Reigniting Employees' Excitement About Business Travel and its Opportunities

Business travel was once a source of pride and excitement for employees, giving them the opportunity to build business contacts, develop their careers, and collect experiences to be shared with family and friends. But the allure of business travel has since faded, especially so in Singapore where employees now dread the prospect of travelling and post-trip admin. According to SAP Concur’s Business Traveller report, one in five Singapore business travellers would rather have a cavity filled at a dentist than complete an expense report.

Despite this, travelling for business remains of critical importance for organisations hungry for growth even in the digital age. The adage “sealed by a handshake” still holds true today, where one’s physical presence is a powerful embodiment of the value of the business relationship. Strategically located at the centre of global trade, business travel has been a mainstay for Singapore’s economy – last year, seven in ten (71%) Singapore businesses ventured beyond our shores , with business travel being a necessity accompanying such ventures to build in-country relations and establish operations.

Yet, for many business travellers here, such trips can be a source of frustration and apprehension. Even as they put in mileage for their companies, a perceived lack of safeguards to ensure employee safety, outdated travel policies and paper-based processes are affecting employee morale and the outcomes of business trips. This is an area that is often overlooked as businesses based here race ahead in their regional expansion plans.

Struggle between business and employee priorities
Natural disasters, political uprisings and epidemics have driven up the level of risk that comes with each business trip. Given the long hours and miles travelled, today’s business travellers expect assurances from their companies that their fundamental safety is well taken care of.

Undoubtedly, safety is the first and constant concern for any traveller in an unfamiliar land – a sentiment I fully empathise with, and particularly so for female travellers who are sometimes required to make the occasional solo business trip or manage their travels independently.

In our recent business traveller survey, safety was also cited as the top priority for Singapore business travellers. Nearly half (42%) prioritise their own safety above all other factors, including meeting business needs, spending their time or money efficiently and prudently.

However, whilst personal safety is prioritised by employees themselves, many feel that their companies do not share the same view. Only 28% of business travellers feel that employee safety is the top priority for their company, with almost a third (31%) believing that their company’s top priority is instead ensuring that business goals are met.

When it comes to planning for business trips, the disconnect between what companies want and what their employees receive is evident, and this is startling especially for employees who feel that their needs are not being met. As a result, many employees divert time and energy from important tasks to take matters into their own hands – 78% of Singapore business travellers we surveyed have gone to the extent of changing their own travel arrangements specifically because they felt unsafe.

What makes employees dread business travel
Travel – be it for business or leisure – can be unpredictable. And it isn’t getting any easier or less stressful for those who are required to do so.

In a mobile-first world, the practice of faxing over travel itineraries, making travel bookings over the phone, and filing paper-based expense reports are a distant history – or is it?

Surprisingly, paper-based administrative tasks are still prevalent in Singapore, along with the slow adoption of technologies that make business travel smoother. The frustration arising from such onerous processes affects 77% of Singapore business travellers, who say their companies lag in integrating tools such as booking and expense, travel safety, itinerary management and virtual payment.

Singapore is at the forefront of digital transformation and travel management should be efficient and paper-free, mirroring our move away from a ‘printing and filing’ society. Given the rising number of business travel bookings made online and by mobile, with digital copies of transport and hotel reservations, there is an urgent need for businesses to transition away from the legacy travel management processes.

Perhaps the greatest pain point of employees is having to keep copies of every receipt and payment made over the course of the business trip and having to painstakingly file these upon return. Last year, 56% of Singapore business travellers forfeited expenses – amounting to a startling $1,317.9 on average – as they didn’t think the expense was worth filing or because their employer never reimbursed them.

Besides having to cope with outdated travel processes and worries over personal safety whilst abroad, not getting reimbursed for their trip expenses can seriously erode the trust business travellers have in their companies. Over time, employees begin to not only dread business trips, but see these as a hassle and a personal expense, thus putting in less effort in preparing for and conducting such trips.

For businesses, it may be tempting to just view this problem from a HR or employee welfare perspective, but they need to understand how the lack of employee morale and motivation will eventually affect revenue and sales in the long run.

Meeting the evolving needs of the modern business traveller
Technology has changed the way businesses engage with consumers and similarly, employee expectations of the organisations they work for have changed as well. With the rise of travel apps like

Expedia and Grab/Uber, business travellers today expect work trips to be highly-personalised, integrating experiences beyond work, and incorporating personal travel tools for on-the-go trip management and planning.

Quite often, companies do not realise the disadvantage that they put themselves in by not evolving their travel management to meet the needs of a digital-first workforce.

In the age of digital experiences, companies should not only be able to efficiently manage travel arrangements at the backend, but also put real-time information at the fingertips of their employees at the same time. This includes allowing employees to access bookings and travel advisories for their destinations, from the comfort of the device of their choice.

Business travel need not be a stress-inducing affair and companies have the responsibility to provide their employees with the best digital tools possible, ensuring their safety and welfare whilst abroad so they can travel worry-free and with peace of mind.

ASEAN’s rapid growth towards the world’s fourth largest economy by 2030 is set to unlock further opportunities. Even as Singapore companies tap on emerging opportunities and ramp up overseas operations, their success will depend on the relationships they forge aboard – made through the interpersonal touch and handshakes that embody one’s trust and commitment.
For such trips to bear results, businesses need to re-evaluate their travel management tools and policies, so employees trust that their wellbeing is well taken care of and can truly focus on delivering their best in taking the business forward.

At the core, this boils down to looking at the employee travel experience, in areas as minute as processing a paper receipt or making a taxi booking in the middle of the night in a quiet alley – if only we could see how tackling these could make business travel a more enjoyable and fruitful journey, reigniting the passion of employees to go the extra mile.