Business travel for hybrid and remote workforces

 

As hybrid or remote workforces have rapidly become part of our modern working era, so has the need to change business travel policies and programs. Investing more in technology, securing meeting spaces, and reviewing processes and travel policies to accommodate the change in traditional business travel patterns and meeting behavior are all essential components of a successful hybrid/remote travel program.

According to a variety of recent studies, over the last decade, the number of people who work from home has risen by at least 159%, with the majority of employers (83%) putting more flexible work policies in place, such as allowing more people to work from home or letting them adjust their schedules. A further 62% of employees aged 22-55 claim to already work remotely at least occasionally, and 16% of organizations globally are already fully remote.

Beyond the evolution of the 9-5 workplace structure, over a third of businesses are also looking to expand internationally, and the majority say that they have chosen remote working because it accelerates speed to market in new countries. 

CBRE suggests “The office’s new purpose will be to provide a venue for community, culture, and collaboration. Employees will be spending less time on individual/focused tasks while on-site and more time collaborating, networking, and socializing.” 

New workforces drive business travel changes

With employees working from various locations, it is only natural that businesses may experience a change to their traditional travel patterns, in particular travel that was historically classified as ‘internal meetings’ travel. 

An Oxford Economics survey demonstrates that business travelers who work remotely all or some of the time were encouraged to travel more to: 

• Engage with team members in person (38%),
• Attend training sessions in person (32%)
• Attend in-person company, department, or team celebrations (29%)
• Meet with their manager or supervisor in person (20%).

Not only have the reasons for business travel changes, so to have key travel days of the week and the duration of business trips. Remote or hybrid employees may travel less frequently than traditional in-office business travelers, but they are far more likely to stay longer to meet with more customers, colleagues, business partners, or supply chain per trip, providing a greater return on investment to their employer’s travel budget. 

Those who work remotely, more so than hybrid employees, are also looking to extend stays and undertake “bleisure” travel – the combination of both business and leisure travel. How these travel components are tracked and accounted for requires a review of travel policies and increased visibility in travel data and spending. 

Business travel for in-person connection

The future of flexible working arrangements will still necessitate travel to support growth goals such as business development and customer retention. While collaboration technology has its place, there is no substitute for in-person engagement. If you’re not there, it’s highly likely your competitors will be.  

According to CTM’s 2022 Global Customer Survey, 80% of respondents expect to travel more or the same amount in the coming 12 months as they did pre-pandemic, and 59% expect to do more in-person meetings in the coming 12 months compared to current activity. 

Creating and fostering collaborative work culture across distributed teams will also be increasingly important for employee retention and continued professional development. Whether employees travel to head office or to an offsite location, business travel will be just as important for team networking, collaboration, and for building rapport with one another. 

Travel technology improves user experience

Businesses may find they need to take a holistic approach to travel management, moving away from focusing on the bottom line to concentrate on employee well-being. With more employees and business travelers spreading their time between home, travel, and the office, there will be a need to use future-focused technology and flexible travel policies to streamline booking processes and provide a better user experience for both the traveler and travel booker.

Having up-to-date travel content, risk management tools, mobile technology, travel forecasting, and pre-trip approval tools provides a more favorable business travel experience for the whole team regardless of destination. 

Pre-trip approval

Managing manual travel requests may no longer be a long-term solution. Developing a pre-trip approval process in collaboration with your Travel Agent will help simplify decision-making when managing business travel for a hybrid workforce. Integrating approval processes will be important for businesses managing a steady stream of travel requests. Pre-trip approval will also assist in eliminating any missed ticketing deadlines which can add to the bottom line. 

Travel and expense management

More than ever, expense management is vital for the visibility of travel spending enabling businesses to optimize their travel program and identify cost savings. Paper-based expense and invoice management is challenging in a remote work setting and creates an unnecessary burden on team members while opening the potential for errors. The use of integrated expense management solutions can help control spending and allow Finance Managers to approve expenses and automatically update them into finance management systems without needing a hard copy paper trail. 

Outlining a clear travel and expense policy also ensures business travelers follow best practice while having an integrated expense management tool helps business travelers efficiently process expenses for greater efficiency and complete travel spend visibility. 

Expense data can be useful in understanding employee behavior and why exceptions are occurring. It offers an opportunity to address concerns, alleviate traveler friction and increase policy compliance. Pre-ticketing information also allows you to monitor traveler bookings and identify policy exceptions. 

Travel risk management

Knowing where employees are is critical to supporting their health and safety. In a hybrid or remote environment, businesses will need to consider: 

1. What to do in the event of an emergency? 
2. How will they know where their employees are located? 
3. What contingencies do they have in place? 

Having access to real-time risk management tools helps businesses identify risks, and track and communicate with their travelers no matter where they are. GTN conducted a business travel survey of a range of industries, office locations, and remote work/business travel population sizes. Of the 72% of organizations that reported having a global travel policy in place, only 31% were utilizing a method to track their business travel population. 

Our risk management solutions are designed to help businesses meet their duty of care obligations while providing travelers with the confidence they need to make their trip safer, more productive, and more enjoyable. From traveler tracking tools to SMS risk notifications, pre-trip risk assessments, and mobile booking technology, your Travel Agent can tailor a risk management solution to meet your business objectives. 

Technology is changing work culture in ways that will make business travel more important to a remote or hybrid workforce seeking connection. For those businesses who’ve adopted a flexible work environment, it’s important to understand the travel behavior and pattern changes, the risks associated with employee locations, and how travel policies, programs, and technology can assist in managing those risks and save unnecessary costs.  

Working with a trusted Travel Agent to help understand and manage the complexity of this new era of business travel will be key to maximizing value, safety, and strategic outcomes from your business travel program.