Business Travel’s Influence On Employee Retention, Recruitment And Results

Earlier this week, the GBTA Foundation released a new study, in partnership with Sabre Corporation, focused on creating a frictionless travel experience. The study surveyed business travelers across the globe and revealed the dramatic impact business travel has on employee retention, recruitment and results. Three R's that are important to every company's bottom line.

Retention

Satisfaction when traveling for work is highly correlated with how satisfied an employee is with their job in general. In North America, three-quarters (79 percent) of business travelers say their business travel experience impacts their overall job satisfaction at least somewhat. This is especially true among Millennials (88 percent). In Europe that number sits at 83 percent for all business travelers and 88 percent for Millennials. In the Asia Pacific region, a large majority of business travelers say their business travel experience impacts their overall job satisfaction at least somewhat across all Asia Pacific markets, ranging from 81 to 96 percent. In Latin America, the connection is even stronger with 71 percent of business travelers saying their business travel experience impacts their overall job satisfaction to a great extent.

Recruitment
Business travel not only influences how employees feel about their current company, it can also influence whether they take a job in the first place. Nearly three in five (59 percent) North American respondents and two-thirds (66 percent) of Latin American respondents indicate a company's travel policy is an important factor when considering a potential new employer. The number is a bit lower in Europe with half saying a company's travel program is an important factor when considering a potential new employer and in Asia Pacific it varies widely from country to country ranging from 31 percent in Japan to 86 percent in India.

Results

An overwhelming majority (95 percent) of business travelers in Latin America say the quality of their business travel experience impacts their business results at least somewhat. The numbers are pretty similar no matter where you go in the world. In North America it is 84 percent, in Europe it is 83 percent and the vast majority of Asia Pacific travelers say the quality of their business travel experience impacts their business results at least somewhat as well, ranging from 81 to 96 percent depending on the country.

What does this all mean for the travel manager? Traveler well-being initiatives and other policies and processes that not only have cost in mind, but the traveler's well-being, will go a long way to help employee retention. Keep an organization's culture and business goals in mind while setting policies that help the traveler achieve their business goals when traveling. Policies should both support the organization's overall goals and also enable employees to be the most productive and efficient they can be while traveling for work.

For more from the report, GBTA members can download Creating a Frictionless Travel Experience for free on the GBTA Hub.

About the Global Business Travel Association

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world's premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. GBTA's members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA delivers world-class education, events, research, advocacy, and media to a growing global network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts.

About the GBTA Foundation

The mission of the GBTA Foundation, the US 501c3 charitable arm of GBTA, is to help the global business travel industry create a positive impact and a better future for people and the planet. The GBTA Foundation focuses on the strategy and execution of GBTA's global sustainability programs, supporting initiatives related to climate action; diversity, equity and inclusion; and other talent-related topics via education, research and advocacy.