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Why Traveller
Wellbeing?
A NOTE FROM OUR EXPERT
By Aisha Battersby, Head of Customer Experience
A new year will always turn people’s thoughts towards a fresh start, get sick; the need for appropriate vaccinations before travelling or
and that means there’s no better time to consider the relationship the disrupted sleep cycles and fatigue that can go hand-in-hand with
you have with your existing Travel Management Company (TMC) jetlag, for example.
or the reasons why you don’t currently use one.
Working with a TMC can’t stop these problems from happening
January too is traditionally a time to consider our own welfare. This but it can help to plan for, and mitigate, some of them. It can also
can act as a good reminder to companies that the welfare of your help spot potential issues before they occur and have detailed plans
CREATING A TEMPORARY
people should be paramount both when in the office but also when in place to solve them if they can’t be prevented.
they are away travelling for business.
There is nothing more important than knowing your people
The mental and physical wellbeing of travellers can often be are safe, healthy and secure when travelling for business and at
TRAVEL POLICY:
overlooked, especially if your company doesn’t already have a
defined travel policy or a fully-developed Duty of Care procedure.
After all, no travel is without impact, whether that’s to the wellbeing
Flight Centre Business Travel (FCBT), we take your Duty of Care
extremely seriously.
Flight Centre Business Travel will become an extension of your own
RESPONDING TO CURRENT SITUATIONS
of employees through third-party events outside of your control
such as flight delays or room cancellations; their health should they
business, and our travel experts work hard to ensure both you and
your employees are looked after as if you were one of our own.
Why Traveller
Wellbeing?
A NOTE FROM OUR EXPERT
CREATING A TEMPORARY TRAVEL POLICY:
RESPONDING TO CURRENT SITUATIONS
With unprecedented times comes the need for flexibility,
especially with something as important as a travel policy.
While the common solution may be changing your travel policy all together, a more
practical approach is to implement an interim travel policy – a policy created when a
situation changes significantly for a brief period, with the expectation that things are
likely to return to normal.
As travel continues to pick up in a post COVID-19 world, there will be a period
where travel is essential but it’s not back to ‘normal’ or where we were in previous
years. It’s important to still give guidance during this time but equally to treat it
differently, because it is.
Why create an interim travel policy?
There are many benefits to temporarily changing your travel policy, we’ve outlined
below some of the reasons to consider if you’re thinking of creating an interim policy.
Financial concerns: There are factors that may deem it necessary to re-visit
spending habits when it comes to all aspects of business, including your travel
programme. Cash flow can easily be affected in volatile times, due to a global
downturn economy, reduction in demand in your industry or financial constraints on
your company.
Travel Big impact events
risks:Battersby,
By Aisha Headsuch as natural disasters,
of Customer Experiencesecurity threats or disease
outbreaks like the one we’re seeing at the moment, all things that can put travellers at
high risk.
A new year will always turn people’s thoughts towards a fresh start, get sick; the need for appropriate vaccinations before travelling or
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Working withita TMC can’t stop these problems from happening
comes to too
January transport & accommodation.
is traditionally a time to consider our own welfare. This but it can help to plan for, and mitigate, some of them. It can also
can act as a good reminder to companies that the welfare of your help spot potential issues before they occur and have detailed plans
Before you amend
people should your both
be paramount travel
when policy
in the office but also when in place to solve them if they can’t be prevented.
Atthey
the are
forefront of every company
away travelling for business. are the people who work day in, day out to
ensure its success. Therefore, it is important that you put your employees There is nothing more important than knowing your people
at the
The mental and physical wellbeing of travellers can often be
heart of the changes you make. Comfort is a priority for business travellers as well are safe, healthy and secure when travelling for business and at
as safety, yet with those two requirements come the costs to afford them, which Business Travel (FCBT), we take your Duty of Care
overlooked, especially if your company doesn’t already have a Flight Centre
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Why Traveller
Wellbeing?
What you should change Mandated duty of care: Regardless if there are high risk
AA NOTE
travel policy FROM
can be a OUR EXPERT
very detailed document, so there’s destinations involved, it may be worth mandating the use
many things to consider when creating an interim policy. of tools that ensure traveller safety when abroad – this can
be as simple as collecting emergency contact details. Our
Ensure responsibility is documented: What is everyone’s travel app Sam is a great tool when it comes to duty of care,
role in the travel programme? Regardless if these have changed complemented by our platform HelloFCBT. Sam provides
or not, it is important that everyone know their role within the destination information including emergency service contact
travel programme. It is imperative that the travel policy has an details, updates travellers on security concerns and allows
owner- this person may not decide what changes are made, them to check in using their live locations so you can be
they should be responsible for documenting, communicating sure they’re aware of security threats and are able to access
and enforcing changes. Another important role is having support. On top of that, using both the app and the platform,
someone in place to make business continuity decisions should travel arrangers are able to keep an eye on where all their
an incident occur such as travellers becoming stuck overseas. travellers are.
Approval processes: An approval process may be deemed
necessary if there are security or financial concerns to address.
This role would suit the CFO or HR manager of a company COVID-19 CONSIDERATIONS
and can be adjusted based on the needs of a company. If it’s
safe to travel and your staff travel frequently then a simplified
approval process might be the most efficient. However, in a • Stay up-to-date with advice from your local
situation such as the current COVID-19 pandemic where only government on where it is safe to travel.
essential travel should take place, it’s important to have an
approval process in place to encourage responsible travel. • Practice responsible travel, evaluate what your
company sees as essential travel and where a trip might
Cabin class: An easy way to cut costs in unprecedented fall into the non-essential travel – factor in the threat to
times, would be to restrict travellers to lower cabin classes your business of not travelling.
when making short-haul journeys. Conversely, if you have the
same travellers travelling multiple long-distance journeys, it’s • When making cost cutting decision ensure it is not at
worth considering allowing them access to premium cabins to the cost of traveller safety or health.
reduce traveller fatigue and look after their wellbeing.
• Implement effective duty of care policies – while
By Aisha
Hotel Of the utmost
stays: Battersby, Headimportance is ensuring
of Customer a hotel
Experience traveller safety is always a concern, it is more
meets a certain level of comfort for travellers and of course important now than ever.
has the highest level of safety and cleanliness, two factors that
A new year will always turn people’s thoughts towards a fresh start, get sick; the need for appropriate vaccinations before travelling or
areandmore important than ever right now. However, if you are
that means there’s no better time to consider the relationship There’s sleep
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jetlag, for example. travel policy, something that works
look at reducing your maximum allowed nightly
or the reasons why you don’t currently use one. hotel rate and for one company could prove disastrous for another. This
differ from the norm your travellers are used to. Additionally, Working with aaTMC
is where travelcan’t stop thesecompany
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apartment style be paramount
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the world, changes may need to be made and restrictions So if an interim travel policy is something you’re not
After all, no travel is without impact, whether that’s to the wellbeing Flight Centre Business Travel will become an extension of your own
followed. Consider if some of the changes you make to you aware of or feel comfortable creating on your own, we’re
of employees through third-party events outside of your control business, and our travel experts work hard to ensure both you and
policy need to be region specific. here to help.
such as flight delays or room cancellations; their health should they your employees are looked after as if you were one of our own.
Why Traveller
Travel policy template
We’ve created a template to use when starting to think about an interim travel policy. This should be used as a guide for your TMC to
Wellbeing?
understand your policy, working together to expand upon it to ensure all your needs are met.
ITEM DETAIL POLICY
A NOTE
Travel FROM
programme The individual within your company in charge of managing the travel
OUR EXPERT
manager programme.
Mandated travel To minimise the risks associated with using multiple booking platforms
provider and for effective duty of care coverage. All travel should be booked in
one place.
Travel risk manager This should be an individual capable of making decisions around bringing
travellers home and managing incidents that happen overseas.
Emergency contact Who should employees contact if there is a problem oversees? This could
details be their TMCs emergency assist line or a travel risk consultancy should
you employ one.
Insurance provider Policy number & emergency telephone number
Duty of care Is there an app employees must download like Sam :] or a specific policy
they must follow to ensure traveller safety?
Travel Restrictions Are there certain countries or regions your employees can’t travel to, or
should they follow the advice of the FCO or your travel risk consultancy?
Travel programme This person approves staff travel. If needed, this would be a set individual
approver within the company who approves all travel or a job role related to the
traveller ( i.e. their manager, or head of department) or both.
Mandated airline Is there a mandated airline or alliance that travellers must use where
possible? Specifying preferred suppliers
Permitted cabin class Which class of travel are staff permitted to travel in?
Cabin class exceptions Are there any exceptions to these rules i.e. Business class is allowed if
By Aisha Battersby, Head of Customer Experience
over 6 hours?
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Working a TMC can’t stop these problems from happening
January too is traditionally a time to consider our own welfare. This but it can help to plan for, and mitigate, some of them. It can also
can act as a good reminder to companies that the welfare of your help spot potential issues before they occur and have detailed plans
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people should be paramount both when in the office but also when cost cities
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limit the number of travellers per flight.
Flight Centre Business Travel is part of the Flight Centre Travel Group, giving us access to a vast array of content, with the widest range of airfares, hotel, rail and car hire. Being part of a global company means we have our own people on the ground at your destinations, sourcing and negotiating the best products, service and deals exclusively for FCBT customers. Flight Centre is a member of ABTA giving you extra peace with financial protection. 0208 336 6475 enquiry@flightcentrebusinesstravel.co.uk flightcentrebusinesstravel.co.uk
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