With tons of road work underway in Quebec, traffic is no longer limited to rush hour. Now, you can get stuck in traffic anytime.
Article provided by the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (CRHA)
According to a survey released by the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (CRHA), 78.8% of companies have noticed that road work has impacted human resource management.
Over the course of the last year, roadwork and traffic has caused frequent delays for 31% of employees, and occasional delays for 50.6% of them. In 8.5% of respondents, this has caused habitual absenteeism and occasional absenteeism for 35.7% of them. Flexible hours and telecommuting are some of the solutions often considered by employers to ease the impact caused by road work.
Operations are being turned upside down
Catherine Jannard—CRHA and human resources advisor for various organizations—can count the number of businesses among her clients who have shipping activities and operations directly affected by the roadwork. When this occurs, she stresses the importance of awareness and prevention on the managers’ and clients’ part in order to avoid putting extra stress on employees’ shoulders due to these delays.
She states, “Account managers need to inform their clients that deliveries might be late due to traffic.” She further adds, “On the other hand, delivery logistics should take the road work into account, otherwise employees run the risk of compromising their mental and physical health.”
When the nature of the position and tasks permit it, she advises rigorously monitored telecommuting.
She states, “All work at the office needs to be planned; schedules and milestones need to be followed. Telecommuting should be treated with the same strictness. Even at a distance, an employer is responsible for enforcing the same quality, and should be accessible to employees working from home. As for employees, they must keep their routine and deliver expected results, no matter where they find themselves.”
A little flexibility
Employers rate offering flexible hours as the best measure against the road work and 86% of survey respondents considered this solution.
Élodie Achard—CRHA and human resources manager at Mawashi—explains, “We have a policy offering a flexible schedule where we ask employees to be in the office during collaborative hours, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. So, they have a window of time large enough to arrive and depart. Meetings are held during these collaborative hours.”
Finally, some companies encourage employees to use public transportation by participating in incentive programs like the STM’s Opus & Cie program.
“With these loyalty programs, we pay part of the monthly pass.” Explains Geneviève Bélec, CRHA and director of human resources at Bouthillette Parizeau. “The use of public transportation has increased, but with this, it could increase even more.”