Business Travel Executive, October 2017

EDITORS NOTES Our Mission Helping Travel Management Create Value for Corporations Since 1989 Dan Booth Managing Editor DBooth@ askBTE com Jerry Allison Publisher JAllison@ askBTE com Jerry Allison Studios Lloyd Aarons 2010 Publisher Jerry Allison JAllison@ askBTE com 973 839 6200 Managing Editor Dan Booth DBooth@ askBTE com 336 766 1961 Editorial Assistant Ralf Walters Contributing Editors Craig Bright Mark Caswell Jerome Greer Chandler Harvey Chipkin Keith Loria Mark Rowh Jennifer Steinke Art Production Manager Michele Cameron ML Cameron@ Comcast net 908 979 1974 Business Manager Marylee de Ferrari Mdeferrari@ askBTE com 973 839 0620 Subscriber Services Subscriptions@ askBTE com 973 839 0620 Advertising Mike Shevlin mshevlin@ theshevlingroup com 847 749 0168 Jim McGinley Jim@ mcginleydoyle com 818 712 0672 Lauren Wysocki Lwysocki@ AskBTE com 973 839 4390 Present and Accounted For A travel program is not just about being there its about getting there Woody Allen is famous for saying among other things Eighty percent of success is just showing up While that sounds funny and vaguely encouraging suggesting that all one need do is be present and everything else will fall in place in fact using Mr Allens math its the other 20 percent thats the hard part Show up and be prepared show up and have a great idea show up and be ready to go to work For example practically every company in the US offers some sort of employee wellness program from gym memberships to flu shots Success has typically been measured in lower insurance costs and reduced absenteeism But some recent research by Olin Business School UCLA Anderson School of Management and University of California at Riverside suggests there may be more to success that just showing up To quantify the value of a wellness program in terms of employee productivity researchers used three years of medical data from an industrial laundry company that provides a free voluntary wellness program to its employees Work performance measured by the number of pieces or tasks completed was compared between employees who were offered the wellness program and others from the same company who werent The study found wellness programs boosted participating employees productivity between six and 11 percent a 76 percent return on investment for the company Companies have traditionally focused on the reduction in absenteeism and insurance rates when calculating the ROI of these programs according to one of the studys authors Ian Larkin assistant professor of strategy at UCLA Anderson School of Management Our research suggests that a reduction in presenteeism showing up to work with low energy and therefore lower levels of productivity may be the primary benefit of these programs Now we all recognize the symptoms of presenteeism There but not really there Signed in but checked out For the frequent business traveler it can be a chronic condition as they find themselves departing early spending hours in transit and getting back to home base even if its just a hotel room late Many times these road warriors find themselves on auto pilot relying on the mechanics of travel to run smoothly in the background Thus it falls to the travel manager to grease the gears of travel providing the right technology the right tools and the right travel providers to smooth out the bumps in the road In some ways travel programs and wellness programs have much in common both should be designed around the employee to deliver highly personal relationship driven end services travel and health to promote productivity and wellbeing Reducing presenteeism among travelers means encouraging engagement communicating goals and most of all creating a program that makes sense for the traveler as well as for the company Thats where Business Travel Executive can help strengthen your plan with our reporting on topics from booking technology Tooling Up page 18 to globalization Taking on the World page 24 to ground transportation for events Meetings on a Roll page 12 Putting together a meaningful workable travel program that meets your companys objectives and your travelers needs is a big job Making it a success involves a lot more than just showing up BTE