ASK THE EXPERTS
BY ROB GILL
HEALTHY, WEALTHY AND WISE
How and why should traveller wellbeing be a component of your corporate travel programme?
WHILE DUTY-OF-CARE CONSIDERATIONS HAVE RISEN TO THE TOP of travel buyers’ agendas, these are mostly centred on traveller safety and security. Health and wellbeing of travellers may not quite be an afterthought, but rarely comes out as a major priority in surveys. One reason for this may be the difficulty in quantifying the success of health and wellbeing initiatives within companies, and specifically the impact of travel on employees’ health and productivity. Carlson Wagonlit Travel has been one of few travel suppliers to tackle the issue, and its Stress Index has pinpointed 33 triggers of stress for travellers – missing bags and having no internet were the biggest factors. Consultant Scott Gillespie, from T Clara, has developed the notion of ‘trip friction’, which looks at the wear and tear on employees who have to undertake regular ‘poor quality’ travel. These developments suggest that health and wellbeing is starting, at least, to be taken more seriously by corporates.
THE BUYER
Global travel manager for European-based communications company
WE TRY TO DO WHATEVER WE CAN FOR TRAVELLERS before and during their trips, which includes handling the impact of any disruptions, rather than leaving them to do
44 BBT MARCH/APRIL 2016
it, which will increase their stress levels. I also have a flexible purchasing strategy where I will try to get employees home earlier than originally planned if I think that will help them time-wise. All those extra hours spent at airports are basically lost. What do we want travellers to do while they are sitting in the aeroplane? Can we help them to use those hours better for work or rest? I think that can have a big impact on workload stress and wellbeing. It’s important to understand total cost ownership, including indirect and employer costs such as travel time, salary, sick leave and so on. Decisions should also be made in line with company KPIs [key perfor- mance indicators] and HR policy: if we invest money in preventative wellbeing, then travel decisions should be made in line with this. When we choose hotels, we ask what services should be included in the room rate that can help wellbeing?
If we support travellers when they travel long-haul, they should not have a huge workload when they come back to the office. The main principle is that travellers sleep when they fly back – if they can’t sleep, then they will be tired and this will affect their performance the next day. Is it more important to save money on an airline ticket or pay a little bit more and not lose their performance in the next few days? Management needs to understand the ROI [return on investment] of travel spend if we propose premium economy or business instead of cheaper economy. The most important thing for me as a
travel manager is to listen to my travellers and also think: would I do that myself? If I wouldn’t do that myself, how can I expect that from others? Companies need to be flexible for travellers, as it’s a two-way street if we want to keep them working for us for a long time.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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