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Measuring the Impact of an Active Commute on Employee Performance and Wellbeing

Problem

Our client wanted to test the impact of active and non-active commutes on their employees’ wellbeing and performance. With the removal of the commute seen as a beneft of home working, it is also unclear what lifestyle

behaviours employees decide to implement in place of this time. It is important to understand the impact of employee commuting patterns on wellbeing and performance to support employees’ wellbeing and performance effectively.

Current and potential risks of employee commute patterns:

A potentially stressful commute due to traffic and public transport.

Half of employees agree the time spent commuting influences the frequency they come to the office (ART Health data), impacting office occupancy levels and workspace utilization.

Inactivity levels of home workers and non-active commuters. Previous findings show these groups take over 3,000 fewer steps per day (home workers vs office workers and non-active commuters vs active commuters).

Method

To address this problem, we gathered employee experience, wellbeing, and performance data from over 50 employees. Aligning with our evidence-based approach to workplace consultancy.

Over a two-week sprint period, we observed employees in the offce and remotely. The beneft of running sprint-style research is that it is a cost- effective way to gather insights into specifc areas. It also allows for quick wins to inform change faster than traditional projects, supporting our innovation and transformation strategies.

Findings

We compared employees who had a fully active or partially active commute (44%) to those who had non-active commutes:

Active commute employees saw a 4% improvement in cognitive performance.

They were 6% happier and more productive.

Employees who took an active commute (10,261 steps) or had a partially active commute (9,567 steps) took more daily steps than non-active commuters (7,176 steps).

Employees who had an active or partially active commute also had a 10% lower resting heart rate than non-active commuters.

Actions

⭕ To support management leaders in promoting flexible working hours to reduce commute time and stress during peak times, enhancing workplace experience.

⭕ To work with the corporate real estate team to support active commuters by inserting more secure bicycle storage and creating more accessible showers and changing facilities.

⭕ To aid the wellbeing team in creating and sharing cycle and walking routes for employees to access.

Value

While the current policy required employees to work from the office three days per week, employee preferences leaned toward 1-2 days per week.

By working with management leaders to promote flexible working, employees can structure their day in a way that supports their wellbeing. 90% of employees believe they should be more active at the workplace (Get Britain Standing). Involving employees in the decision-making process empowers them to have autonomy over their day and be more active, aligning with our people-centric approach.

By simply incorporating some activity within the commute, employees can achieve up to 135 minutes of activity per week. Studies show that those who get at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week miss an average of 4.1 fewer days of work per year (Goetzel et al.). This demonstrates the impact of workplace science on health outcomes and employee retention.

Absent workers cost employers around $150 billion per year, but those who come to work and are not fully productive cost $1,500 billion per year in the US (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Addressing this through innovative workplace solutions is crucial.

Key Takeaways

The findings and actions delivered through this project allowed the client to assess the impact of the commute on their workforce.

This project highlighted the benefits and opportunities to better support the employee commuting experience to:

Increase employee activity levels.

Improve cognitive performance and productivity.

Create a happier and less stressed workforce.

Enhance overall workplace culture and strategy by integrating technology and evidence-based practices to support hybrid working models and attract employees.

Explore more real life examples in our solutions series and discover how our unique experience across elite sport, academic research and the corporate landscape, combined with our scientific and data-driven approach, puts us in a unique position to identify opportunities that can drive increased productivity, performance and positively impact workplace wellbeing.

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