Delivering employee mobility has never been more complex.
On the demand side, businesses are coping with an ever-changing array of journey requirements from a hybrid workforce eager to travel for business.
At the same time, businesses are planning their net zero travel strategy and realising just how little they know about their employees’ current and future travel requirements.
The supply side is facing almost unprecedented demand at a time when global vehicle supply continues to be tight.
We see this as a time when necessity can become the mother of invention, as long as there is openness to explore with new mobility approaches and potentially a full modal shift.
A good example is enrolling employees to a car club, as on-street vehicles are often an effective solution for a fleet in addition to daily rental.
Siting cars in optimal locations on streets and in car parks means that car club vehicles offer an effective option for many business trips – whether the employee is picking up the vehicle from a bay near home or work.
Immediate benefits to the business are reduced delivery and collection costs and rental time, as the vehicles can be picked up 24/7 all year round and don’t require a rental branch to be open. This gives tremendous flexibility to workforces that continue to WFH.
When car clubs are a travel policy option, employees can pick up a vehicle in many locations across the country, including at many mainline stations. A business trip by train combined with a car club vehicle for the last few miles becomes even more feasible.
Ideally, businesses will be able to combine car club with daily rental, and ‘default’ certain employees to a local on-street vehicle when that is the closest, most convenient and most sustainable option according to their travel hierarchy and policy.
If an EV is available nearby, the added benefits are increasing employee exposure to this new technology and helping businesses to start the transition away from ICE engines.
Car clubs are especially useful for last-minute rentals, out-of-hours hire and employees who are remote or hybrid working at home. It’s also important that employees can book personal trips on an app outside working hours by toggling between business and personal membership.
Car clubs add flexibility to the travel mix. In an increasingly complex world, it’s great when there is a surprisingly simple way to address business challenges.
Adrian Bewley is assistant vice president of business mobility for Europe at Enterprise Rent-A-Car
