5 Tips to Cultivate a Positive Business Travel Culture for Your Employees

It won’t be wrong to call corporate travel the lifeblood of most business organizations. Team bonding, networking opportunities, higher sales, and market expansion are some of the many perks of this experience. Notwithstanding these, a business trip can take a toll on employees’ health and well-being. 

A part and parcel of these trips is long-haul travel, seemingly endless work, constant meetings, and complex client interactions. The pressure can quickly become too overwhelming. It is the company’s responsibility to foster a positive corporate travel culture. 

The good news is that after the pandemic, long-distance business travel has only started gaining its normal pace. It is expected that 2024 and beyond will see more bookings in this area. It’s high time to promote a positive corporate travel culture. This blog will discuss five ways to do so. 

Improve Travel Experience and Provide Clear Policies

Always start by establishing a corporate policy that is detailed and straightforward for all to understand. It must clearly outline what employees can expect from such trips. 

Travel managers need to walk the extra mile and communicate the policy effectively. Once that’s done, employees must have a clear idea of the booking procedure, partner hotels or airlines, as well as the deadlines for expense filing. 

Moreover, there must be no gaps remaining in enhancing the travel experience. Perhaps your employees have always taken economy class. You can switch things up a bit by allowing them to fly business class for long-haul flights. As you learn more about corporate travel trends of 2024, you will find that spending in this area is to rise. 

We understand that costs are equally rising by the hour. This is why you should look for companies that offer discounted business-class flight tickets. This will enable your employees to look and feel fresh even as they land at their destination airport. According to Business Class Experts, benefits like priority check-in and escort to security are available even before travel. 

With personalized culinary treats, access to pristine lounges, and networking opportunities, your employees can make the most of every business trip. What’s more, is that they will always arrive in perfect shape.

Offer Flexibility in the Itinerary

Travel is inherently risky from the viewpoint of sudden deterrents. In other words, your employees’ travel schedule may experience unforeseen changes due to flight delays, inclement weather, or canceled meetings. 

This is why it is essential to keep their itinerary flexible enough. This provides much-needed assurance and room for making any changes as may be necessary. Start by making the travel policy flexible so that employees have some autonomy over their travel arrangements. 

Moreover, let them modify their hotel or flight bookings at the last minute if there is a valid reason to do so. In return for a morale boost and stress-free employees, this is just a small accommodation to make. 

Encourage Work-Life Balance

Exciting as they may be, business trips can also be pretty exhausting and a productivity marathon. Amid back-to-back conferences, calls, and interactions with business leaders, it’s challenging to have any quality time alone. 

This carries with it the risk of feeling overwhelmed and burnt out. Studies have found that employee burnout stats are getting worse. Moreover, those who feel this way are less likely to go above and beyond to perform. Imagine if this were the case in a new environment where your team has gone to strike a deal or win over an important potential client. 

Take care of their work-life balance during corporate travel. This concept has become popular among millennials and Gen-Z as ‘bleisure.’ The word combines business and leisure to create a travel experience marked by work and entertainment, adventures, and good food. 

For instance – suppose one of your employees has gone to Sweden for a sales conference. If it is a country they haven’t visited before, it is natural to want to explore a bit besides fulfilling work commitments. Now if your company provides them with this ‘bleisure’ opportunity, they will get back happy and more satisfied. 

Prioritize Employee Safety

It is not uncommon for employees to change their travel arrangements, albeit unwillingly, because of safety concerns. This does not always have to do with getting mugged or abducted although that is a possibility. 

Employee safety during corporate travel may also be at risk due to bad weather conditions or civil unrest. Female business travelers face a greater risk in unfamiliar locations than their male counterparts. Be it men or women, you must provide them with safe travel options. 

These include transportation, hotel stays, as well as other arrangements. A better thing would be to use travel management software that comes with safety features like hotel tagging, live tracking, and all-around business travel support. In case of any emergency, you’d be notified ahead of time. 

Extend Business Travel Wellness Support

If you haven’t had an employee skip their meals or forget their daily exercise while on a business trip, you need to ask again. Since most workations involve juggling multiple tasks at once, it’s natural to lose touch with daily life back at home. 

It is only a matter of a few days until your employees will feel mentally exhausted and physically unwell. You can offer them with business travel wellness support by promoting the following –

• Encourage them to eat their meals on time, preferably lots of fruits and vegetables as well as adequate water.
• Book their rooms in a hotel that provides fitness centers so that they can participate in daily exercise before leaving for the day’s work.
• Suggest a few good wellness applications that help them meditate, drink plenty of water, and eat healthier.

Your employees already know that these are vital, but may fail to follow a healthy routine amid a series of meetings and network groups. Having them reiterated by someone they look up to gives them the freedom to not sacrifice important personal activities. 

Once again, we’d like to reiterate the fact that business travel is only as exciting as it is comfortable and safe. When employees are assured of a stress-free and positive travel experience, they will show enthusiasm and get the most out of the trip. If this article has helped you identify any cracks in your corporate travel program, now is the best time to address them.