People spend 17 hours a year looking for a parking spot. Parking issues in an urban setup have been around for a long time, but are only increasing today. Offices often struggle to ensure that their employees have sufficient parking spaces.
Employees opt for driving to work as it gives them freedom and convenience. And parking space issues can hinder that, affecting the way employees work and feel in their organization.
If your organization is also struggling with parking space issues, we’ve come up with seven effective ways to overcome them and ensure employee satisfaction when it comes to their vehicles.
7 Effective ways to improve employee parking experience
There are many challenges that come with organizing the parking of employee vehicles. Organizations don’t often have enough space on their premises, to begin with. The space they do have is often not optimized.
Parking policies are often not well implemented. And the parking system used by the company can be very time-consuming and rigid for users. A combination of these factors and others makes parking a hassle for both employees and companies.
Employees that enjoy commuting with their vehicle would want that freedom and convenience. Not receiving that impacts their overall employee satisfaction. They might feel stressed while working with the hassle they face every time they enter and exit the office.
Here are some effective ways to improve the employee parking experience at your organization and ensure a smooth flow of operations:
1. Invest in a parking reservation system
A parking reservation system is an online application that lets employees book available parking spaces by locking in the date and time period on the time. It’s an efficient system that helps employees resolve their parking issues effortlessly.
If you’re looking to resolve parking issues in your company, investing in a parking reservation system can prove to be an efficient solution. The employees can download the system on their mobile phones or computers.
It will let them view the available spaces in the company’s parking lot. There, they can book the spot of their choice for a specific date and time period. And there you go, your employees don’t have to worry about getting a parking space as they can simply book one at no time.
Once an employee reserves a slot, they will receive a notification on their phone app or a web push notification confirming the details. A user can cancel the slot in case there is a change of plans. In that case, the slot will be freed and put up on the system as available for other users.
The same will happen when a user books a slot and does not show up on time. The employees will need to be punctual with their timing when they book a slot. However, this shall not be an issue with punctual and sincere employees.
Here are the key benefits of an employee reservation system:
- It saves the time and effort of the employees as they can simply book a slot in no time with the system.
- Offers a contactless way to get things done, helping users to get things done on their own without requiring outside help.
- A systematic approach helps companies collect relevant data regarding the car parking habits of employees and manage them better.
- A quick solution that works in real-time, ensuring there are no delays and misinformation amongst employees regarding parking space availability.
- Ensures employee satisfaction in your company by keeping parking anxiety at bay and helping them focus on their work.
2. Review your workplace parking policy
A workplace parking policy is a policy implemented by a company that lays the rules and regulations regarding the usage of the designated parking space of the company. The goal of the policy is the ensure the optimal use of the parking space and its maintenance of it.
The policy deals with issues such as how the parking slots will be designated to employees (first come, first serve, or designated spots, etc.) along with how they will book them, how to use the space, and how to maintain the space.
If you already have a policy, conduct a thorough review of it to check its effectiveness, and make needed changes to make it flexible to your current needs. You’ll need to assess the needs of your company first and brainstorm with your team to introduce the needed changes.
If you don’t have a parking policy, create one that helps you improve your employee parking experience. Define how employees can book parking spaces and what procedures need to be followed to maintain the space with efficiency.
3. Optimize the parking space you have
One reason that may be causing your parking woes without you even realizing is the way you use the space you have. Many a time a parking space is not optimized to its full potential, leading to it parking fewer cars than it should.
Look to optimize the parking space you have to fit more vehicles and ensure a smooth entry, exit, and stay for them. To do so, begin at the ground level. Take the dimensions of each parking space into account and match them with the number of cars you park.
Make sure it’s completely empty and clean as sometimes junk in some spaces allows fewer vehicles in. Clearly mark the space limits to let each driver know their space. Try angular parking arrangements to see if it fits more cars that way.
Moreover, take care of the cleanliness of the space along with the entry and exit points. Optimizing the space you have this way doesn’t just help you fit more vehicles in the same space, it also helps you ensure a better parking experience for them.
4. Increase your parking space
Every car in the USA has 8 parking spots. There is enough space for cars to be parked. However, you’ll have to get creative for it and increase the parking space you already have. The first step to this should be optimizing the space you use, as talked about above.
Once you’ve optimized the space, look to extend it. Any and all physical that is attached to your office, i.e., falls under your premise can be used as parking space. Look for spaces that are spacious enough to hold vehicles and are currently unused.
Underused or spaces used for other uses can also be considered to be turned into parking spaces. Clean out the space and mark it to be used for parking. Your employees are sure to appreciate the newer parking spaces within their premises.
5. Rent parking spaces
When you run out of parking spaces in your premises and still have more vehicles to manage, one of the most efficient ways to go about it is to rent out spaces outside. The only consideration here is that the space you rent should be within walking distance.
Look for parking spaces around you, such as car parks. It will be an added expense but one that would help ensure a safe parking space for your employees’ vehicles, so it would be well worth the effort.
6. Encourage other commute options
Encourage your employees to try out other forms of commuting such as carpooling or public transport. Doing so will free up parking spaces as it will reduce the number of vehicles you need to park.
Incentivize your employees to use public transport or carpool as it is, such as offering them allowances to use public transport or simply paying to leave their cars at home. You can also educate them about its many benefits such as the money and fuel they’d save by opting for other forms of commute.
Remember that this is only a temporary solution. Employees who are comfortable using their vehicles or simply want to use their vehicles might not be swayed by the idea of carpooling or public transport.
7. Introduce a rental service
Teaming up with a rental service will help you set up vehicles yourself that’d pick up and drop off your employees from a spot close to their homes. This is, again, an added expense but one that is sure to be appreciated by your employees.
Opting for a rental service by you helps your employees avoid the hassle of driving to work and finding a parking spot. While it helps you ensure that your employees are reaching the office on time and are safe during their commute.
Optimize the employee parking experience to improve it
Finding a suitable parking spot can often be a stressful task for an employee that can affect their productivity at work. To help improve their parking experience, deploy a parking reservation system.
Optimize the space you have. Try to add more space to it on your premises if you can. When you’ve optimized every available space in your office, look for car parks near your office to rent and offer more space to your employees.
Let us know in the comments what you think is the best way to improve the employee parking experience in the long run.
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