Having a commuter benefits program is great, but how do you engage with employees?
Marketing plays a huge role in commute management and commuter benefits, especially with differing schedules and hybrid work environments.
Employee Onboarding
The best time to help employees with their commuting choices is before they’ve even started their first commute. Including commuter benefits in your new employee onboarding process leads to higher adoptions rates.
There’s actually a theory, the fresh start effect, which is that people have an increased ability to make a change in their life following a significant event. When someone is presented with a fresh start — in this case, going back to work after months of doing so from home — they are more motivated to make a change, while disassociating themselves with previous performance.
You have the opportunity to reengage your employees regarding their commute choices in light of changing schedules or with hybrid work.
Company-wide Events
Telling your employees about commuter benefits is only one way to create change. Showing employees how an alternative form of commuting is beneficial to them is going a step further. Creating a bike-to-work week, or a bus or transit month gives them first-hand experience of a new commuting method in a way that feels accessible and fun.
To further encourage participation, you can fully or partially subsidize employee commuting costs for a month if they pledge to try out a new commuting method. These types of events and efforts show you’re willing to do what you can to help them change. For a bike-to-work week, provide your employees with bikes they can use or pay for their bikeshare account. If you’re preaching sustainable commuting, participating with employees can go a long ways.
Email Campaign
This may seem like a no-brainer, but an internal email campaign is an effective and efficient way to inform your employees about your commuter benefits program. A planned email campaign, detailing available benefits, providing enrollment how-tos, and providing the opportunity to ask questions can lead to more engagement.
A major roadblock in commuter benefits registration is that employees just don’t know what’s available to them. They pick what they know, even if it’s not the most financially beneficial, because it’s familiar to them. This is an opportunity to show employees that signing up for pre-tax benefits, for example, can save them money on a monthly basis.
Instant Messaging
An email campaign is a great way to provide initial information, but doesn’t necessarily allow for open feedback or communication. Creating a channel within Slack, Microsoft Teams, or your company collaboration or messaging software can fill that role.
A channel dedicated to commuter benefits creates an open forum for employees to ask questions, provide feedback, and create conversation. Employees fall into commuting routines that can be nearly impossible to break no matter how much information you provide them. However, when they hear from their colleagues about their successes, that can carry a lot of weight.
Actionfigure Insights
For many employers, providing personalized commute plans can be effective. Actionfigure Insights helps employees choose the best door-to-door commuting option. It’s the only product that understands both your company’s commuter benefits and how to communicate them with employees in the simplest, easiest possible way.
It’s the perfect resource for helping you managing commutes throughout the employee lifecycle. You’ll be able to apply company-wide changes to transit and parking benefits, encourage carpool and biking as alternatives to driving alone, and help employees manage flexible work schedules. We’ll be there as your offerings continue to change, creating a fully customized experience for you and your employees. Essentially creating a commuter benefits marketing machine!
This also creates employee advocates who can do more internal marketing for you. You can show employees all the numbers, charts, or information you want, but sometimes it takes a real success story. If you need inspiration on how to encourage sustainable commuting, or are interested in helping employees make sustainable commute choices, contact us!
