Making home arrangements and juggling family responsibilities rank as the biggest travel stressors for South African business travellers, ahead of delays, disruption and even personal safety concerns. That is according to research presented by Professor Anneli Douglas at the GBTA Southern Africa Conference last year.
It’s evidence of an invisible itinerary: the planning, coordination and caregiving responsibilities that happen behind the scenes, before a single flight is booked. Think school runs and lift clubs, dog walks and vet visits, stocked fridges and pre-cooked meals, medication schedules for elderly parents or kids, emergency contacts briefed well in advance, and detailed instructions so everything runs like a military operation.
Gen X and older Millennials, in particular, feel the strain. The modern “sandwich generation” find themselves juggling dual caregiving responsibilities that directly impact professional obligations, including work travel.
The encouraging part of the research is what follows – clear evidence that the right organisational support and policies ease the load and support traveller health and wellbeing.
“The first fix is making sure every trip has a clear purpose, for the business and for the traveller,” says Elize De Jager, Operations Team Leader at Corporate Traveller South Africa, a global travel management company (TMC) that specialises in providing tailored business travel services to small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).
“It’s a principle that matters for any company watching its travel spend, particularly SMEs, but it carries extra weight for the person weighing up whether a trip is worth the disruption at home. Few will say that part out loud, though. Admitting to the caregiving and coordination happening behind the scenes takes a genuinely safe workplace, and not everyone has one. In the wrong environment, the cost of staying quiet can be steep: with women turning down worthwhile trips – for their personal development, career and for the business itself – simply because of what’s happening at home. That’s not ideal.”
Better policies and systems
De Jager’s view is a practical one: the fix isn’t asking people to share more about what they’re carrying. Visibility only helps, she says, if a workplace receives it well – and in the wrong culture, disclosing too much too soon can do more harm than good. Instead, it’s about fixing outdated policies.
“Some workplaces can feel as if they’re structured around an imaginary worker who has no caregiving responsibilities and unlimited availability,” she says. “That person is increasingly rare – and was probably never the norm.”
Douglas’s research with the University of Pretoria touches on how important organisational support is when it comes to traveller wellness and wellbeing. Put simply, higher levels of organisational support lead to higher levels of employee engagement. This could mean offering employees an opportunity to recover after a trip; providing the necessary training and coaching ahead of key trips (including cultural awareness guidance, which can help travellers navigate unfamiliar environments with greater confidence and reduce unnecessary risk); allowing more comfortable travel (including premium economy or business class for long-haul flights); and ensuring that all the travel arrangements run smoothly. And of course, this shouldn’t just be understood – it should be written into policy.
De Jager says this might include:
- Giving travellers a say in flight timing, particularly for early departures or late arrivals.
- Giving travellers a choice in ground transport, i.e. a pre-booked shuttle or transfer instead of defaulting to the cheapest option, especially after dark.
- Choosing accommodation with safety in mind, including 24-hour reception, security and security cameras, key-card access to lifts, safe locations and positive reviews.
- Building in recovery time after long trips, rather than an immediate return to a full schedule.
- Canvassing cross-departmental input into policy design, so travel policy reflects real working lives.
- Flexibility to extend a trip so the family can join, where workable. Excursions, outings and leisure activities all play a role in employee morale and satisfaction.
For De Jager, none of these are radical. They’re achievable, and TMCs can help draft the policies, vet accommodation and transport suppliers, and negotiate corporate rates to help make it happen.
Closing the gaps
“A policy that books the cheapest available flight without factoring in who’s collecting children from school or covering an elderly parent’s evening care, isn’t neutral; it simply shifts a cost from the balance sheet onto the traveller’s household,” says Christelle Louw, Operations Team Leader at Corporate Traveller and mother of three.
“Companies must recognise that women bear a disproportionate share of caregiving,” says Louw. “But many men are caregivers too. If HR policies are routinely built around flexibility, and reflect the realities of the world today, it becomes a choice for everyone – not a special favour for a woman in a man’s world.”
This Women’s Day, the business case is simple: sustainable corporate travel is fair, flexible and designed for real life and real people.
