Managing employee attendance can be challenging, especially when commuting disruptions occur unexpectedly. Issues like carpool cancellations or extended work hours can create anxiety among employees and impact team productivity.
That’s why it’s always good to have a backup plan. MyGCO’s Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH) benefit, provided by Georgia Commute Options, is just that. This program lets employees book Uber rides home or to a designated park and ride at no extra cost, giving them a way home on those days when the unexpected happens.
How MyGCO's Guaranteed Ride Home Works
MyGCO is the app from Georgia Commute Options that gives employees a one-stop shop for exploring their commute benefits. In addition to discovering new routes to try and earning rewards from clean commutes, it also gives employees a centralized portal for booking a Guaranteed Ride Home trip. Here’s how:
- Enroll and Prepare: Sign up for GRH through the MyGCO app or MyGCO.com. Ensure your account has a valid phone number associated with it.
- Earn and Redeem Credits: Log your commuting trips regularly in the app. Earn ride credits by logging eight roundtrip commutes. Once eligible, go to the My Rewards page, select Ride Home (5 Available), and follow the prompts to redeem your ride.
- Arrange Your Ride: After redemption, answer a few questions, agree to the terms and conditions, and complete your request. A GCO staff member will confirm your details and schedule an Uber ride for your journey home. You’ll receive all necessary ride information via text message.
Giving Commuters Peace of Mind
Employees of all kinds have found Guaranteed Ride Home helpful, but especially shift workers and those who don’t have reliable car access. Georgia Commute Options Worksite Advisor Shayla Cato shared just how much this benefit means to employees who don’t always have reliable rides at the end of their shift.
“I worked with a warehousing employee who typically carpooled to work with friends and family members but would occasionally be left stranded at the end of a shift. After learning about the GRH program, they immediately downloaded the app,” explained Shayla. “Soon after, when her carpool plans fell through, she redeemed her GRH reward to get home for the day. There are many employees in similar situations, and this benefit provides them peace of mind.”
Maximizing GRH for Recruitment, Retention and Attendance Management
Employers can maximize the benefits of the Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH) program to strengthen recruitment efforts, improve retention rates and manage employee attendance more effectively. Here are several strategies to achieve these goals:
- Highlight GRH in Recruitment & Retention Efforts: Integrate GRH into recruitment, onboarding materials and routine staff communications to emphasize its role in supporting work-life balance and alleviating commuting concerns.
- Support Hybrid and Flexwork Arrangements with GRH: Think about employee concerns as they plan in-office days and incorporate GRH into hybrid and flexwork policies and employee arrangements to give employees reliable transportation support when they face challenges.
- Educate Managers on GRH Benefits: Provide training to managers and supervisors about the GRH program and its advantages. Equip them with the knowledge to effectively communicate the availability of GRH to their teams and encourage its use during transportation disruptions. This proactive approach helps mitigate attendance issues and fosters a supportive management culture.
Georgia Commute Options can help you at each of these touchpoints. To access communication materials about GRH and other sustainable commuting perks and tools, reach out to a Georgia Commute Options Worksite Advisor.