plays, whilst still completing their work in an allotted timescale. Recent research has shown that 75% of employees would welcome flexible working, with 81% of women stating that the option would make a job more attractive. Worth considering if you are looking to recruit a more dynamic workforce.
Change shift working
There will obviously be some staff members who can’t work from home. However, a change of shift patterns could ease rush hour stress and enable them to avoid the busiest times of day. In the case of Operation Brock this will significantly reduce their likelihood of being caught in tailbacks.
On a more general level, reducing the amount of stress experienced by a staff member on their commute can significantly increase their productivity. Making small changes to shift patterns can shorten their commuting time and, hopefully, have them arriving at their workplace in a much calmer state.
Start a car share scheme
A car share scheme has numerous attractions beyond reducing traffic during a Brexit snarl up. Environmentally, it can add to your green credentials, showing that you are actively reducing carbon emissions related to your business. Additionally, if you hire or provide car parking space, a reduction in the number of vehicles accessing your site can create significant financial savings. It’s also worth noting that more under 30s than ever are opting not to drive or buy cars, so if your team need to drive to commute to you, you are dramatically reducing the attractiveness of your business as a potential employer.
If you are interested in reading more about flexible working practices, read our blog here.