New data backs up what experts at business travel consultancy Advito have been saying for months: Companies can save money, increase employee productivity and lower stress with a virtual collaboration strategy that lets road warriors stay home when a trip won’t significantly further business goals.
A study by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives finds a more manageable work-life balance has emerged as the leading priority for modern business travelers. Nearly half (46%) of the 255 business travel managers interviewed for the ACTE study reported a significant increase in the number of traveler inquiries about improving work-life balance.
“Modern business travelers are less frenetic and more deliberate. They travel for two reasons: to meet their corporate objectives and to support their life’s objectives. For a growing number of them, the first is meaningless if it doesn’t contribute to the second,” ACTE Executive Director Greeley Koch explained.
This trend is a key reason Advito started a total collaboration management practice earlier this year, said Lesley O’Bryan, vice president and principal of the consultancy. The aims of a total collaboration management strategy include:
- Reduced travel spend
- Enhanced traveler satisfaction
- Lower employee stress
- Increased productivity
- Increased employee retention
- Reduced carbon footprint
- Stronger global working relationships
O’Bryan uses her own experience as a road warrior to describe the benefits. In a recent Out Front blog and video, she said, “I spend a lot of time traveling between speaking events, client meetings and internal planning sessions. I miss my kids when I’m on the road. I don’t eat and exercise like I should, and I certainly don’t sleep as much as I’d like. Just like you and your employees, I feel the stress that travel adds.”
But, it doesn’t have to be that way, O’Bryan noted. Advito has explored alternatives through its partnership with Cisco. The consultancy and tech giant are working together to assess technology that’s now available for collaboration and to help companies come together across departments to identify the best collaboration alternatives for non-optimal travel.
Advito detailed the challenges and possibilities in a white paper released earlier this year, Virtual Collaboration: Enhancing Your Travel Program. It gives an overview of the collaboration tools in the market; offers guidance for corporate travel programs assessing whether virtual collaboration fits their company goals and culture; and outlines how to start incorporating virtual collaboration into a corporate travel strategy.
Learn more about what virtual collaboration can do for your travelers and your travel program. Talk to your BCD Travel account manager or email Advito at [email protected].
