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Discover effective ways to organize travel for employees and ensure their safety and well-being on business trips.
Arranging travel for employees requires a little more than booking a flight. There are many things you may not consider, including how they can spend company money! Business travel is expensive, but the company is responsible for more than a flight and a hotel.
The organization is responsible for the safety and well-being of employees, even outside of the office. Regular contact, ensuring employees know their responsibilities, and encouragement will help. From creating a travel policy to coming up with an itinerary, here are some suggestions.
A few simple tips can help you plan the best travel for business. Photo by Maridav via iStock by Getty Images
Safe and Comfortable Transport
It doesn’t matter how far an employee travels; the company is responsible for ensuring they are safe and comfortable. For local or intercity business meetings, you can search for “limousine service near me.” Google results will display any business registered with Google My Business. An excellent feature of this is that customers leave reviews. Read the reviews to find the best transport services in your local area. Of course, you can also search for airline ratings too.
Initiate a Company Travel Policy
Managing employees out of the office can be complicated. When staff are in attendance, they pretty much stick to the rules. However, you definitely need a company travel policy when workers are away from the business but on the clock. Consider these first for your company’s policy:
Define the goals of the policy, such as keeping costs down and employee safety
Consider the specific needs of an employee, such as disability assistance
Try to cover everything related to business travel so there’s no room for doubt
A travel policy for employees should be written as a specific guideline. Anything that can help or hinder an employee when traveling must be considered, or you can be held accountable.
Have an effective company travel policy to avoid pitfalls. Photo courtesy iStock by Getty Images
Use Apps to Manage Travel for Employees
Being out of the office can feel like a holiday for some workers, but it is not. When staff are required to represent the company when traveling, they usually have a lot of work to do. At the very least, they may need to prepare for the days ahead. One in three workers struggles with the workload when traveling. But there are tons of apps available. Collaboration apps help keep employees in the loop when away, and video conferencing benefits both the business and the worker.
Provide Ongoing Support
Just sending an employee on a business trip means the company is confident they are the right person for the job. This can be a significant confidence boost for an employee. However, some can feel like a fish out of water. Ongoing support is necessary to keep an employee on track. This can be as simple as a text exchange or a phone call from their direct manager or supervisors. The last thing you need is an employee traveling so far only to botch their assigned job.
Inquire About Tracking
Okay, so no one is saying you should track employees. This would be an illegal infringement of human rights. However, what you can do for employee safety is inquire about transport tracking. For example, if you lease a car service, it is helpful to know if the vehicle is tracked. Knowing that you can find an employee should something go wrong provides peace of mind. It isn’t uncommon for people to get lost in foreign and domestic places they aren’t too familiar with.
Travel for Employees Needs a Budget
Of course, business travel is expensive. Any business needs to budget for pretty much everything. And travel, whether by land, air, or sea, is no different. Travel for employees requires a budget that’s within the company scope and should also be defined within the policy:
Make it clear that costs cover transport related to the business only
Outline what is and isn’t covered by hotel costs, such as the mini-bar
Ensure employees understand that extras like tips may come out of their pocket
Any entertainment and additional hospitality are paid at the discretion of the employee
Transportation for leisure activities while in another location is not covered
It is helpful to think of anything that can cost the company money. Most employees will respect company funds, but some will take liberties. It can help to have workers sign off on the budget so they can confirm they understand what the company will pay for when they travel.
Use the Same Suppliers
It is a logistical task to arrange employee flights and transportation. However, it gets easier the more you do it. One of the reasons is you know what to expect when you use the same suppliers. Business vehicle companies, for example, may offer discounts for continued use of their service. And the same is true of other transport services such as airlines. Many of these kinds of businesses will reward loyalty, reducing costs and making it better for your staff.
Check Earned Rewards
Further to loyalty, many airlines and major transport services allow you to earn rewards. However, use business/commercial services, as non-commercial rewards may not apply. Most major transport operations have separate business services. Rewards could include reduced rates, air mile accumulation, or higher services for your employees. Of course, the rewards rely on using the same service repeatedly, so ensure you find good ones!
When you support your employees, they will be more likely to get the job done while they’re traveling for business. Photo by monkeybusinessimages via iStock by Getty Images
Include Departments in Travel for Employees
Interdepartmental issues can be the bane of a modern business, and budget efficiency is essential. In the US alone, domestic business travel costs companies around $110 billion per year—that doesn’t include international flights! One key way to ensure things go smoothly is to include finances and administration in major travel decisions. These are more linked than people think, resulting in error reduction when working together.
Provide an Accurate Itinerary
Providing minimal information to an employee in an unfamiliar place isn’t fair. Not everyone is accustomed to travel and some even experience travel anxiety. A detailed and informative itinerary will help your staff understand where they need to be, when and how to get there:
Ensure employees know where they need to be at a given time
Provide transportation details and funds so employees can be in attendance
Ensure employees are provided with access details such as clearance badges
Anyone would struggle on a business trip without the necessary information. It is the corporation’s responsibility to arrange transport to and from the places an employee needs to be. This includes prior arrangements with recipient companies who should be expecting a visit.
Secure the Necessary Visas
Imagine sending a skilled worker to another country only to find they will be returned based on a clerical oversight! That’s a massive waste of time and money. It could also be very embarrassing on a business reputation level! Work Visas are necessary when sending someone to another country to perform a task for which they will be paid. Without this, your company would be breaking the law, and the employee could be in hot water without documents.
You rely on your cell phone at every stage of your business travels. Photo by Ridofranz via iStock by Getty Images
Summary
Safety and comfort should be a priority when arranging travel for employees on business. This is especially true of ground vehicles. However, there also needs to be a budget to ensure employees don’t overspend and are aware of their responsibilities. But before anything, working Visas must be arranged. Without the necessary Visas for work in other countries, employees will be denied access and can even be detained. This is a big waste of time and money on the trip.
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