The return of the traditional morning commute following Covid-19 restrictions will "ruin workers’ productivity," according to a new study.
The Irish Examiner reports that researchers at Trinity College Dublin Business School say commuting can significantly reduce productivity at work by draining mental energy and affecting worker’s ability to concentrate.
The new research recommends the introduction of flexible working arrangements or flexible shift times to help employees avoid a rush-hour journey.
"Because of its regular occurrence, commuting is an automatic habit. However, an unpleasant commute experience like heavy traffic requires employees’ self-regulation to shift toward controlled cognitive processing,” said associate professor in organisational behaviour and project researcher Wladislaw Rivkin.
"Employees may need to adapt daily work plans when arriving later at work or decide during the commute whether to pass on information about potential delays to colleagues.
"In turn, states of controlled cognitive processing deplete regulatory resources and put employees into a resource protection, negatively affecting productivity."
Average commute
Prof Rivkin said the implications of commuting on daily life are often overlooked.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) from 2016 show the average commute in Ireland clocks in 28.2 minutes, while almost 11 per cent of commuters spent an hour or more travelling to work.
"Our research demonstrates that commuting reduces productivity at work through draining mental energy and thus preventing immersive states of flow,” he said.
"Leaders should focus on satisfying employees’ fundamental needs by assigning work tasks that enhance employees’ competences and providing employees with decision-making autonomy.”
The researchers behind the study recommend that businesses implement work-design practices to mitigate the productivity lost during each day's commute and attempt to prevent interruptions during focused work.
The research by Wladislaw Rivkin, Fabiola Gerpott and Dana Unger will soon be published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
