Employee wellness is one of the biggest buzzwords on the HR scene of late, and with good reason - forward-thinking businesses have identified employee engagement as a major contributing factor when it comes to talent retention, productivity, innovation and more. Would it surprise you if we said that business travel has also come under the spotlight as it pertains to employee wellness? At TravelManor we take great pride in assisting some of South Africa’s foremost businesses in tailoring rewarding corporate journeys, so we’ve seen the benefits of business travel first hand.
Here are a few reasons why big international players like Hyatt, Hilton, and Google have implemented wellness programmes with a travel component:
When employees embarked on well-planned trips that have been tailored for ease and convenience, they are free to enjoy the experience of jetting out into the big, wide world without being dragged down by travel-related stressors. In this type of environment, travel becomes exhilarating rather than taxing. Adding a bleisure component to a journey is yet another way to get your employees excited about travel, which fuels overall optimism and boosts company morale.
When employees are allowed to travel for work, they inevitably meet up with new peers, who might well become mentors in time. Attending meetings with international counterparts around the world, going to conferences, scheduling meetups with LinkedIn acquaintances - these are all ways that employees can tap into new and exciting resources throughout their travels.
Well-travelled employees become more compassionate and understanding due to their exposure to different cultures and ways of being in the world. Once a person steps outside of their home-bound bubble to encounter new ways of thinking and doing, it has an immediate impact on their ability to understand points of view other than their own.
Sending your employees out into the world on well-planned business journeys expands horizons on two fronts - they learn more about your competitors, and your competitors learn more about you. You’re simultaneously garnering valuable intel that will allow you to improve your business offering, and spreading the word about your enterprise at the hand of well-rounded business ambassadors. That’s a win-win in anyone’s book.
These are just four of the benefits that employees enjoy when they travel for business. There are many more besides. Would you like to unlock productivity and employee engagement at your place of work? Get in touch with our passionate team of corporate travel planners to learn more about our services, and how we can assist you in tailoring business journeys that will leave your employees reinvigorated and refreshed.
