Power to the people
Has there ever been a time when employee wellbeing has been so central to business travel programmes? Where once corporates were focused on reducing costs, cutting travel volumes and tightening travel policies, they are now moving in the opposite direction, relaxing the parameters and carefully monitoring the impact of business travel on their staff.
Caring for the people in your organisation has become a top priority. Traveller centricity, traveller friction, traveller wellbeing… they are now ubiquitous phrases that point to a clear shift in how businesses treat their travellers. Corporates are paying increasing attention to the impact that days spent travelling on business has on productivity, morale and welfare, and moreover, the indisputable link between travel fatigue, staff retention and even recruitment. We have covered this evolving topic in many past issues of Thebusinesstravelmagazine, but never have we devoted so many pages to it. Eighteen pages, in fact, from traveller wellbeing, accessible travel and traveller tracking, to female travellers, the LGBTQ community and duty of care obligations.
Also putting people in the spotlight is our very own event, The Business Travel People Awards, which took place in May and recognised the hard work of teams and individuals across the industry over the last 12 months. See pages 19-21 for all the details. We were pleased to announce at the event a partnership with the University of Greenwich that will help nurture young talent and raise awareness of the business travel industry as a wonderful career path. It is a fledgling project but we look forward to working with additional colleges and universities and welcome the support of industry suppliers and organisations. Get in touch if you'd like to leverage your own people power for the benefit of the industry.