WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT
professionals globally now work away from the office at least once per week, while half (53 per cent) do so for at least half the week. What difference does a flight and a few thousand miles make anyway when so much work is virtual nowadays? “If my client is based in the UK or US, we wouldn’t physically be in the same country,” says Krau. “It’s about organisation and navigating time zones to make it work.” The fact is, though, for travel managers it can be a
potential headache, throwing up issues of duty-of-care and blurred bleisure lines that their current policies may not have the solutions to. So, how can they make it work?
NEW INFRASTRUCTURES
On the one hand, the increasing acceptance of remote working and digital nomads means the emergence of brand-new infrastructures in hospitality that travel man- agers and the digital nomads among their staff can take advantage of, not least hybrid work and leisure concepts from a growing number of hotel chains. Village Hotel Club, for example, recently launched a
brand new co-working space across its 30 hotels called VWorks which, it says, offers modern hot-desking spaces with meeting rooms, a lounge area, super-fast wifi, free printing and free refreshments. “The rise in flexible working has meant there are more people on the road, working from home, or simply looking for a temporary space away from the office,” says chief executive Paul Roberts. “It’s from this that VWorks was born.” In May last year, Accor also announced a plan to imple- ment 1,200 co-working spaces in its hotels worldwide by 2022 as part of a joint venture with Bouygues Immobilier called WOJO. “Through our new range of spaces, we are now able to meet a key customer need: combining the quality of work life with mobility,” said chief executive Stephane Bensimon of the announcement. And in November NH Hotels Group launched its City Connection service, too, providing clients with crossover access to services in its international hotels, to suit those frequently on the move. Then there is, of course, the plethora of standalone co-working spaces and managed workspaces now available to remote workers, with the likes of WeWork (ahead of its fall from grace) valued at an eyewatering US$47bn. Set-ups such as Remote Year, meanwhile, take care of almost every aspect of the logistics when it comes to com- bining travel and work, says its spokesperson. “We set our participants up with accommodation, transportation between each city on their itinerary (flights and door to door service from airport to apartment), 24/7 access to a coworking space with reliable and high speed internet, on the ground staff, a community of like-minded professionals to travel alongside, and various community events, professional events, and cultural events.” In addition, “we will work with the company to better explain how our programme works and how their
buyingbusinesstravel.com Village Hotel, Portsmouth
employee will be in good hands and able to do their job. Travel days are always on weekends and are planned by us, expenses are totally up to the individual.” All of which makes the scenario appear practically effortless. But the truth is a little more complex for those overseeing travel. Yes, there might be the facilities availa- ble for employees to work effectively while travelling, but how does all this interact with an existing travel policy? Who pays for what? And where does duty-of-care begin and end?
OBSTACLES ON THE ROAD That last question is perhaps the biggest obstacle to com- panies embracing the trend, believes Krau. “Duty-of-care is core when you’re talking about travel management and that’s one of the first blocks preventing travel managers moving forward with this at a faster pace.” But, she adds, “we should stop using duty-of-care as an excuse. Just find solutions because there are solutions.”
One company is asking digital nomads to sign waivers for when they’re travelling during their employment, she suggests. “The responsibility of the company is then not engaged if something were to happen.” Exactly where a traveller is at any given time can make a big difference though, cautions Judith Heinrich, managing director of Travelicity. “The big challenge is that I don’t think the majority of corporates have a policy in place,” she says. “Nobody is thinking of the implications. Bleisure has
2020 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 109
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