Gas Up + Economy Down = Dissatisfied Employees

Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of gassing up for the bargain price of $3.93 a gallon. As I was getting ready to leave, I was approached by a young man that just paid a whopping $137 to fill up his diesel pickup truck. It was a beautiful truck but it wasn’t $137 worth of beautiful. If the media is correct, gas prices could easily exceed $4 a gallon by summer, as they already have for diesel fuel.

As I left the gas station, I could not help but think of how the increase in gas prices has impacted everyone, especially those individuals that have to live in the distant suburbs because they can’t afford housing closer to work. Those employees are now considering whether it makes sense to take a lesser paying job, nearer to their home, because wages are just not keeping up with the escalating price of gas and food.

Sure, I understand that when the economy is down it is difficult, if not impossible, to give your employees a pay increase. On the other hand, by not being proactive and recognizing the financial hemorrhaging that many families are undergoing, you are at risk of losing valued members of your workforce. With their departure you will also witness the loss of the time and money invested in training these employees, not to mention the time and money you will invest in finding and training suitable replacements.

Perhaps, now is a time to rethink how you conduct business. Maybe some of the following will help you hold on to your employees until the economy takes an upturn:

1. Have your employees work 4 ten hour days. By eliminating one day of a 40 mile round trip commute you are saving your employee about 2 gallons of gas or $7 a week, that translates into roughly $364 annually.

2. Conduct meetings over the web. The technology we dreamed of during the “dot com” era, is finally here. Many if not all meetings can be conducted over the web through web based services such as Yugma, WebEx and GoToMeeting.

3. Consider telecommuting for some of your workforce. Many employees can work just as well from home as they can in the office. (For some reason, allowing your workforce to work in their sweats and t-shirts makes them more productive.) Most of the concerns that employers with telecommuting relate to accurately tracking work time and confidentiality. The former can be addressed by tracking the time that employees log into and off of your server. If that doesn’t work, I remember back in the day we had this process that worked extremely well in tracking time. It was called “pen and paper.” In addition, you will have to address the issue of proprietary and confidential information. This again, is not difficult. Besides having happier workers, there are other benefits to your company. Depending on how often you permit employees to telecommute you can realize savings in real estate costs, energy costs and increased employee productivity.

In my next post, I will give you some of my tips on telecommuting. At the end of the day, the business case for keeping your workforce will probably out weigh any initial inconvenience or financial outlay. Till then, let’s keep thinking “outside the office walls.” By the way, if you are wondering why there is a different picture in this post, that is my telecommuting attire.

Nothing in this Blog should be considered legal advice or to form an attorney client relationship. The information provided is general in nature and is not a substitute for the advice of a legal professional who can address your unique legal circumstance.