Эффективность руководителей: как измерить влияние деловых поездок на производительность

Amit Sharma is Head of North America & Caribbean at VFS Global. He also serves as a vice chair role with the American Red Cross Board. For decades, global mobility has been measured through a familiar set of metrics: compliance, cost, assignment success, employee satisfaction and operational efficiency. These are still important, but I don't think they tell the whole story. Global business has never been more connected. Senior executives routinely cross borders to meet clients, oversee operations, negotiate partnerships, attend conferences and drive growth initiatives. Some spend weeks traveling to and from hotels and meeting rooms while managing critical business decisions that impact employees, customers and shareholders. Yet, despite the significant investment organizations make in executive travel and the growing demands placed on these leaders, I find that few companies measure the impact of travel beyond traditional metrics such as travel spend, trip frequency or return on investment tied to specific business outcomes. What is often overlooked is the human performance dimension of executive mobility. This represents a significant blind spot. How Travel Can Affect Executives Having spent years leading cross-border operations across the Americas and other parts of the world and traveling extensively to support clients, governments and business partners, I have experienced firsthand how demanding travel schedules can influence energy, cognitive sharpness and decision-making. Like many executives, I learned that arriving at a destination does not necessarily mean arriving at peak performance. Frequent travel can affect sleep quality, stress levels, physical health and overall productivity and well-being. Executives are expected to perform at their highest level regardless of time zones, disrupted routines, long-haul flights or compressed schedules. While organizations carefully track financial performance, sales targets and operational efficiency, they rarely assess how travel itself influences executive effectiveness. This raises an important question: How do we measure the performance impact of executive mobility? Measuring The Impact Of Travel I believe the answer may be to develop a dedicated performance metric that evaluates the relationship between travel demands and executive outcomes. Such a metric could incorporate factors like travel frequency, recovery time, sleep quality, physical activity, stress indicators, productivity measures and business performance results. By combining these variables, leaders could gain a more complete understanding of how mobility impacts their effectiveness. This concept forms the foundation of what I call "executive mobility performance," a framework for understanding how travel influences executive effectiveness and organizational success. I believe it represents an important opportunity for research, discussion and innovation. The need for this type of measurement is becoming increasingly relevant. When companies expand globally, executives typically have to spend more time navigating international markets and managing geographically dispersed teams. At the same time, many organizations are placing greater emphasis on employee well-being, resilience and sustainable performance. Executive mobility sits at the intersection of these priorities. In my view, a performance metric can identify risks and help organizations optimize travel strategies. Companies could better determine when in-person engagement delivers the greatest value, how much recovery time executives need after long-haul travel and what support systems improve performance during demanding travel schedules. The result could be healthier leaders, better decision-making and stronger business outcomes. Getting Started Organizations do not need sophisticated technology to begin measuring executive mobility performance. A practical first step is to establish a baseline by combining existing travel data with executive performance indicators, such as recovery time, meeting effectiveness, travel frequency and self-reported energy levels. Over time, organizations can identify patterns that reveal which travel schedules consistently support high-performance and which create unnecessary fatigue or risk. The second step is to integrate mobility into leadership planning rather than treating it solely as an administrative function. HR, mobility, executive leadership and health teams should collaborate to design travel strategies that balance business priorities with sustainable performance. Even relatively small adjustments, such as allowing recovery time after long-haul travel or avoiding critical negotiations immediately after overnight flights, could help improve executive effectiveness. The Potential Role Of Personal Performance Data Advances in wearable technology, health analytics and performance monitoring may help executives who already use these devices better understand the relationship between travel and their effectiveness. Metrics such as sleep quality, recovery trends, heart rate variability, activity levels and travel frequency can provide insights into how leaders respond to demanding schedules. This does not suggest organizations should monitor executives in intrusive ways. Rather, it highlights an opportunity for executives who use wearables to leverage their personal performance insights to make more informed decisions about their travel. Wearable technology should remain voluntary and primarily serve as a personal performance tool, rather than a mechanism for organizational surveillance. For example, an executive who consistently observes lower recovery metrics following overnight international flights might choose to avoid board presentations on the day of arrival. If similar trends emerge across leadership teams, organizations can redesign travel schedules, recovery periods or meeting timing to improve overall executive performance while respecting individual privacy. The Takeaway The future of global mobility might require a broader definition of success. In addition to compliance and cost management, organizations should consider how mobility programs contribute to productivity, leadership effectiveness and business outcomes. As global mobility continues to shape modern business, organizations can move beyond solely measuring where executives travel and how much it costs. The next frontier is understanding how travel affects performance—and developing the metrics that help leaders perform at their best wherever business takes them. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?