What does a good travel policy for SMEs look like?
What does a good travel policy for SMEs look like?
Why do we need a travel policy?
Time and again, at the beginning of a project or even right in the middle of it, when companies are looking for supporting software or services, we find out:
- No travel policy exists
- There are different guidelines at different locations or in different business units
- Travel policies exist, but they are not properly documented anywhere
(they tend to be like ‘common knowledge’ an unspoken agreement)
- Nobody really knows the existing travel policy. (at least not in detail)
- They are travel guidelines that are years old.
Most often, however, the existing travel policy is not adapted to the current framework conditions, necessities and certainly not to the DIGITALISATION of travel management processes.
But how can the right software, the right partner, the right service be found on such a basis?
What is even more serious, however: Unclear, outdated regulations (which may be perceived as unfair) cause frustration among employees in the back office and among travellers themselves.
But no company can afford staying in such a state in this day and age.
What does a travel policy have to do with employee satisfaction?
The focus is always on processes that contribute to the actual value creation of a company. They are usually very well described, are subject to constant monitoring and are adapted and optimised as required.
The situation is starting to look different for back-office processes. Often there are very clear processes, e.g. for purchasing, which is usually related to saving money; or in relation to car policies, which more often than not gets people really emotional.
We also sometimes find very extensive and complex process manuals in other areas. For instance, one of our customers had a process handbook containing well over 100 pages just for Human Resources.
If we ask about the travel guidelines, they are compiled from different documents in different places or there are none at all.
But what does this have to do with employee satisfaction?
Imagine the following situations and ask yourself whether any of them sound familiar:
- You have to plan a business trip and now you want to know whether it's better to fly or take the train. And if you fly, which class do you book? How much can the hotel cost in Germany? And how much when you are in Paris?
- But perhaps you are also very self-confident and book the journey in a way that makes sense from your point of view. What about after the trip?
o Will you get everything reimbursed?
o How long will it take?
o How many discussions, emails and phone calls do you have because of this?
- You are travelling for business, and a situation arises where you are entertaining guests. How much are you allowed to spend? What does the receipt have to look like and what does it have to say and include?
- How is your work place handling the following?
o VISA
o Vaccinations
o Safety warnings
o The A1 certificate
o Cancellations
o Trip cancellation
o Liability and insurance
You didn't even know that you should ask yourself such questions as a traveller?
As a manager or HR manager, how much dissatisfaction and frustration do you think can arise when such things are not well organised? Or when travellers realise that other groups or colleagues in other departments (or sister companies) have completely different, and from their point of view, better regulations? Or have to wait a long time for payment? Or, in times of mobile devices, still have to submit their travel expense reports using paper, Excel and a pencil?
As the saying goes: ‘The devil is in the detail.’
Companies today invest a lot of money in employer branding, recruiting, onboarding - in general we spent a lot on the most scarce and important resource of all, the employees.
Don't risk losing these investments because of small things that can be fixed with very little effort.
In psychology and sociology, it has long been known that, in addition to obviously motivating and demotivating things, there are always so-called ‘hygiene factors’. You can't score points with these. But be careful - you can lose a lot of them instead.
And believe us: the topic of travelling is no less emotional than the topic of cars.
What do we learn from this?
At best, we have raised our awareness for the fact that such a ‘boring’ topic as travel expenses should not be underestimated after all. Because if it is well regulated, we do not run the risk of repeated dissatisfaction among employees, which leads to reduced work performance, internal resignation or even increased fluctuation with the associated consequences and costs.
But what are the next concrete steps towards a modern, process-orientated travel policy?
Clarify internally:
- What needs to be regulated?
- What does NOT?
- Which legal regulations play a role and must be taken into account? (e.g. travel law,
tax law, working time law, occupational health and safety, etc.)
- What objectives are you pursuing with the regulations? (e.g. employee satisfaction,
expenditure control, compliance)
- Are there any ‘Vested rights’?
- Which ‘old habits’ do you want to change?
- Etc.
Over the past 11 years, we have become experts in travel policy implementing travel expense software in countless projects. Today, we offer interested parties workshops on the development or revision of travel policies, because we are convinced, they are a real basis for a successful project. And it doesn't matter which product or service provider the company chooses afterwards.
If you would like to find out for yourself whether this is at all relevant or could help you, we would be very happy to help you. For this reason, we are now also offering free consultations lasting approx. 1 hour. In these 45 - 60 minutes, we will work with you to find out where you stand and what your specific path to digitalisation could look like.
If this is of interest to you, please book an appointment directly here.
In any case, as always, we look forward to your feedback.
To make sure you don't miss anything, follow us on LinkedIn or facebook.
