PUSH THE WRONG BUTTONS

wellbeing are “becoming more important” for clients, with elements starting to appear in their policies. But there is also a balance to be struck alongside other key travel priorities.

“One of the most difficult things for someone writing a travel policy to achieve is to put the traveller’s health and wellbeing first, while at the same time delivering a cost and time-effective strategy to travel,” he says.

Indeed, Reed & Mackay's CEO, Fred Stratford, says some clients have lowered the threshold for business class partly with wellbeing in mind. ”We’ve had some clients changing policy but we’re still scratching the surface,” he says. ”But wellbeing is definitely changing the way people recruit and retain staff.”

To improve wellbeing some organisations will have certain rules such as allowing employees to travel in business class if the flight is over a certain duration – typically six or seven hours – or they could be permitted a chauffeur-driven transfer from the airport to their hotel if they are arriving after a long-haul flight. Other initiatives include allowing employees to work from home after a long-haul trip, particularly if jet lag is a factor.

But all the talk about traveller wellbeing is not yet necessarily resulting in concrete changes to travel policies, says Vanessa Bailey, Director of Client Partnerships at Business Travel Direct.

“What we are finding is that we are having to produce a lot more data surrounding this subject, to help identify who are the main road warriors within the company and which travellers regularly travel or stay away overnight,” she adds.

These changes in attitudes and priorities may sum up the way travel policies need to be more flexible and adaptable these days – rather than some weighty tome that gets dusted down every couple of years for a cursory review or tweak.

Fortunately, improved technology, including new communication tools, should help ease the pain for buyers worried about having to manage a constantly changing travel policy.

Gamification was all the rage – at least during business travel conferences – a few years ago as a way of rewarding travellers

who followed travel policy.

Typically, employees who achieved the highest levels of compliance would receive online badges and “high fives”, as well as the kudos of topping company leaderboards.

But despite plenty of publicity, it seems gamification has failed to take off in any big

way. As Traveldoo’s UK Country Manager Sam Cande puts it: “That came and went as

quick as Pokémon Go.”

Jaydev Pandit, Account Development Manager, UK & Europe, at Wings Travel Management, agrees: “This digital pat on the back was not a sufficiently popular incentive and as a result gamification largely failed to

achieve its purpose.”

The internal resources needed by organisations to tap into gamification may have been another stumbling block, adds

Click Travel’s James Vince.

“It’s really tailed off,” he says. “It’s a massive investment for an individual organisation and involves quite a bit of administration.” Having said this, many in the industry believe there is still a place for using incentives to

manage travellers behaviour.

SAP Concur’s Darryl Mcgarvey talks up the incentives offered by the likes of Rocketrip,

which operates a rewards scheme for travellers who save money on bookings. “It’s also important to allow travellers to access and use the apps they use in their own time,” he adds. “By bringing these into the corporate environment, you can ensure policy compliance and programme utilisation

in a controlled and measurable way.” Festive Road’s Louise Kilgannon believes travellers will always be more interested in

securing real-life vouchers.

“The ‘what’s in it for me’ question isn’t always satisfied with a shiny digital badge,” she adds. “Gamification has not proved transformational, but can be a really effective driver if used alongside targeted

engagement efforts.”

If a corporate chooses to create some sort of rewards programme, Fello’s Head of Client Services, James Newns, warns they should

“be aware of the tax implications”.