Business travel can seem like an exciting prospect at first. It’s an opportunity for meaningful adventures, which might seem like a fine thing after all the pandemic restrictions.
However, business travelers struggled with homesickness and disrupted sleeping patterns before the pandemic. It can disrupt one’s life and destabilize many personal endeavors. Despite its many benefits, representing a firm elsewhere does come with a few compromises.
As an employer, you should do everything in your power to make these situations more manageable for your workers. If they’re willing to embark on these trips, you should meet them halfway and offer support. Below you’ll find a few tips to help you do that effectively.
Be Contactable
Some people get incredibly nervous while traveling. While there are numerous ways to mitigate the issue, you should adopt a supporting role as an employer.
Remind the traveling worker that you are contactable should they require anything. You can offer phone numbers, social media information or set up scheduled Zoom calls at the end of each working day. Define the type of working relationship you’ll share while they’re away. That way, they’ll remain disciplined and company-orientated, even if they’re not on the premises.
Pay closer attention to the nuances of these requirements too. Where possible, avoid areas or circumstances where you’ll know you’ll have a bad signal for a while. Don’t leave your phone or laptop in places where they can go forgotten or unheard in the event of any alerts. Stay attentive during this time, and be on standby as much as possible.
Provide a Virtual Card
Offering a virtual credit card may help to limit the spending of your traveling employees. That way, you can budget the trip’s expenses effectively and establish a clearer plan around how the trip will unfold.
If you use the virtual card from Payhawk, you can also select allowed spending categories, special merchants or set the days and times where the card will work. You don’t need to approve one-off spending requests – instead, these points can be defined long before the trip takes place, creating a robust spending policy for the traveling employee.
Of course, doing this also means that workers may not have to spend their own money to make their trips possible. Under these measures, much of their trip’s spending and general logistics are accounted for.
Upgrade Their Rooms
If the employee selected their room, they might have picked something humble and comfortable within their budget parameters. If you wish to demonstrate your appreciation for their efforts, you could always take things up a level.
Upgrading their room in any hotel they’re staying in is a great way to reward them. It could come as a wonderful surprise to them and give your working relationship a substantial boost upon their return.
Moreover, if they’re more comfortable and relaxed, they may enjoy the trip more and produce better results while out of the office. They could also be more rested, giving them ample energy for the working day ahead. Future business trips may be something they look forward to if they suspect an upgrade could be in order as well.