A recent survey of business travellers has found the two biggest worries affecting road warriors are home life deterioration and putting pressure on colleagues.
According to research commissioned by CWT, 22 per cent of business travellers believe their commitments to work trips impact the quality of their relationships and home life. Twenty-one per cent worry their families think they prefer travelling on business over their personal day-to-day responsibilities.
At work, 22 per cent said they feel guilty that their colleagues have to make up for their absence, while 21 per cent stress over spending too much time with co-workers or clients. Fourteen per cent are concerned about the difficulty of staying in touch with people in their main office.
The research also revealed generational differences among travellers, with 30 per cent of Boomers in Europe saying work trips affect their home and personal relationships, compared to 18 per cent of Millennials. However, the younger group is more likely to worry that their families think they prefer travelling to home life than their older colleagues (21 per cent versus 14 per cent).
Boomers are also less worried about keeping in touch with people at the office (9 per cent) than Millennials (17 per cent). However, all generations were fairly even when it came to anxiety over colleagues picking up the slack and spending too much time with co-workers or clients.
Catherine Maguire-Vielle, EVP and chief human resources officer at CWT, said: “Even though the same research reveals that business travellers feel that positives outweigh negatives at work (92 per cent) and at home (82 per cent) when travelling for business, companies need to be aware of the concerns that business travellers face and help to address them head-on. Relationships are a fundamental part of a person’s wellbeing and companies have the obligation to ensure their employees’ travels are not jeopardising them at home or in the office.”
mycwt.com