Have you ever secretly brought a friend or partner on a work trip, leaving them to sneak around the hotel while dodging your boss?
Brian, a millennial who works in the film industry and asked that we only use his first name, told Business Insider that when he traveled to Cannes Film Festival on a business trip in 2017, a friend secretly crashed in his hotel room.
He said he didn’t tell his boss because he didn’t want to seem unprofessional. Even though the trip was mostly work, he and his friend ended up meeting people with whom they still hang out to this day, he said.
Taking plus-ones on work trips is part of the growing blended travel trend, also known in the industry as “bleisure,” or business and leisure. It’s when work travelers also throw some leisure into the mix, either throughout their trip or by tagging on some extra, non-work days on either end.
The trend is especially enticing to Gen Z, who have a greater focus on work-life balance than older generations, according to a recent YouGov survey of over 12,000 people commissioned by Crowne Plaza.
The survey found 74% of respondents would invite a family member or friend on a work trip, with Gen Z and millennials being the most likely to do so. Nearly one in five respondents said they’d brought a plus-one on a work trip without telling their employer.
Jean Twenge, a psychologist and the author of “Generations,” a book about how Americans differ by generation, said Gen Z’s approach to work-life balance could be part of the reason they’re more likely to bring a plus-one on a work trip.
“They don’t want their work to be their whole life,” she told BI.
It could also be because they are less likely to have responsibilities like children that would require their partner to stay home, she said.
As for why they might feel uncomfortable talking to their boss about bringing a plus-one, Twenge said it could be because they are relatively new to the workforce or their company, and they’re just not sure if it would be okay.
In some cases, blended travel and bringing a plus-one on a work trip is encouraged by employers, said Ginger Taggart, vice president of brand management for global premium brands at IHG Hotels & Resorts, which owns Crowne Plaza.
She said IHG has heard from its partners that bringing a plus-one on a work trip is no longer a “dirty little secret.” In fact, some employers are actively looking to plan work trips that make blended travel, including with a guest, more enjoyable.
“It enables all of their workforce and their employees to benefit from the productivity of their business demands, but at the same time having their life enriched,” Taggart told Business Insider, adding that employees say bringing a loved one on a work trip helps reduce their stress.
Stephan Meier, a professor and chair of the Management Division at Columbia Business School, told BI that it should be the employer’s responsibility to ensure that expectations on business trips are clear.
For instance, it could be the case that employees are expected to work 9-to-5 and then have the night to themselves, in which case their boss might not mind if a partner tags along.
In other cases, especially in the age of remote work, the employees may be expected to participate in team dinners or other bonding activities in the evenings.
Either way is acceptable, Meier said, but it’s important that those expectations are clearly set and communicated.
“Everybody knows then what the rules are,” he said. “There’s no hiding in the lobby or pretending we don’t know each other to make sure that somebody else doesn’t see that I’m together with my significant other.”
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