The latest in the annual Best Workplaces in Travel survey, launched last year, highlighted work-life balance as the most common concern among industry employees.
Speaking at the Travel Weekly People Summit in London last week, Jane Sunley, co-founder of business consultancy Hendrik & Hyde, highlighted the research saying: “It’s a unique survey because it asks people what they value.
“You find out what they really think and really want, rather than what you think they want.”
Sunley co-founded the Best Workplaces in Travel survey in January 2022 with Gail Kenny of Gail Kenny Executive Recruitment to carry out anonymous surveys of company entrants’ employees.
She told the conference: “The top thing people wanted when asked what is important [in the latest survey] was work-life balance.”
Henley noted: “There were people saying, ‘Why did nobody ask us before they told us we had to come back in the office four days a week?’ These things really matter.”
She added: “One of the things the survey measures is a net promoter score. We ask ‘Would you recommend your workplace to friends or family as a place to work?’
“You find out people may be happy and motivated and engaged but wouldn’t recommend their company as a place to work, perhaps because they’re having a hard time.
“One of the things people want is a regular conversation about their wellbeing and careers, and you have to digitise that. I don’t mean by talking to a robot, I mean through a mechanism for making those conversations happen.”
She insisted: “You have to ask people what they think. You have people on the frontline who know more about doing their job than you will ever know sitting in the boardroom.”
Sunley has run a similar survey among hospitality companies for a decade. She reported: “The net promoter score for hospitality this year was 59%, and for travel 62%. Most companies are trying not to scrape 10% on that.”