This week we’re celebrating International Women’s Day (8th March 2023) and the theme for this year is all about fully embracing equity.
The aim of the IWD 2023 #EmbraceEquity campaign theme is to get the world talking about why equal opportunities aren’t enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging requires equitable action.
Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities.
Equity recognises that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.
(Source: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/EquityEquality)
If we think of this in terms of Travel Risk Management, equality would mean all your travellers are provided with the same recourses but equity recognises that travellers have a unique set of circumstances and therefore, they should be supported with resources that reflect those.
An individual’s personal risk may be increased when travelling due to their personal characteristics (for example gender, sexuality or religion etc.), the purpose of their trip or their destination. A Travel Risk Management programme should support everybody in your organisation and enable safe travel.
For example, female travellers can face unique security risks when travelling, and mitigating those risks begins before they travel.
By respecting the needs and perspectives of all your employees your organisation will reap the benefits. These may include enhanced reputation for your organisation, attracting better talent when recruiting, more commitment/engagement from employees and increased retention. According to research, highly inclusive companies are also more likely to hit their financial target goals by up to 120%.
Inclusivity and Travel Risk Management go hand in hand. If inclusivity is a strategic priority for your organisation it’s a good time to review your Travel Risk Management programme to see if you can do more:
Travel Safety and Security Policy
Review your travel safety and security policy so that all employees have access to clear information, which is non-discriminative. Communicate your travel risk procedures with all staff so employees don’t feel singled out and outline the support they can expect.
- Use inclusive language “language that avoids the use of certain expressions or words that might be considered to exclude particular groups of people, especially gender-specific words, such as “man”, ” mankind”, and masculine pronouns, the use of which might be considered to exclude women. (Source: Collins English Dictionary)
Travel Risk Assessment
A travel risk assessment is essential to your duty of care responsibilities. The purpose of a good risk assessment is to identify any threats which a traveller may face, so mitigation measures can be put in place. There are a number of factors which may increase risk and this is the perfect opportunity for these to be highlighted and explored further.
- Ensure your travel risk assessment recognises unique travel considerations and additional support, resources and advice is available for those who need it.
- Use inclusive language and communicate with people in a way that is respectful, without bias and discrimination.
Pre-travel Training
Pre-travel safety awareness training ensures your travellers and global workforce are informed about the risks they could face and increases awareness of the behaviours and conduct that can help keep them safe. It gives them the confidence to face unfamiliar situations and locations.
- Our eLearning travel awareness course has topics aimed at LGBTQ and female travellers, focusing on the more specific issues and considerations that could affect them when travelling.
Access to Relevant Resources and Information
Encourage travellers to thoroughly research destinations and prepare before they go, by providing them with up-to-date resources and information. Country risk assessments are a great place to start but they can also look at online forums, networks and web articles.
- Recommend credible, up to date and reliable websites and media sources.
Traveller Engagement
To make improvements to your travel safety programme you need to engage your travellers and stakeholders. Find out about their travel challenges, concerns and needs. This should include all minority groups and be kept anonymous to protect an individual’s privacy. Obtain feedback after travel so you can continuously enhance your programme.
We can help you make you Travel Risk Management programme more inclusive. From simply reviewing your current policies and processes to providing traveller safety training or developing your Travel Risk Management programme. Contact our team at info@securewest.com.