Business Trip | 商務出差- 辦公室隨筆 (三)

I came across an article recently about a survey which indicated that 30% of people would accept lower wage to get a job with business travel opportunities. Using company's money on siteseeing and traveling is simply nice, that why I think the survey was accurate. That survey also showed that the younger generations trended to utilize the opportunities more. Right, that's attractive, I agree.

這幾天看到了一篇文章，內容說一頂調查發現三成員工願意為出差的機會而接受薪水較低的工作。我想這亦大約與事實相符吧。有些人會覺得出差是公費旅遊，有公司負責費用，自己可以乘機到出差的地點遊覽一番，當然求之不得。該調查指出接近一半的員工會這樣做，而且員工越年輕越多利用出差的機會去旅遊。乘著出差的機會去旅行一定是十分吸引吧。

When I was a student, my family was very poor and overseas traveling was a dream to me. The dream came true not long after I graduated from University with my Bachelor degree. I found a part-time System Administrator job in a computer manufacturer MNC. I supported all offices in the bigger China region just like other permanent staffs. I was sent to our Guangzhou and Beijing offices to support them very soon. That was before Hong Kong returns to China and China's economy was not as strong as now, going to Guangzhou and Beijing already considered as business trip. There was not much opportunities to go around because most of the tourist attractions and shops already or soon to be closed when we were off work. I still remember that time the taxi drive told me everything in Beijing was closed when I asked him to drive me to Tiananmen Square
in the evening at about 7pm.

回想我讀書之時，家境清貧。說出來怕你會見笑，那時的夢想之一就是可以離開香港到外面去見識見識。到了學士畢業之後，找了一份在跨國電腦公司做內部系統維護的工作，雖然不是全識，但是跟全識的同事一樣要支持整個大中華區的辦公室。入職不久就有機會出差了，雖然只是到北京和廣州辦公室去幫忙，但在廿多年前，那已經是算是出差工作了。當時香港還未回歸，中國的經濟亦未真正發展起來，到北京和廣州去工作，其實順便遊覽的機會並不多，因為每天放工之後，回到酒店放下東西，再出門，已經發現所有的店舖和景點都已經關門或者就到關門的時間。特別是北京，因為是首都的關係，管制更加嚴密，7時左右找輛的士想到天安門看看，的士司機說沒什麼好看的，因為已經關門了。

At that time, company arranged everything, flight, local transportation and hotel, for employees based on business needs. There was not much extra time for them to travel around. One can only make use of the arrival day, time after work and the departure day. That was not too appealing so that it may not become a reason for employee to accept lower wage.

當時出差行多時都是公司替員工安排好機票，當地交通工具和住宿，基本上行程是跟據工作需要而制定的，之前之後都沒有額外的日字，所以要趁出差的機會去遊覽的話就只可以在剛到埗的那一天，每天工作完成之後及回程那一天。說句實話是沒有多少時間的。如果現今的出差都是這樣安排的話，恐怕不會是一個可以令人接受薪水低一點的原因。

I got a full time job later which gave me the opportunties to travel to Silicon valley and Matsumoto of Japan for a month each time. Those trips covered a few weekends that allowed me to travel. Moreover, since I stayed there for a month, I had good chances to experience local culture and ways of living. That was a big shock to me, which might be the reason why I love traveling so much.

後來轉了一份全職的工作，有機會到美國矽谷和日本松本出差，而且一去便是一個月。這些橫跨幾個週未的出差，做就了很多到處觀光遊覽的機會。因為在當地逗留時間比較長，亦有多一些機會體驗當地的人民生活和文化。這些經驗給我個人的沖擊很大，我想我喜愛旅行的性格亦是在那時培育出來的。

From that onwards, I got more and more opportunities to travel for work. Currently I am business traveling around 1/3 to 1/2 of my time for my company. When I was with my previous company, a huge Germany conglomerates, I traveled to Germany and surrounding countries, Singapore and Malaysia after business trips. Companies no longer arrange trips for employees, instead employees arranged by themselves. That's why they could determine they travel dates and accommodations to fit their personal trips. Of course, all extra costs generated should be beared by employees and they had to use their own paid leaves to cover those non-working days.

往後的時間，我出差的機會亦多了，現在的工作什至於有接近三分一到一半時間在出差。我會盡量使用每一次出差的機會到不同地旅行。例如當我在一家德國跨國大企業工作時，乘着不同的出差工作或受訓的機會，去了德國跟鄰近的國家，還有新加坡和馬來西亞遊覽。那時公司已經不會替員工安排行程，員工有一定的自主權去決定什麼時候出發和回程。當然如果超過工作需要，因為自己去旅遊而產生的費用，包括酒店房間，餐飲和交通費，公司是不會給報銷的。而且工作以外的日子要逗留在外，不回到公司工作是要利用自己的年假的。

Although some people think that this is not good and employees are taking advantages of the company, I on the other hand think this is a "Win, Win, Win" situation, if employee can ensure quality of work and company's interest will not be jeopardized.

1. Employees save time and costs on travel
2. Company has no extra cost. Employees care more about their jobs which is good for employee royalty and retention.
3. Overall travels decrease because one single travel covers both business and personal trips. Good for environmental protection!
   That's why I support my teams to do this if they request sO, but they have to make sure no extra costs to the company and that won't affect their jobs. Remember to check your bosses' preferences before asking to avoid unnecessary troubles. Don't do this too often as it may affect your reputation. There is a good example in my company which I can share with you later.

雖然有人認為這樣做員工是在利用公司，佔了公司的便宜。但我卻覺得這是一個「Win, Win, Win」三贏的局面

1. 員工可以節省一點交通費和時間
2. 公司沒有任何經濟損失。而且員工會更加珍惜工作，對保持員工的穩定性有很大幫助
3. 因為員工只需要一次交通就可以達到出差和去旅行的目的，即是用少了交通工具，所以亦對環境保護出了一分力

因此我個人是相當支持下屬這樣做的。大前題是不會影響工作和不會令公司開支增加。當然不同上司有不同的見解，所以如果你都想這樣做的話，最好先摸前楚你上司的脾性，不然往後的辦公室生活就會艱難重重。而且利用出差機會去旅行這重事要適可而止，否則會令自己在公司形象大受影響，我公司正好個好例子，有機會再和大家分享。

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Img source | 圖片來源 : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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