Safe Business Traveller Programme

In our globally aspirant world, it is the developing countries and their emerging markets which provide the greatest opportunities for companies willing to accept the risk of operating on the frontiers of their social awareness, local knowledge and business culture.  It is to these emerging markets which mid-level executives are being sent to develop business, manage projects or share intellectual capital, however in practice, they are often sent without even the briefest of information regarding those markets, their culture or any inherent risk to their personal safety.

The New Global Context and the Mid-management gap

1. “Organisations in all sectors of business and in all areas of the world are increasingly finding themselves the targets of various types of criminal and terrorist action and, consequently, there is a fundamental need to ensure the protection of assets, both human and material”.
   

So wrote the authors of ‘Risky Business’ in 2002.

Nevertheless, it seems that many companies have yet to consider the impact of the new global context on their operations around the world.  Control Risks Group, in a report published in August 2007, found that more than half of British business travellers have little confidence that their company would be able to give them reliable advice if an incident happened while they were travelling.

Global intelligence firm Stratfor, in a report published in 2006, suggested that in the main, it is the mid-level executives and professionals of international firms who undertake assignments on projects and to geographies which carry travel risk, but for whom few security considerations are made.

Proactive managers are taking steps

When an individual and their organisation are the victim of an ‘intelligence gap’ between what they think they know and what they percieve to be the risks on one hand, and what they need to know and what the real risks are on the other, situations can soon become adverse.

Furthermore, it is too often observed that company personnel travelling overseas suffer from a loss of inhibition and the potential to do things they might not normally do, exacerbated by their exposure in an environment which is far from their everyday lives in their home country or culture.

In an environment of corporate responsibility and competitive pressure, corporate employees’ ability to recognise travel-related risks and take the necessary steps to avoid, mitigate or control those risks can not be over-valued by them or by their organisations.

In fact, more than eight out of ten British business travellers believe their companies have a legal obligation to advise and support them (Control Risks 2007).   There is a clear mandate for managers to take steps in this area.

A rationale which is both Ethical and Practical.

The EDS fellow and well-known Futurist Jeff Wacker suggests that we now live in a world where not only is change constant, but that also the rate of change is constantly accelerating.  Uncertainty and doubt exist on a variety of levels, however with clarity comes confidence.  Business Travellers today have access to a wealth of current information and intelligence from credible sources about the destinations to which they may travel and the markets in which they operate.

Few individuals can afford the emotional and psychological impact of a confrontation with either organised or opportunistic criminal violence.  Business leaders depend on the creative spark, professional focus and confidence of these valued team members.  Forethought and reinforcement of simple preventive steps can ensure good travel habits and create safer business travellers

Creating Safer Business Travellers through Awareness and Education

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