Thanks For The Ride.

I live in San Francisco. I work in Silicon Valley. For the first 6 months on the job, I drove my car to work. It was miserable. It rivaled the infamous LA commute. However, my company finally wised up and paid $800,000 (per year) for a shuttle to pick up the City Dwellers and drop them off at the front door. Not just any shuttle. The shuttle came fully equipped with WiFi, leather seats, cup holders, and TVs. However, the greatest perk of the shuttle had nothing to do with how convenient or comfortable it is. The ultimate benefit is a deep improvement in company culture through employee interaction.

Traditionally, at a 5,000+ employee company, you can go months and even years without interacting with people outside your immediate group. There is low transparency and high isolation. With massive campuses and multiple locations, I barely knew what they did on the floor below me. It’s rare to venture outside of your core competency, thus you end up spending time with coworkers that have similar skills, interests, and hobbies.

The shuttle changed all this. I now walk around campus tossing head nods and small talk like I’m Obama. Some days, I spend time on the shuttle observing the recent personal collection of a Digital Artist. Some days, I talk about start-ups with the head of Mergers & Acquisitions. Some days, I learn about what kind of trouble my company is in from a Corporate Lawyer. And on Fridays, I drink with everyone.

It’s a smorgasbord of unique talent and varied interests. The only thing we ALL have in common is the personal investment in success/failure of the company we work for. So the close to one million dollars spent on employee transportation is worth far more than what we save in gas. It creates lasting relationships and enlightened employees. Every company should indulge their employees with shared transportation of some kind.