With over a quarter of UK business travellers reporting decreased job satisfaction due to negative travel experiences, are business leaders doing enough?
LONDON – A YouGov survey commissioned by Concur of over 1.000 UK business travellers surveyed reveals the major pain points associated with business travel and the extent to which these factors affect employee satisfaction and productivity.
Business travel is a significant part of employees’ job function with over one half of those surveyed travelling between one and four times a month and a further 22% travelling more than five times a month. This could potentially lead to significant pain points, as almost one in five business travellers (18%) revealed that their biggest issue was ‘the stack of receipts and expense reports that needs to be completed’ upon their return.
Surprisingly, just over a quarter (26%) of UK business travellers said their pain points have had a negative impact on their job satisfaction, and over one in twenty (6 per cent) having considered resigning. Furthermore, over one in five (23%) travellers said their previous, negative business travel experiences would prompt them to turn down a new job which would require them to frequently travel for business.
The pain points reported by business travellers include:
- Almost one in five respondents said stack of receipts and expense reports that need to be completed upon their return (18%)
- Over one in ten said the inability to quickly and easily book air or rail travel when there are last minute cancellations/changes to the itinerary (11%)
- Almost one in seven said company restrictions on travel and accommodation (14%)
- More than one in 16 said finding a hotel easily, especially during busy periods (6%)
- One in twenty said feeling unsafe and not secure with their surroundings whilst travelling (5%)
Wasted time and employees’ inability to sustain job productivity whilst travelling is a major concern. Over three quarters of respondents (77%) said that their time is unproductive due to not having the right tools and nearly one in six business travellers (17%) said more than half their travel time is unproductive – highlighting the significance of the saying, ‘time is money.’
Mired in the administrative details of managing their business travel and resulting expenses, employees could benefit by having effective tools in place, enabling them to be more efficient while travelling for business. Indeed, 18% of respondents cited the stack of receipts and expense reports to be processed as their biggest pain and 11 per cent citing an inability to book travel quickly due to last minute cancellation as their biggest pain point.
A vast majority (59%) said ‘always, often and sometimes’ when asked how often they are ‘left unhappy with the experience of a business trip.’ The survey also revealed that over one in four (26%) respondents reported exhaustion as the feeling most associated with business travel whereas only 13% said that travelling for business made them feel ‘accomplished.’
Isabel Montesdeoca, Senior Vice President and General Manager, EMEA, at travel and expense management software provider Concur comments: “We see these issues all the time. In today’s always on, always connected environment, companies can do more to improve the productivity and job satisfaction of their staff by equipping them with technology and tools that make them more effective while travelling.”
Montesdeoca adds: “It’s important that business leaders take ownership of the travel experience for their staff in order to improve overall employee satisfaction levels and reduce churn.”
1)Excluding your commute to and from work, do you currently travel regularly for business via air and/ or rail (within the UK and/ or internationally)?
|
|
Total |
|
|
Base (1024) |
|
Yes, via rail |
88% |
|
Yes, via air |
41% |
|
No, I don’t |
– |
2) When answering the next set of questions, please think about travelling for business via air and/ or rail for your current job role, and NOT your commute to and from work.
Approximately how long has travelling for business been part of your job?
|
|
Total |
|
|
Base (1024) |
|
Less than 1 year |
6% |
|
1 to 2 years |
8% |
|
More than 2 up to 3 years |
8% |
|
More than 3 up to 4 years |
5% |
|
More than 4 up to 5 years |
7% |
|
More than 5 up to 10 years |
19% |
|
More than 10 up to 14 years |
11% |
|
More than 14 up to 19 years |
8% |
|
More than 19 up to 24 years |
7% |
|
More than 24 years |
19% |
|
Don’t know |
1% |
3) On average, approximately how often do you travel for business as part of your work?
|
|
Total |
|
|
Base (1024) |
|
Less than once a month |
25% |
|
1 to 2 times a month |
34% |
|
3 to 4 times a month |
18% |
|
5 to 6 times a month |
9% |
|
6 to 7 times a month |
3% |
|
8 to 9 times a month |
3% |
|
10 or more times a month |
7% |
4) Which ONE, if any, of the following factors causes you the biggest “pain point” (i.e. the factors which cause you the most stress) when it comes to business travel?
|
|
Base (1024) |
|
The stack of receipts and expense reports that need to be completed upon my return |
18% |
|
The inability to book air or rail travel quickly and easily when there is a last minute cancellation/change to my itinerary |
11% |
|
Finding a hotel easily especially during peak periods (i.e. around major industry events) |
6% |
|
Feeling unsafe and not secure within my surroundings whilst travelling |
5% |
|
Company restrictions on travel and accommodation |
14% |
|
The feeling of being lost and running around the airport, trying to find my flight |
3% |
|
Finding the quickest route from the airport to the hotel |
3% |
|
Other SEE OE_2 |
20% |
|
Not applicable – I don’t have any pain points around business travel |
21% |
5)To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
I feel as though my pain points (i.e. the factors which cause me the most stress) around business travel negatively impacts on my job satisfaction
|
Total |
|
|
|
Base (1024) |
|
Strongly agree |
4% |
|
Agree |
22% |
|
Neither agree or disagree |
25% |
|
Disagree |
21% |
|
Strongly disagree |
6% |
|
Don’t know |
1% |
|
Not applicable – I don’t have any pain points around business travel |
21% |
6) Thinking about your current job role, to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
I have considered resigning from my current job because of bad business travel experience’s in the past
|
|
Total |
|
|
Base (1024) |
|
Strongly agree |
2% |
|
Agree |
5% |
|
Neither agree or disagree |
6% |
|
Disagree |
22% |
|
Strongly disagree |
58% |
|
Don’t know |
1% |
|
Not applicable – I have never had bad business travel experiences |
6% |
7)To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Previous negative business travel experiences would prompt me to turn down a new job which required me to regularly travel on business
|
Total |
|
|
|
Base (1024) |
|
Strong agree |
4% |
|
Agree |
18% |
|
Neither agree or disagree |
20% |
|
Disagree |
28% |
|
Strongly disagree |
26% |
|
Don’t know |
4% |
8) Thinking about when you are travelling for business in general, approximately what percentage of your time do you feel that you’re being unproductive because you don’t have the tools that you need to do your job effectively?
|
|
Total |
|
|
Base (1024) |
|
0 – None |
20% |
|
Up to 25% |
38% |
|
26% to 50% |
22% |
|
51% to 75% |
11% |
|
76% to 100% |
6% |
|
Don’t know |
3% |
9) Which one, if any, of the following words best describes how business travel generally makes you feel?
|
Total |
Age |
|||||
|
|
Base (1024) |
18-24 |
25-34 |
35-44 |
45-54 |
55+ |
|
Accomplished |
13% |
6% |
17% |
12% |
9% |
15% |
|
Irritated |
12% |
6% |
9% |
14% |
16% |
12% |
|
Happy |
9% |
12% |
7% |
9% |
10% |
12% |
|
Exhausted |
26% |
18% |
29% |
30% |
29% |
20% |
|
Powerful |
2% |
18% |
4% |
1% |
1% |
0% |
|
Nervous |
4% |
6% |
5% |
3% |
5% |
2% |
|
Excited |
8% |
18% |
13% |
10% |
5% |
6% |
|
Other SEE OE_1 |
18% |
– |
8% |
16% |
20% |
27% |
|
Don’t know |
7% |
18% |
8% |
5% |
7% |
7% |
