Heard of bleisure travel but have no idea what it is? To put it simply, a bleisure trip is when an employee combines a business trip with leisure.
In an age where keeping employees happy is as important as the work they are doing, the bleisure trip is something you should consider implementing, especially for your millennial employees. In fact, millennials spend about $250 billion dollars annually on vacations and take an average of 4.2 trips a year, which is more than the previous generation at 2.9.
A research study from Bridgestreet Global Hospitatlity found that 78% of employees felt more rewarded when being approved to take a bleisure trip. This could mean a lower rate of turnover and a much more engaged staff. As organizations start to recognize the benefits of allowing employees to embark on bleisure trips, they have become more popular.
Still need more convincing? Here are three reasons why you should encourage bleisure travel.
Reducing time away
Believe it or not, allowing your employees to take advantage of bleisure trips means they’ll likely be spending less time out of the office. Instead of leaving for a week or two at a time, as per the typical vacation, employees tend to tack on only a few days at the end of their business trip.
According to CWT Solutions Group, the further away the business trip, the more likely employees are to add on a few more days. If your employees are heading to a bigger city or somewhere exotic, why not encourage them to take advantage of the time?
Increasing employee retention
As job hopping becomes the new norm, and as the workforce gets younger, retaining millennial employees is going to be more difficult. One way to increase retention? Introduce travel perks. CWT Solutions Group found the majority of employees taking advantage of bleisure trip programs were millennials.
That being said, even seasoned business travelers are recognizing the benefits of the bleisure trip. And it’s not hard to see why; employees are often stuck schlepping from the airport to a hotel to a conference or series of meetings and then home. Giving them the option of tacking on a few days of leisure gives them something to look forward to at the end of their trip.
Cutting business travel costs
Besides the obvious cost-saving benefits of retaining employees, you could also save money on business flights. Typically, flying is most expensive on Fridays, Sundays, and Monday mornings. If your employee is looking to tack on a couple of more days to their business trip and returns or flies out midweek, the company could save hundreds.
Before you implement a bleisure program, though, make sure you have a policy in place. There are some simple things you should consider before introducing the idea to your employees:
- Will the company pay for a room upgrade if the employee wants to bring their family?
- Will the company pay for flights if the employee chooses to leave or return at a more expensive time?
- Who is eligible for bleisure trips?
At the end of the day, most people don’t actually look forward to business trips. If we’re honest, they’re often difficult and monotonous, and they mean time away from the family. As an employer, if you can do something to make those trips a little more enjoyable for your employees, why wouldn’t you?
See also:
9 unique employee perks to attract talent
10 things that make a job awesome
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