Worsening Commute Times a Warning for Employers

Monday December 5, 2011: With news last week that commute times and conditions continue to worsen across Sydney, RedBalloon warns that employers have an important role to play in making the daily journey to the office less stressful for their employees.

New South Wales auditor-general Peter Achterstraat yesterday released a report showing morning peak travel speeds have worsened on the majority of Sydney's major roads – six out of seven in fact.

And it’s not just drivers who are affected, nearly one in four bus passengers have reported buses being too full to pick them up, do not stop or do not turn up at all. Overcrowding was also an issue for about half of Sydney's peak-time train passengers in the past year.

According to RedBalloon Employee Experience Manager Megan Bromley, who recently took out the 2011 Australian Human Resources Institute HR Practitioner of the Year Award, there are steps employers can take to lessen the frustration of the daily commute for employees.

“Organisations need to shift the way they think about the standard work day, and how they expect employees to work their hours and meet their goals,” Mrs Bromley said.

“This may be in the form of altered start and finish times or even the option to work from home if their role allows.

“The alternative is employees arriving at the office stressed and frustrated before the work day has even started, and that does not bode well for their productivity or state of mind.

“At RedBalloon we are strong believers in offering our people the flexibility to do their jobs in the manner that best suits them, and we understand that people’s outside lives don’t finish at the front door of the office every morning.

“Incorporating flexible work options and mindsets can go a long way to creating a happy and healthy employee experience. And that can only be a positive thing for business.”

RedBalloon has achieved an Aon Hewitt engagement score of over 90 per cent three years in a row, and was named one of six Hewitt Best Employers in 2009. RedBalloon has also made the top 50 in the BRW Best Places to Work survey three years running.

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For more information or images, please contact:

Lauren Ashton, Communications Specialist - 02 8755 0034 / 0404 136 765 /lauren@redballoon.com.au