Business travel can be a great way to improve productivity and performance, but it can also come at the expense of employee wellbeing.
A study conducted by Collison found that 35% of business travellers had concerns about the impact of travel on their mental health and admitted that they had at some point given a false reason to avoid having to travel for work.
Employees who frequently travel for work often face unique challenges that other workers do not, affecting their mental health.
They can feel isolated from their homes, family and regular routines. Changing time zones can also throw off their sleep patterns.
All of this negatively impacts employee productivity, negatively impacting your company’s bottom line.
Bonnie Smith, Corporate Traveller GM, said that employers should provide additional support to employees who travel for work to alleviate the stress associated with business travel and increase their desire to travel for business.
According to Smith, here are seven ways to improve employee mental health through updating travel policies.
1. Help business travellers make healthier choices
Travel managers and employees should work together to make healthier choices while travelling, which can include choosing a more convenient flight time, choosing a hotel with a gym, or increasing the per diem to allow for a healthy room service breakfast.
2. Reward healthy travel habits
You can modify travel wellness policies to help employees, who travel, to achieve better balance. For example, enable them to work from home on their return, or provide a full post-trip duvet day to help them feel well rested.
Companies can also encourage employees to participate in a healthy travel programme by offering incentives such as gift cards or perks.
3. Improve the travel experience to prevent burn-out
Employees who travel a lot for work can be under a lot of stress. To ease their anxiety, consider frequent flyer programmes which offer perks like free upgrades and lounge access, or schedule a rest day after flights that exceed a certain distance or time.
4. Give them more choices
Business travellers should have the freedom to choose the services and accommodations they prefer (within policy). That way, they can tailor their travel experience to their own needs and preferences.
5. Think beyond the hotel option
Serviced apartments offer a homier atmosphere than traditional hotel accommodations, allowing business travellers to maintain their daily routines while away from home. With access to a fully equipped kitchen, for example, business travellers can prepare healthy meals instead of eating out daily, which is great for longer trips.
6. Promote “bleisure trips”
Bleisure travel is growing in popularity because it offers a more flexible and enjoyable way to combine work and play. Unlike business travel, which can often be stressful, bleisure travel promotes well-being by allowing employees to recharge their batteries through a combination of business and leisure travel.
These can be business trips that are extended to include personal time or vacations that include business components.
7. Provide support every step of the way
With business travel resuming after the pandemic, a smooth, efficient process is more important. Business travellers often have to deal with missing details, last-minute changes and tedious expense management – all of which can add to stress.
Easy access to a travel management platform and the support of a travel manager will streamline the process. All these elements can make a big difference for busy professionals travelling.
Smith said companies should sit down and think about what their employees want from the future of business travel to make the experience less stressful. She said that only by understanding this, can they develop a well-communicated travel risk management programme.
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