Written by Kiran Sidhu on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)
Great top-down leadership doesn’t end at laying down the groundwork. A good business leader knows that a people-first mindset is key to a company’s growth. It is a fact that staff satisfaction tends to reflect on their productivity and loyalty. And who better to represent your company than a loyal and happy employee?
Business travel today is one aspect of work that is very much changed from how it was pre-2020. It is an area that business leaders must acknowledge has a direct impact on employee happiness. Travel risk and trip preparations call for more energy and closer attention to detail in order to achieve quality business trips.
But it is not just “how” business travel is done that has changed. Companies are also assessing the “why” and assessing the rationale behind each trip. Business travel is often pitted against video calls though the former is proven unrivaled in forging connections and winning deals. However, paying more attention to the purpose of travel is worth doing to achieve greater employee happiness, less risk and save costs.
Are employees happy to travel for business?
The novelty of jet setting for work can wane over time – no one likes long layovers, delays and crowded airports. But the bleisure trend shows no sign of slowing. On top of that, people want to deliver their best work and excel in their careers. And research shows that face-to-face meetings and business trips yield better business results. Whether employees like to travel for business comes down to a matter of preference and support.
This is where business travel management makes all the difference, not just to those traveling but also to employees in human resources, finance, managers, and other roles. Modern travel management empowers employees to choose how they travel within the parameters of the company travel policy. Travel management done right lets employees know they are well protected, trusted and valued. The culture of a company is determined by how people feel at work.
Here’s how modern, technology-driven business travel management keeps employees happy.
Peace of mind with risk & safety tools
Safety is not just about having a policy in place but communicating it well to ensure employees know how they are covered. Employees having peace of mind is invaluable, especially when in a new and unfamiliar environment. Feeling safe during business trips positively impacts confidence and unwittingly equips them to do better work.
Your company travel policy may cover how employees are taken care of if something goes wrong but using a modern travel management tool ensures you stay proactive in preventing untoward incidents.
Global disease outbreak? TruTrip’s integration with Riskline, for example, alerts you ahead of time so you can choose your next course of action – whether repatriation, treatment or other support.
Employees achieve more when admin tasks are fewer
Business travel requires careful planning, budgeting and reporting. When done manually, one business trip creates spillover tasks for human resources, finance, team managers, travel managers, administrative staff and the traveler itself. That’s a lot of time that can be saved through streamlining and automation.
Using a travel management platform frees up your employees’ time, letting them do more of the work they take pride in. No more booking and comparing flights and hotels on different platforms; researching travel requirements; reimbursements and reporting; lengthy back and forth travel approvals and requests, and arcane company travel policy.
Overall, it sets your company up to do more and better meet your goals.
Empowering employees to make travel choices
Company travel policies inform employees of budgets and other rules to comply with. But despite the best of intentions, business trip bookings and expenses may sometimes fall outside the confines of travel policy. Using a travel management platform takes away the challenge of implementation. Set up your company travel policy and bookings are automatically compliant.
Instead of restricting employees to booking with certain hotels and star ratings, smart policy implementation lets them choose travel based on their needs and preferences – whether that is direct or connecting flights, unique accommodation types and other trip extras. Select a travel management partner that gives you extensive travel choices. These minor customisations can go a long way to ensuring business traveler satisfaction.
Support and service at every stage of your business trip
A dedicated support team that’s one call, chat, or email away at all times can take the edge off traveling in a high-stress environment. Quality travel management gives you easy, self-service options to make planning business trips a breeze. And at any point, if you need help, having someone to talk to makes for a better overall experience.
But it is not just pre-trip that support is useful. Employees having access to the right support while on business trips are critical. Things can go wrong when traveling – missing travel documents, injuries, bad hotel experiences and more. Your travel management partner is your dedicated point of contact to help resolve issues for you.
TruTrip makes business travel enjoyable and safeWith our modern technology and tools, employees can better dedicate their time to organizational growth. There is no better time than now to get started on impactful business travel. To learn more about TruTrip, schedule a demo or sign up for a free trial.
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