SHARE Mobility’s Transportation Solutions Help Hire and Retain Employees
In many places, it is really tough for employees without cars to get to work.
Transportation challenges especially impact front-line workers in rural locations, suburban areas, towns and cities where affordable housing is not efficiently connected to public transportation infrastructure.The lack of this infrastructure makes it hard for employees to get and keep jobs, impacting revenue and productivity for businesses.
“If you can’t hire, you can’t grow,” said Ryan McManus, CEO and Founder of SHARE Mobility. “Employee attraction and retention is one of the biggest challenges facing businesses today.”
SHARE is tackling the problem with software and services that help companies and municipalities overcome systemic transportation roadblocks, a leading factor affecting employees’ ability to accept and keep jobs.
Mobility Solutions Designed for Everywhere Outside of Major Metros
Founded in 2016 in Portland, OR, SHARE began with six months of research and an initial investment from Jaguar Land Rover. The company moved to Columbus from the West Coast to build a shared ride-to-work service for customers in both the private and public sectors.
Then the pandemic struck. Employers faced a structural shift in their ability to hire and retain workers, especially for front-line jobs. SHARE pivoted to meet the needs.
“After Covid-19,” McManus said, “SHARE reset the conversation. Instead of talking about rides to work, we started talking about hiring and retaining employees. To varying degrees, every company has problems with employee retention. We have aligned ourselves with the objectives of human resources departments to help solve this challenge, one of the greatest problems facing companies today.”
Solving Underlying Transportation Issues Improves Employee Retention
SHARE uses computerized analysis of company-provided data to help customers understand why the lack of affordable and efficient transportation contributes to call-offs, no-shows, and employee turnover, especially among front-line workers.
Currently, SHARE is targeting the transportation issues that impact workers and employers in food production companies and in the manufacturing logistics industry. Based on company-provided data, SHARE can model employees commuting costs daily and annually.
“Nationally, 9 percent of households and about 40 percent of refugee and immigrant households don’t own a car. Companies that address transportation issues increase the hiring pool. More people can say yes to the job,” said McManus.
“We have been able to prove that providing employee transportation can affect retention rates of front-line workers by 300 percent. For companies that want to elevate front-line workers, we are the solution to think about,” he said.”
The Power of Commuter Benefits to Enhance Workplace Satisfaction and Attract Talent
“We are at the earliest stages of building a new industry to make transportation an employee benefit,” McManus said. “Many small towns have been destroyed, but they are a footprint ready to go back to work. There are smart people, young people, and economic programs that are trying to get more people into a trade. SHARE runs from cities to rural areas to get people to where the jobs are.”
After providing services for four years in Dublin, OH, SHARE is now working with Cleveland RTA to provide last-mile service with amazing results. The company creates awareness and solutions in corporations, public transit organizations, and government economic opportunity functions through public-private partnerships.
“With Jobs Ohio, employers like Intel, and incentives, such as tax abatements to create jobs in rural areas, Ohio is working to create economic impact across the state,” McManus said. “The greatest risk to economic growth is to get the workforce to where the jobs are. This is a problem that SHARE Mobility can solve.
