The Frequent Traveler: Fitter, Happier, More Productive

The corporate-drone meme hit it big with Generation X in the late 1990s. Think Radiohead's "OK Computer" or Mike Judge's cult movie classic, "Office Space."

Described as distrustful and alienated in their formative years, Xers now are welcoming to the workforce the sharing- and communication-oriented Millennials. To further generalize, both groups are trying to learn from prior generations and shun lifestyles that revolve around work.

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Business travel can be appealing, especially to those without partners or dependents, but this study seeks to identify the extent to which companies are building sustainable approaches to business travel and its place in the lives of employees. It also observes that the rules of work-life balance are changing.

Much of the story is about technology, but there is a massive human side to policing karma. What can travel managers do to support the health, safety and—we're in this to make money, after all—productivity of company employees? What are the hidden costs of traveling for work, and can they cross the bottom line?

More than two-thirds of surveyed corporate travel managers told Business Travel News that frequent business travel has a positive impact on travelers' personal health, 71 percent indicated it's positive for productivity and more than four in five said business travel positively affects employees' willingness to remain at the firm.

Yet, responding buyers also had concerns. More travel managers indicated that they were dissatisfied with the way their companies address the impact of business travel on travelers than said they were satisfied. Concerns about travelers' health and willingness to stay at the firm weighed heaviest, followed by safety and productivity. Perhaps this is due to some satisfaction buyers have that their companies have addressed safety and security through tracking, intelligence and travel management company action plans. Productivity improvements, they may figure, march on of their own accord.

While some worried about travel's effect on employee job satisfaction or well-being, responding travel managers reaffirmed that spend control remains a far higher priority for their programs. This is well-documented, of course. In this BTN survey, when buyers were asked to designate one of four options as the primary method their firms use to measure travel program success, a plurality chose year-over-year travel savings (43 percent). The remainder selected performance within budget (33 percent), cost avoidance (15 percent) and traveler satisfaction (9 percent).

Similarly, when asked for the most important criterion on which they base airline, hotel and car rental supplier selection, "lowest negotiable rate" outscored "highest service level" by two to one. Elite status perks were the most important criteria for well under 10 percent of buyers.

Perhaps some of this is to be expected, when one is asked to rank the single most important criterion or priority. However, when asked whether attracting and retaining talented employees was a consideration in creating travel policies, fully 62 percent said no.

Respondents whose companies do consider job satisfaction and employee retention in travel policies cited as typical benefits allowing employees to retain loyalty points and permitting premium-class travel. The company "wants to be recognized as a good place to work," one travel manager wrote.

"Definitely there is pressure on cost savings, but there is also the pressure on work-life balance—it can sometimes be a very thin line between them," said Unilever procurement manager for global travel services Yvonne Moya in an interview. At Unilever, travel policy allows business class for flights of more than three hours. "It's really about helping employees travel smarter and working with our preferred partners to fulfill both goals on duty of care and cost savings," Moya continued. "We do recognize people need to work and rest. We will not put people on planes for 12 hours in economy class. But we tell people to use premium class wisely, because we will see if they don't."

No Surprises

The specific impacts of business travel on work-life balance have not been widely studied, but some new data points have emerged.

After examining 13,000 medical records in a corporate wellness plan, Columbia University researchers last year tied excessive business travel to poor health and suggested corporations may want to consider the availability of fitness facilities in hotel property selection, offer reimbursement incentives for healthy eating and incorporate employee stress management programs.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel this year initiated related research and advisory services. A survey of more than 6,000 employees from nine of its corporate accounts pointed to a need to examine the hidden costs of business travel, in particular those caused by lost or delayed luggage, poor Internet connections, long-haul flights in economy and delays. CWT asked respondents to score the intensity of 33 stress factors when planning, taking and getting reimbursed for trips, which it then grouped into three categories: lost time, a situation in which work is difficult or impossible; surprises, when an unforeseen event occurs; and routine-breakers, in which travelers are unable to maintain their habits.

CWT found that travel stress was higher for women, older employees, more frequent travelers and senior executives. CWT highlighted economy-class policies as an example of ways policy can drive up hidden costs related to business traveler well-being.

"Travelers need to focus on being productive," said Vincent Lebunetel, head of CWT Solutions Group for Europe, Middle East and Africa. "Their companies are not paying them to travel."

Travel management is "not just about cost, but also duty of care," Lebunetel continued. "We need to involve procurement, but also HR and corporate social responsibility departments. We believe these are hidden costs in terms of an inability to work, which we'll be measuring and translating into missed savings. We'll also advise having adaptive travel policies—not just looking at the overall result, but more about digging into demographic segments. We find people reacting differently, and companies that want travelers to reduce their stress and improve productivity should work accordingly."

Profiling the traveler population and taking into account levels of responsibility, frequency of travel and whether an employee has partners or dependents can help companies assess the risks of traveler-related stress.

Martha Ferguson, Interpublic Group of Companies senior manager for EMEA travel operations and global corporate card, described one way that policies can be tailored to those most impacted by frequent travel—the oft-dreaded exception. "Our company is full of exceptions where it makes sense, even down to giving someone a platinum card for the added benefits and the extra points because this is a guy with a young family who is on the road more than he is at home," she said. "The CFO will come to me, because I also manage the global corporate card program, and say, 'As a company, it is the least we can do for this guy.' Platinum cards are not the policy in our company, so that's where an exception is."

Cognizant global travel manager Kathy Kaden said her firm is flexible with policy. "There are not a lot of firm and fast 'musts,' " she said. "We know they're not happy on the road every week, so we want to make sure they're as happy and comfortable as possible." Sometimes, she noted, additional comfort isn't even more expensive. "Someone might want to stay at a hotel that is $10 more, but they're a platinum member and they will get their breakfast and free Wi-Fi and an evening reception, etc. Then it becomes less expensive for them to stay where they want to stay than to stay in the company hotel. That helps shape the program."

Kaden was surprised that nearly two-thirds of polled travel buyers indicated their companies do not consider employee retention when setting travel policies. "To me, that's really odd," she said. "That's something which is really important to us. It even comes down to the hotels we use for recruits."

BCD Travel senior vice president of strategic marketing April Bridgeman argued that there is room for customization in structured managed travel programs.

"Recognizing that someone goes to the same place every Monday, and always books the same flight, and used to stay at a certain hotel but no longer does because they've had 10 complaints—and that's all because of what they've learned as travelers in other settings—is a capability in a managed business travel program that makes people more productive," said Bridgeman. "The industry certainly isn't there, but it's absolutely where we need to go."

It's likely that some portion of business travelers will report negative effects of business travel in any survey, but not all road warriors are burnouts in waiting. Many business travelers feel confident and optimistic about conducting business on the road, as recently noted by a Fairfield Inn & Suites survey of 1,001 of those who take at least three trips a year. "Business travelers desire better work-life balance and more benefits, including compensation and vacation days," according to Fairfield. "Still, most are satisfied with their travel experiences and would not change the amount they have traveled for work."

A Cambria Suites/GBTA Foundation survey answered in August by more than 400 travelers with at least four trips in the prior 12 months found nine in 10 agreed that "work-life balance is an important goal." Seventy-one percent of respondents said the key to achieving it was focusing on "work-life productivity" while traveling.

A blending of work and home activities is the solution for some. "It's not so much work-life balance anymore as it is work-life integration," said Agilent Technologies worldwide travel director Cindy Message. This is energized by mobile technology, but the smartphone-fueled disappearance of work-home boundaries may have negative consequences. Child-safety experts quoted in a September Wall Street Journal report said a documented spike in children's injuries likely was due to distracted, smartphone-toting parents.

Sixty-four percent of more than 200 travel professionals responding to a 2010 survey by Germany's University of Applied Science at Heilbronn indicated mobile technology had a positive influence on their work-life balance, but 42 percent said the impact was negative. Three in four cited an "enormous" increase in productivity from mobile devices. "Whether a positive or a negative influence is felt may vary from situation to situation and is depending on each business traveler's approach in handling mobile technology in a responsible way," the Heilbronn researchers wrote. The survey was sponsored by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, DuntonTinnus Consulting and SAP.

In the BTN research, willingness to remain at the company, health, safety and productivity did not appear to be business-travel-related concerns for most travelers surveyed. On average, they also largely were satisfied with how their companies address the effects of business travel. A large portion of responding business travelers indicated their employers allow travelers flexible hours (57 percent) and working from home (46 percent). Remote conferencing is permitted or encouraged by companies employing 43 percent of respondents.

Still, nearly one in five travelers surveyed said business travel has a negative effect on their personal health.

Comfortable

Corporate travel managers and buyers may be in the people business, but most organizations include an entity that is even more so. According to this research, one in five human resources departments are not at all involved with the creation of company travel policies. Forty-four percent of respondents said HR was somewhat or very involved.

In the HR world, support for flexible workforces and less work-centric livelihoods is gaining momentum, largely based on research showing that professionals increasingly value their personal time.

The National Study of Employers is "the most comprehensive and far-reaching study of the practices, policies, programs and benefits provided by U.S. employers to address the changing needs of today's workforce and workplace," according to co-sponsors at the Families and Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management. The 2012 study of more than 1,100 employers noted key shifts even compared with results of seven years earlier on what organizations allow at least some employees to do: 77 percent, up from 66 percent, let them "use flex time and periodically change starting and quitting times within some range of hours;" 87 percent, up from 77 percent, let them "take time off during the workday to attend to important family or personal needs without loss of pay;" and 63 percent, up from 34 percent, let them "work some of their regular paid hours at home on an occasional basis."

According to the FWI-SHRM study's authors, "the American workforce has had a number of major transitions throughout history, when societal, economic and technological trends transformed work, workers and workplaces. We are currently experiencing such a shift as increased workplace opportunities for women, investment in home life by men, growing global economic pressures and continually improving communications technology alter the ways in which women and men manage their work, personal and family lives."

SHRM president and CEO Henry Jackson added, "As we look ahead, it is clear that in order to remain competitive, employers must find ways to offer flexible work options if they want to attract and retain top talent."

Once again assuming stereotypes are permitted as factors to consider in shaping policy, FWI and SHRM found that professional Gen-Xers were "less likely to want jobs with more responsibility (37 percent) than non-professional Gen-X employees (47 percent). This finding should concern employers as Gen-X employees are the next generation in line to assume many leadership roles as the Boomers retire. Employers looking to maintain a talent pipeline will need to consider how to keep all employees engaged, not only with their jobs, but also with their career tracks." Similar assessments applied to Millennials, according to the study. These characteristics were attributed to a desire among younger employees for more personal and family time. "Therefore, improved flexibility options for professionals, especially younger professionals, may be an effective way to motivate employees to seek positions with greater responsibility," the researchers concluded.

In 2004, Deloitte, Exxon Mobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and other corporations released with the Families and Work Institute a study that uncovered this shift. Gen-X workers, they found, were "more likely to be 'family-centric' or 'dual-centric' (with equal priorities on both career and family) and less 'work-centric' (putting higher priority on their jobs than family) compared to members of the Boomer generation."

More appealing places to work, apparently, also are more successful. A 2003 study by a University of New Mexico professor of 130 announcements of family-friendly policies published in the Wall Street Journal showed the new thinking resulted in significantly improved share prices. The Academy of Management Journal in 2000 announced a study of 527 U.S. companies that found that those with "more extensive work-family policies" enjoyed higher perceived performance within their industries.

This report originally appeared in the Oct. 22, 2012, edition of Business Travel News.