Why did you launch hubtobee?
Benoit Rabourdin - We started from a number of observations, not least the number of times we bump into colleagues by chance, people we rarely see because they're geographically distant, and yet today, with digital technology, we can predict who will be where and when. And as a result take advantage of the simultaneous presence of several colleagues to optimise the energy of business travel. " If only I'd known you were there "With hubtobee, we want to do away with that phrase. We want to reproduce the benefits of the coffee machine at the end of the corridor, but on a global scale, at the end of the world, where colleagues bump into each other without knowing it. All it takes is for one of them to be travelling. This means that our tool is of interest not only to travellers, but to all employees. Often, you don't know where your own office neighbour is going... With hubtobee, there's this game of transparency, of decompartmentalisation, which makes it possible to create this spirit of "togetherness". networking internal to the company. There's no need to worry about disclosing your travel plans to outside parties, particularly competitors. For example, if I'm about to go to New Yorkand I discover that my colleague from TokyoFor example, if I'm going to visit a company that I'm supposed to see, but leave the day before I arrive, I can bring my trip forward slightly to see him there, and avoid having to go to Japan a fortnight later. This saves me the flight time, the time difference and the fatigue, but it's also a great advantage for the company. saving money and CO2 for the planet.
In practical terms, how does it work from the passenger's point of view?
Benoit Rabourdin - He books his ticket as usual. We work with travel agenciesWe can then send them a notification saying: ". You're going to New York in three weeks' time. Would you like to share this information to facilitate networking within your company?" . All they have to do is click on yes or no. If the answer is yes, this information is shared on the platform within the company, and all those who will be in the same destination over the same period, and who may have a link with this traveller, will have access to the information. This is predictive, not intrusive geolocation, and it really does work on a voluntary basis.
What's in it for the business travel agency?
Benoit Rabourdin - All related applications that provide a useful service to travel agency customers are of interest, since TMC are expanding their range of high added-value services. This helps to retain customers and attract new ones. We're not the only ones: there are quite a few start-ups that revolve around TMCThey are keen to find new solutions, and rightly so.
Aren't travellers reluctant to share information about their journeys, which may arouse jealousy or upset their holiday plans?
Benoit Rabourdin - There's inevitably a part of that, but generally speaking, the frequent traveller has already experienced enough of the world to be able to make the most of it. bleisureHe doesn't have the time to do it, or he's no longer interested. After a while, his journey becomes totally transparent. He has little to hide: it's his job to travel, and he dreams above all of stability. More than 90% of travellers who share their journeys on hubtobee automate their information sharing, they don't even ask themselves the question any more.
Isn't it the role of the travel manager to ensure that travellers travel less and better?
Benoit Rabourdin - With a customer like Safran, 8% of users say that they have eliminated a business trip thanks to us, and this in just one quarter. We translate this into savings on the travel budget and on the carbon footprint. Our core target is frequent travellers, who represent 20% of teams but 80% of travel budgets and carbon footprint. After a while, these frequent travellers dream of travelling less, which is what hubtobee makes possible. The leverage effect on the company is therefore very strong, because it has an enormous impact, given that it weighs so heavily on the travel budget.
How did the containment period affect your business?
Benoit Rabourdin - Of course, like the other players in this sector, everything was frozen. But the social distancing generated a distancing from our daily routines. Half of humanity stopped its metro-work-sleep routine for three months. Everyone found themselves taking a step back, and I think that people began to question the meaning of this routine. I know people who decided to stay in the provinces, teleworking, even if it meant taking a pay cut of 20%, because life is often cheaper outside Paris. We've realised that you need a good balance between distance learning and face-to-face sessions.
Has the crisis changed the way you approach and use the platform?
Benoit Rabourdin - We have been saying for a long time that presence is a present. Covid and the ensuing isolation confirmed this. Yesterday, by default, you could assume that all your site colleagues would be on site the next day. Today, with the rise of teleworking, you can't be sure that your team-mates on a given subject will be there on a given date. So we're in the process of developing the Hubtobee application to include managing co-presence in the workplaceor in a coworking or another third location near me. What was once of interest to the business traveller is now of interest to any teleworker.
So you've upgraded the tool?
Benoit Rabourdin - We're developing the tool so that it's not just a platform for international companies, but becomes an everyday tool, because tomorrow it won't be so obvious that colleagues on the same floor will be there when they need each other. It's a question of knowing who's going to be there next Tuesday, making arrangements to come to the office if a colleague arrives from abroad, and so on. The hubtobee travel part, our core business, will continue. It also works for domestic travel. But for teleworking, we launch an application for weekly or daily useusers can easily enter their details so that everyone can see at a glance who will or won't be at different locations. The two tools are separate but can be synchronised.
using mobility to create intelligent meeting points
So are you betting that teleworking will continue in the medium to long term?
Benoit Rabourdin - Absolutely. The figures bear this out. Everyone is now convinced that the teleworking is an entirely viable option, while being aware that resorting to this physical distancing from 100% is dangerous, with a risk of cultural distancing from the company and colleagues, the notion of a group, of a team. You need a hybridisation between face-to-face and distance learning. But it's no longer the place that matters, as the office once was: it's the co-presenceIt's all about using people's mobility to create intelligent, useful meeting points that are on their way. The idea is to use people's mobility to create intelligent meeting points that are useful to everyone and on their way to work. We are also proposing a car-sharing scheme for businesses. Here too, there are significant savings in terms of both money and CO2. Sharing a hire car or a taxi is also a great way of meeting and talking to colleagues. There's also a lot of interest in this. When four colleagues arrive at the same station at the same time without knowing it, to go to the same factory, and four cars are hired, it's a shame! We no longer have the right to do that nowadays, if only from an ecological point of view but also financially, and yet it's still very much on the agenda.
Do you think you'll ever see a return to the travel volumes of yesteryear, or is it precisely this teleworking element that should compensate for a lasting decline in travel?
Benoit Rabourdin - Teleworking is a need that has arisen as a result of revolution. It's a real paradigm shift, starting this summer, and it's going to be a success. which will endure unless it is badly managed. It's a combination of a new-found freedom and the effectiveness of digital technology and intelligent face-to-face meetings thanks to tools such as hubtobee, because there is still a long way to go. essential for the business to maintain a physical link. There is no good networking without meeting people. Whether we like it or not, communication in virtual format is truncated, it's very robotic, and serendipity doesn't develop as much as it does in real face-to-face contact.
