To say that the last years have been a rollercoaster for many organizations would be an understatement. Just as we were leaving the most tumultuous days of the pandemic behind us, geopolitical troubles in Eastern Europe and rocketing energy prices have hit the global economy hard. Things are now down to the old inflationary dilemma of whether to cut business spending or pass the higher costs to clients through price increases.
Reducing travel costs is usually one of the first actions companies take in times like these. However, two years of limited human interaction have already put a significant strain on business relationships. Whether your CFO acknowledges it or not, this has already cost organizations dearly in terms of long-term value. And while travel restrictions made this cost inevitable during the first months of the pandemic, now is the perfect time to double your business trips, nurture old business relations and establish new, profitable ones.
Not to mention that trips are also a great way to address increased stress and lower performance issues in your workforce, a view reinforced by a survey conducted by Morning Consult. The business intelligence company has found that almost 2 in 3 business travellers believe an increase in virtual work negatively affected their workplace’s productivity and culture.
So, let’s have a closer look at the major reasons why you still need business travel in 2022 and moving forward.
In this article, we'll take a look at:
A recent global report by Gallup highlighted that stress among workers reached an all-time high in 2021, even surpassing the previous record set by 2020. Working women in North America are among those most hit by this trend. This is concerning news, especially when paired with data provided by LeanIn.org and McKinsey&Company on leading women leaving their jobs at the highest rate ever recorded.
Travel managers, HR and business leaders, are fully aware of the high cost of qualified employees leaving a company. Bonus and other monetary incentives are often insufficient to prevent your employees from looking for more attractive opportunities elsewhere.
Nowadays, businesses are expected to look after their workforce’s physical, mental, and emotional health. An increasing percentage of workers now look at these factors when assessing whether to remain at their current organization or not.
Providing your workers with enough exposure to social interactions, whether in the form of regular corporate travel or wellness retreats, can be the right strategy to restore your workforce’s well-being, commitment, and loyalty simultaneously.
While most of us appreciate the benefits provided by virtual meetings, their downsides are often overlooked. Recent data show that excessive use of video conferencing tools for work meetings can generate monthly costs of over $1250 per employee due to wasted time. This is due to a combination of factors, including:
Such data are particularly worrisome for companies that rely on remote workers as a long-term strategy. A way to address this issue is to increase the frequency of periodic in-person meetings. This leads to higher travel needs when part of the workforce is located in different cities or countries.
More regular live meetings combined with a practical and cost-cutting travel management service can help you address these issues and restore lost productivity.
Relying excessively on a remote connection with your employees, clients, or suppliers exposes you to a higher risk of miscommunications. This can have a damaging effect on your projects in terms of cost and results.
One of the reasons remote interactions lead to communication issues are conflicting input received on different apps. For example, colleagues may leave comments on a Google spreadsheet that contradict what they told you in a Slack chat or Zoom conversation. Other times, you need input from others to proceed with your work, but you are left waiting for hours or days before you get the answer.
A study on Microsoft employees has highlighted a 25% reduction in the time workers spend collaborating across groups compared to pre-pandemic years. At the same time, they are building more connections within their group or network. This spells trouble for those projects that require significant cross-team and cross-functional collaboration.
Some projects also involve teams focusing on similar goals for regional and national markets. This makes global business travel everything but a cost. On the contrary, it’s an essential requirement for such projects to achieve their objectives.
The digitalization of services has provided many tools companies can use to manage relationships with their clients more effectively. Yet while such tools are a great supporting element, they are no substitute for real human connection.
An article published in Harvard Business Review focused on how non-customer-facing remote teams are at a higher risk of losing touch with target clients. Among the various reasons is the lower frequency with which they run into those in customer-facing roles, such as sales representatives and account executives. This creates:
A well-designed business travel program can ensure a constant flow of communication between customer-facing and non-customer-facing teams of an organization. Not to mention that in specific industries, especially B2B ones, periodic in-person meetings with clients are paramount to maintaining high levels of mutual trust and commitment.
Finding new deals and clients often requires a personal touch. Business travel is essential not just to keep your current customers satisfied but also to conclude new deals, find new clients, and penetrate new markets. Here the adverse impact of cutting business trips on your company’s bottom line is the easiest to acknowledge.
A real estate investment or building group can’t buy properties or reach a new construction without sending its appraisers and engineers to the grounds. Similarly, a boat producer risks missing countless potential customers by not having its products showcased and its representatives present at major marine trade shows and expos. And how could a restaurant chain consider an expansion into a new national market without its experts evaluating possible locations and venues?
In harsh economic times, the key is provided by solutions that allow you to contain travel spending while maintaining or increasing the current number of business trips. And that’s what TruTrip is here for. Its numerous features include an expense-cutting online booking tool and performance-boosting travel management solutions. Book a demo today and get the most out of your company’s business trips.
TruTrip streamlines booking, management, and reporting for hassle-free business trips.