Business travel is back, but not everyone has the opportunity to participate.
SAP Concur recently published the results of its annual Global Business Travel Survey, which revealed that two-thirds of employees believe business travel is essential for career advancement, but many say they haven’t had the same opportunities to travel business compared to your co-workers.
WorkLife has previously reported on how important global travel is when it comes to career growth and learning opportunities. “It’s not a nice-to-have,” Anna Potter, head of global mobility services at Continental, the Americas hub, told us. “It’s something you have to have. If you don’t have global experience, you can’t really be an effective global leader. There’s going to be a limitation there.”
The SAP Concur report found that the percentage of people who feel they don’t have the same opportunity to take business travel compared to their peers increased by four percentage points (62% to 66%) between this year and last year, showing that these feelings are not abating.
So what’s stopping some employees from taking the opportunity to travel? The survey of nearly 4,000 business travelers across 24 markets attributes this inequality of opportunity to their seniority (19%), their age (18%), their status as a parent or guardian (14%), where they live (14%), their physical appearance (12%) and how often they come into the office (12%).
And certain reasons are a slightly more important factor for women than men, such as age, status as a parent, and gender. More men say they have never felt they didn’t have equal opportunities for business travel (38% vs. 29%).
“I think especially for younger people, business travel is an opportunity for both life enrichment and career development,” said Jen Moyse, vice president of product and head of UX at SAP Concur. “Finding data that many travelers, not just by age, feel they may be held back from this type of advancement is disheartening.”
“It’s disheartening to find data where many travelers, not just because of their age, feel they may be prevented from making this kind of progress.”
Additionally, more LGBTQ+ business travelers feel they have not been given equal opportunities due to their physical appearance (20% vs. 12% of the general population), disability (14% vs. 8%), and sexual orientation (20% vs. 7 %).
A new survey from World Travel Protection also found that the majority of business travelers (64%) express concern about traveling to a region known to be biased against or criminalize people who identify as LGBTQ+. This survey, which surveyed 1,000 business travelers, also found that relatively few employees (15%) reported that their company provides information about LGBTQIA+ rights in the countries they are visiting.
“It’s preparing these travelers to understand where they’re going, the risks they face, and then providing some basic guidance and tools to support them in making informed choices,” said Frank Harrison, regional security director for the Americas at World Travel Protection.
So what can companies do, both when it comes to LGBTQ+ inclusion for business travel and beyond? Moyse says the first step is awareness.
“First, talk to your employees and ask them how they feel about the company’s business travel plans,” Moyse said. “Do they feel they have the same opportunities as their coworkers? If not, why not? They can leverage their HR teams to talk about these concerns in the workplace.”
Companies can also take advantage of help from organizations like World Travel Protection, which provides guidance for minority groups to additional travel support to ensure safety and more, so that groups traveling together can look out for each other.
“We approach this from the standpoint of educating the companies we work with with the same consistent information for all of their employees,” Harrison said. “If they are going into a risky environment, support them to make their own choice. On the other hand, if someone says they don’t want to go because they don’t feel safe, then organizations must understand that they cannot take punitive action against individuals who have concerns about personal safety.”
“If someone says they don’t want to go because they don’t feel safe, organizations must understand that they cannot take punitive action against individuals who have concerns about their personal safety.”
There are other ways to ensure equal opportunities when it comes to business travel as well.
For example, GrowthScribe, a company that helps companies increase revenue through automation, finance, and marketing acumen, has occasional anonymous sign-up opportunities. Interested employees apply anonymously for business trips, which “reduces bias and allows selection purely based on the merits of their applications,” said Kartik Ahuja, founder and CEO.
“This, in turn, fosters healthy competition and motivates everyone to contribute better,” Ahuja said. “As a result, every employee has a good chance of making a business trip.”
The company also has a shadow program, used on a rotating basis so that everyone has the opportunity, where employees accompany managers and other senior leaders on business trips to learn and gain experience without having to take on full responsibility.
“Through this approach, they gain hands-on experience in managing various aspects of the work, such as preparing reports, conducting research and understanding the complexities of handling complex projects and large teams,” Ahuja said.
