Your office car park is often the first interaction you will have in your working day. The experience can set the tone for the rest of your day or give any potential new clients the right or wrong impression. Arguably it is equally important as your reception desk, boardroom or office cleanliness. You might not realise a bad car park experience’s negative impact. Therefore we’ve written a guide to creating an unforgettable car park experience.
Your office car park is fundamental to your employees’ and visitors’ experience. Most people coming into your office must first deal with your car park, from prospective new hires to potential clients. If someone has a bad parking experience, you may have to work harder to win them over.
Simply providing parking, whilst better than not, isn’t enough to win visitors and employees over. A poorly managed parking space can be very frustrating. However, a properly managed car park can make parking a breeze and ensure spaces are available for both guests and employees.
Clear Signage
An accurately signposted car park provides visitors with the necessary information and makes for a much safer environment. The signs should be easily visible and display essential visitor information. This can include opening times, assembly points in the event of a fire and car parking bays designated for visitors. Signs should be visible before entering the car park, rather than the office entrance. Parking your car and entering reception can be frustrating to be told your vehicle is in the ‘wrong spot’ and has to be moved. Signage also refers to the appropriate car park and road marking. Refreshing car park bays and reinforcing worn-away road lines help to maintain order around your building.
Stopping Rogue Parkers
Monitoring car park users is important, particularly if space is limited or you’re expecting potential clients. Employees, visitors and deliveries are welcome, whereas employees from the company over the road or shoppers are not. Rogue parkers can take up unnecessary space and force actual employees to find other parking. They’re also a lot less likely to adhere to any safety precautions you’ve put in place as they have no connection to the building. There are many ways rogue parkers can be prevented. This can include barriers that require a code or employee key card as entry or car park attendees managing the entrance and ensuring appropriate use.
Electric Car Charging Points
Providing electric car charging points can be a big selling point to prospective employees. Offering charging points is a great way to accommodate employees and visitors. Some still view installing electric car charging points as going a step above for your employees, which is a big win for you.
However, as these charging points appear in more and more places, it is becoming typical to find them in workplace car parks. Eventually, they will be commonplace, and offering them will almost be expected.
Alternative Transport And Carpooling
Supporting alternative means of transport besides car travel is a great way to lower the demand for parking spaces and reduce congestion. Consider adding a bike shelter to your facilities, for example. It opens up a great alternative mode of transport for employees. If car park congestion and carbon footprint are a concern for your business and you’re looking to encourage employees to cycle to work, you can consider offering an incentive ‘cycle to work’ scheme.
Carpooling is another great way to reduce the demand for parking spaces. Implementing a carpooling scheme that rewards employees for carpooling with free parking or preferred parking, for instance, will help you accommodate more employees.
Carparks are an essential part of business premises. Whilst employees could use other nearby parking offering your own parking is certainly preferable. But only if you do it right. A person’s experience parking sets the tone for their time at your office. A bad parking experience could mean your employees start off the workday poorly, or visitors are put in a bad mood before you even have a chance to greet them. A good parking experience, on the other hand, could mean your employees start the day stress-free and your visitors arrive pleasantly relieved. Contact our professional team of experts at Kiasu Workforce today for more information on how to refresh your car park environment and make it safer and work better for you.