Boardrooms to boarding passes

James Gibson at Revolut Business describes how business travel is starting fresh 

After a short hiatus, business travel is back. Because of the pandemic, many businesses underwent a period where business travel was completely deprioritised, but those days are over. In fact, the GBTA Business Travel Index Outlook forecasts that business travel spend will reach $1.4 trillion in 2024, climbing to $1.8 trillion by 2027.

Like most things post-pandemic, business travel has undergone a drastic transformation. Execs need to be more intentional in the way they think about travel, but luckily, travel and culture can go hand in hand. While a big investment, culture should be front-of-mind for those at the helm, and vital to be smart about how culture spending is implemented with reduced budgets on the table.

The tides are already turning, in fact, and something we hear from our customers, and especially large enterprises, is that they’re looking for products and features to help them manage business travel. 

Business travel of the past 

Historically, business travel has always been a huge part of international commerce, presenting an opportunity for employees to meet with colleagues, clients and partners around the world, and at the same time the chance to experience a new culture and destination. It was a significant part of doing business and there was no real alternative to doing it. 

However, the rise of hybrid work has led to a shakeup of how things work, individuals being able to work for companies outside of the cities or even countries that they live in. Meetings between execs which once required all participants to be in-person with days of travel in between, can now be done over a call from the comfort of their own home.

It’s a double-edged sword, and so truly global teams are now missing out on those valuable opportunities for connection that might have come more easily in times past. Team connection is an important driver of success and shouldn’t be bypassed for online socials, even where we recognise the ease and effectiveness of the digital age. It’s that mindset that’s bringing business travel back to the fore in a new way. 

What can you do to boost culture? 

First things first, being in control of the finances is the first step in freeing up the budget for culture-based activities. Ideally, firms need a good business account that can act as an all-in-one solution for their bookkeeping needs and incorporates control when it comes to expense management.

Having automated systems built into integrated business solutions helps to streamline the process, ensuring that outgoings are in order and unnecessary costs are minimised. Another fringe advantage being that CFO time is also freed up for longer-term thinking around culture! 

Finding tools and implementing strategies that bring the HR and Finance departments in closer collaboration is also an essential ingredient for success when it comes to driving culture. Best practice could look like defining the business investment in line with overall culture goals, and working together to make this happen in practice. 

Building on this, firms need employee buy-in and alignment to help this succeed. This might be in the form of creation of a criteria for employees to follow in line with culture and cost-savings goals. Encourage thinking outside of the box where possible - it isn’t just looking for the cheapest hotels and transport that can trim costs, but thinking about how to leverage multi-currency and foreign exchange to keep things lean ad budget effectively that can help build the business case for reintroducing smart travel. 

Ultimately, encouraging cross-business collaboration to boost culture in a streamlined way is the only way to get travel back and working to everyone’s advantage. While historically a financial burden, being agile at the top about how you view travel could be your company’s ticket to better, faster growth.

Signing off on higher value one-off spending might be a tough adjustment, but with alignment across the board, it could be what takes your employee retention, engagement and overall business growth to the next level. 

James Gibson, is General Manager of Revolut Business

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and Pinkypills