Demystifying diversity, equity & inclusion

While travel buyers are largely united on the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, defining what that means is not such a clear-cut matter.

Eighty-three per cent of respondents to a recent BTN survey either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that DE&I initiatives are important to their organisation. A similar percentage said their own organisations have taken concrete steps to foster an internal culture of diversity, equity and inclusion. When listing those steps, however, the response was far less uniform.

"People are people," one respondent wrote in the open-ended portion of the survey. "We do not condone discrimination against anyone, nor do we condone 'classifying' and treating people differently based on any characteristics."

There were several similar responses in the survey, in varying levels of harshness in tone. Yet, even if a travel programme aims to treat everyone the same, no traveller is going to have the same experience on the same trip. A woman travelling alone will face different safety risks than a man travelling alone. A Black traveller is more likely than a white traveller to deal with a microagression, such as someone questioning whether they are in the right line as they board with other first-class passengers. LGBTQ+ travellers face draconian laws in certain countries based on their identities that would not apply to straight, cisgender travellers. A traveller with a disability will have a preparation process for a trip completely different to that of someone without the same disability.

"When you say a travel policy should be one-size-fits-all, you're basically excluding everybody," said Maiden Voyage CEO Carolyn Pearson. "We're not just one thing, and what inclusive travel safety is, is understanding what travellers need – not speaking for them."

Meeting at the intersection

A common hangup in trying to define DE&I in the context of travel management is getting caught up in only one aspect, from which stems the fear that travellers are being "sorted" or that certain travellers are getting "special treatment." The gut reaction is often to associate DE&I directly with racial diversity, for example. That obscures the larger picture, said Carol Fergus, director of global travel, meetings and ground transportation at Fidelity International.

"It's not about race; it's about people," Fergus said. "It is, yes, about minority groups, but the underrepresented group might be someone with a disability or in mental health."

As such, DE&I for travel is not about setting up distinct policies for travellers based on race, gender or sexual identity. A female Black LGBTQ+ traveller, for example, is going to have different needs than a cisgender, straight, male Black traveller. A Muslim woman who wears a hijab might have a different experience onboard a flight or checking into a hotel than a white Christian woman wearing a cross necklace – and that will differ where they are travelling in the world.

With an ideal travel programme, all those travellers would feel equally supported and heard by their employer throughout their trip. In other words, all travellers have to be treated a bit differently to get the same results.

"It's not about treating people equally but about treating people equitably," said Yvette Bryant, SVP of diversity and inclusion for BCD Travel. "People want to know that employers care about them, not just in a transactional way but in a relationship way. That means seeing me completely and seeing to my needs when I'm out on the road."

Information and resources that ensure all travellers' needs are met benefit more than just the travellers with specific needs as well. Resources about LGBTQ+ traveller safety for a certain destination are certainly essential for the LGBTQ+ travellers themselves, of course, but if a non-LGBTQ+ colleague is with that traveller, it's also important they are aware in case, for example, their LGBTQ+ colleague would prefer not to be outed in casual conversation that mentioned their spouse while in that destination.

"It's important that you are incorporating this through the lens of the organisation, which helps in terms of not singling people out," said Emese Graham, diversity, equity and inclusion manager at Flight Centre Travel Group Americas.

Challenging institutions

Another danger of the "one-size-fits-all" approach to travel management is that some longstanding policies or standards by design could put some travellers at an automatic disadvantage. Evaluating and rethinking such institutions is another key element of DE&I in managed travel.

Many of the same conversations are happening at the larger geopolitical level, with the examination of policies and laws that have historically reduced access to wealth, public health, housing or the legal system for certain groups. The travel industry is not exempt from these biases.

"There are things that have been in place since the Industrial Revolution, so we need to evaluate processes and travel programmes to see the potential negative impact that would prevent anyone from becoming successful," said American Express Global Business Travel VP of diversity, equity and inclusion Tonya Hempstead.

A company might look into its expense policies, for example. Are employees – or perhaps temporary travellers, such as a job candidate – ever expected to cover travel expenses as they wait for a lengthy expense approval process for reimbursement? That could be a problem for employees who are on tight, fixed incomes and could effectively eliminate them from a company's job pool. Perhaps even getting a personal corporate card is a problem for employees with a poor credit history.

Or, a company might have in its policy that trips between London and Paris must be day trips when possible, not allowing an overnight stay, which could prove too taxing for some disabled travellers, said Philip Wooster, VP and head of sales for CWT in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and leader of the travel management company's LGBTQ+ employee resource group.

"That policy doesn't let them travel, and it's unconsciously taking place," Wooster said. "Policies today are written from the corporate down rather than the traveller up, so there's all this unconscious bias out there."

Identifying such biases requires open communication lines from travellers, as a travel manager trying to assess a programme on their own undoubtedly would miss something that does not affect them directly.

Some of these conversations might be new to a company. They might have steered clear of discussing issues for travellers with disabilities for fear of HIPAA violations in the US, for example, Hempstead said.

While DE&I has a specific relation to the travel programme, efforts cannot be siloed simply within the travel department, Graham said. It has to be integrated across all business structures, she said. DE&I efforts in the travel programme could tie into other company efforts.

"Most organisations are probably doing some level of engagement with their employees, so if the travel buyer isn't working with HR teams today, they can start to include some very specific DE&I and wellbeing questions," Bryant said. "It's about hearing the voice of the traveller, what's working, what could be improved, what should we stop and what should we start."

Gathering that information, of course, is only a first step. "We learned to ask, now we are learning to listen and hear stories, but it goes beyond listening," Hempstead said. "You have to believe, and then challenge, and keep doing that on repeat."

Assessing progress

While DE&I conversations became more prominent amid the social justice demonstrations throughout the summer of 2020, they are also at the heart of the trend within the travel industry of more personalised content and experience. There's been growing acknowledgement in the industry that travel is not just another procurement practice, and DE&I is a key element of that.

"It's what made people start realising when they're travelling, what's important to them and how they want to be treated, and these things should no longer be taken for granted," Fergus said. "People want their culture and their preferences to be considered now and no longer be just another person."

Covid-19 is accelerating interest in DE&I initiatives as well, Wooster said, as the pandemic "has taken us from second gear to fifth or sixth gear" as the increased need for tracking and providing information around safety protocols has broadened beyond health in terms of traveller-focused initiatives. "When you talk to clients now, most clients are saying this is taking priority over sustainability," he said.

Despite the increase in conversation around DE&I issues, however, Fergus said she does not see things moving quickly to turn that talk into action. Part of the problem is that as they assess their employees and programme, companies are seeing that their problems are deeper than they realise and do not want to speak publicly about it.

"Having discovered it, they feel they're not ready to make a change," Fergus said. "They've been told that they're the naughty school and need to put structures and models in place, and that takes money and time. They want to invest in things that are quick wins and low-hanging fruit."

In other words, companies are "ticking the box" and moving onto other things. That's a mistake, however, as it's even more frustrating for groups within a company to feel like they're being heard and ignored.

Companies instead are better off owning their need for improvement and should not be afraid of mistakes or missteps along the way, as that's part of the learning process, Fergus said.

"We have to remember that a lot of the conversations in this space of DE&I, it's still new for a lot of global organisations," Hempstead said. "If we were all already doing great, the job would be easy, but we're all in that same space."

Companies should also accept there is no quick fix to improve DE&I. "The word journey gets overplayed a lot, but let's all breathe. It is a journey, and we are not going to solve everything overnight," Bryant said. "It's important that we make the commitment and are intentional about moving the needle and making progress."