04/05/2019
In June 2018, Homrich Berg moved into a new custom-made office, perfectly fit for our collaborative culture and a centralized Atlanta location close to the majority of our clients and employees. As ideal as this location was, the building came with a new challenge: 117 seats and only 65 parking spaces in the building! To face this parking capacity issue, we knew we’d need to promote alternative forms of transportation. Fortunately, as part of our office location selection, we picked a building conveniently located right next to the Buckhead MARTA station. So, with the infrastructure there, all we needed to do was change the mindsets of our employees.
Our main goal with our alternative transportation push was not only to break the myth that public transportation was inferior with solid research and educational programs, but find a handful of internal champions who could clearly see the problems with driving to test out alternative transportation options. Having lived in the New York area and working around the world for a number of years, I know that public transportation is often the best form of transportation. Driving in Atlanta traffic is not only stressful, but entirely unpredictable day to day. In our education and comparative experiences, we asked everyone to focus on their QUALITY of time commuting: not driving with some of the most aggressive drivers in the country, being free to check emails on the train, time to prepare notes for an upcoming meeting, time to unwind after a long day, and even time for a nice short walk.
What started as solving a parking capacity issue turned into giving many of our employees a better way to get to work. The changes we made required a small group of energetic people to work out a better alternative, and then an investment in education campaigns and incentives to change. In every instance, the program results have been life changing for our employees, from a much less stressful alternative to Atlanta’s Fast and Furious driving experience to feeling happier having exposure to natural light in our new office space. When people are less stressed and happier, they like each other more and work better together, and that’s a very good thing for everyone!
Oh, and I almost forgot, everyone does have a parking spot!
