Five stories about mental health #ribbonfortravel
Every day during Mental Health in Travel Week, 20-24 September 2021, we’re sharing srories about how we take care of our mental health, and our colleagues’ and our clients’.
Monday: “How are you?”
“How are you?”
It’s the phrase we start every call with. Whether it’s a phone call, a Zoom, Teams, Facetime. Always the same. And always asked in order to solicit a full answer. So if the response is just “fine thanks”, we simply ask it again.
Working in travel – while the travel industry has been closed down by government restrictions – is a stressful time. And everyone experiences stress in different ways and at different times. But you can only control what you can measure.
So we ask. And, only when that crucial question is answered, do we proceed – if we can – with the call. Because, if someone on a call is worrying more about issues other than the subject of the call, their issues won’t go away.
We talk to each other. And, to start the conversation, we always ask the question. And we mean it.
“How are you?”
Tuesday: Time. Travel.
Wherever we are and however distant the pandemic has caused us to be physically, we all live, work, sleep, play and relax in the same place. The present.
We’ve all lived through the past. And the past is different for each of us. But we can’t change it.
We all live in the present. And there’s not much we can do about that, either.
But we all plan and look forward to the place we are going to live: the future.
So it’s important that future is as great a place as we can make it.
One thing we do to make the future a better destination is to take care of carbon emissions.
Travel causes carbon to be thrown into the atmosphere. Through our relationship with Trees4Travel, we are taking carbon out of the atmosphere. Permanently.
So we know the work we do in the present will make the future a better destination.
And, in turn, that makes the present a better place to be, too.
Wednesday: Duty of Care
We owe it to all of the people that work for and with our company to ensure we do everything we can in their best interests.
Because staff aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet or seats at desks; they are colleagues, friends and family. We look out for them. It’s an obligation we are happy to carry out.
But we are not unique. We recognise that each and every one of our clients has a similar commitment to the welfare and protection of their employees. We call this a Duty of Care. And we help them to deliver it.
In the first few weeks of the pandemic, we worked on an online solution for our clients enabling them to manage deliver their duty of care obligations, to remain abreast of Covid-related travel restrictions and the UK government’s latest travel guidance across the world.
PinPoint lets clients see – in real time – three pieces of information crucial to the well-being of any of their travellers
- Traveller tracking
- FCDO advice
- Local, national and international government lockdown rules
With this simple snapshot, any client can track the whereabouts of all their employees travelling anywhere in the world, instantly. They can see the up-to-the-minute travel advice from the UK Foreign Office, so can react immediately if situations change. And they can see what restrictions are in place in any location, to help them alter travel plans, whenever necessary.
Our clients need to take care of their staff. That means handling a lot of fast-changing information, from multiple sources. It’s a complicated, crucial task. So, we take care of it.
Because sometimes where you are has a very important impact on how you are.
Thursday: Removing the stress of travel
As a travel management company, we are aware that the product we create – business travel – comes with stress.
Every trip, however short, comes with some stress. Every traveller has things to worry about. Will the trip be a success? Will my flight be on time? Has my hotel booking been confirmed? Where do I get a taxi? What if..?
We are in a unique position: we put our clients into a situation that adds to their anxiety. So, what do we do? We do everything possible to remove that anxiety, working behind the scenes, 24×7 to ensure nothing goes wrong; or that, if it ever does, the traveller has all the available remedial options to hand.
That’s why we developed a new app. It works for the traveller, behind the scenes, securing connections, making arrangements, updating itineraries, keeping everyone informed about the trip, in real time, all the time.
Our app tells you what you need to know, when you need to know it. And everything else, it just quietly takes care of, for you.
Friday: Forget about it
Having a lot of things to be concerned about can be very stressful. And worrying about forgetting anything can exacerbate the stress. So, we work hard to make sure you can forget stuff without worrying.
Worried about whether you have given us all your details? Don’t. We’ve built a solution to make it easy for you to update us with your information whenever you need to.
Worried about whether your executive travel card will be updated with your latest bonus air miles? Don’t. We can take care of that for you.
Worried you’re going to forget which flights you’ve taken or when you last flew to a specific place? Don’t. We can run reports for you.
Worried whether your data is safe in our hands? Don’t. The data we hold on your behalf is yours and we work within GDPR rules to keep is safe. (We were experts at masking data well before masks were even a thing).
So, if you tend to worry about stuff whenever you need to travel on business, we have a suggestion for you. Forget it.
These stories were written in support of Mental Health in Travel Awareness Week, 20-24 September, 2021. Find out more about the campaign here.
