Business travel can be bad for work

Citation

(1999), "Business travel can be bad for work", European Business Review, Vol. 99 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebr.1999.05499fab.009

Business travel can be bad for work

Keywords Business travel, Stress, United Kingdom

Almost half (48 per cent) of UK business people say that the stress of regular business journeys has an adverse affect on their work performance, according to the 1998-1999 "Travel in Business" survey, carried out on behalf of Company Barclaycard, the UK's leading business chargecard provider.

The research, conducted among 2,000 directors and managers in UK companies who travel regularly on business in the UK and abroad, reveals that 56 per cent of respondents in companies with turnovers exceeding £10 million believe the stress of regular trips has a negative effect on work performance.

In addition, four in ten feel long business trips have a negative effect on their health. This rises to 45 per cent for respondents from companies with turnovers of less than £250,000, who feel that the stress of long business journeys has a negative effect on health. Conversely, only 35 per cent of respondents from companies with turnovers greater than £10 million believe business trips to be detrimental to health.

Chartered psychologist and director of the Centre for Stress Management, Dr Stephen Palmer, says that the stress of travelling has increased over the years. "Since privatisation, rail travel has become less reliable with delays being a common occurrence. This results in late or missed appointments and increases the stress business people already suffer in today's busy working environment.

"Also, Britain's roads, and the ever-present traffic jam, are a source of stress for today's business travellers," says Dr Palmer.

"Today, the structure of many businesses is also cause for increased stress levels. This decade has seen companies downsizing their staff without actually seeing a decrease in workload. We have fewer people doing more work. So, if a person is delayed reaching a destination, a chain-effect occurs - they become stressed about the effect it will have on other projects", says Dr Palmer.

Stress can be extensively reduced with today's technology providing businesses with the means to considerably cut down on travel. Dr Palmer is also chair and president-elect of the Institute of Health Promotion and Education, a role which requires regular meetings. He conducts many meetings via conference calls over the telephone. "As long as they are chaired well, conference calls are very productive and normally last no more than an hour. The stress of half a day's travel is cut out completely" he says. He has even co-written a book without having met the other writer.

Video-conferencing is also taking off. Just under a quarter (22 per cent) of business people have used it as an alternative, with 92 per cent of them saying they would use it again. "It may be desirable to meet people face-to-face, but in this downsized world we have to adapt to reduce stress and the chances of falling ill," concludes Dr Palmer.

For further information, please contact: Roger Tapp, Company Barclaycard. Tel: 01604 254440; Website: www.company.barclaycard.co.uk or Kirstie Robbie, Public Relations, Barclays Retail Financial Services. Tel: 0171 699 2673.