Simply READ

The days of lengthy, complex travel policies are numbered and simplification is now the order of the day, writes Rob Gill

The days when bulky printed travel policies lay gathering dust in office drawers or lurked in a rarely visited corner of a company intranet may not quite be over, but there are signs that travel policy is being seen in a new light.

Technology is helping to bring elements of travel policy to life: many online booking tools warn travellers if they are about to book a flight or hotel that’s out of policy before they complete the process.

Often this is done using a “traffic light” system to persuade travellers to book, if not the best option, at least one that complies with policy.

Priorities within policies are also shifting. While improving duty of care has long been an essential part of policies, this is now going beyond safety and security to tackle issues such as the health, wellbeing and productivity of travellers on the road.

Streamlining policies

One trend, which pretty much everybody agrees on, is that corporate travel policies are being “streamlined” and those which used to run to 20 or 30 pages are disappearing. Some organisations have even got their policies down to just one or two pages of A4 detailing a few key principles for employees to follow.

Jo Lloyd, a partner at consultancy Nina & Pinta, says clients are making their policies “easier to follow and less complicated”.

She says: “How they carry this out depends very much on the company that they work in and who ‘owns’ the travel policy. What is recognised is that this is a collaborative process and engaging the right stakeholders is key.”

Lesley O’bryan, Vice President and Principal of BCD Travel’s consultancy arm Advito, says travel policies have to use technology to “become more dynamic”.

“To start the streamlining process, we recommend clients benchmark their travel policy to identify gaps that need to be addressed,” she adds. “There are then several ways to condense the policy to make it more absorbable for travellers – like adding hyperlinks in the body of the document to other referral materials.”

There has also been a move away from corporates operating two-tier travel policies where the top executives or VIPS in an organisation have previously been allowed to follow different rules to the rest of the employees.

Click Travel’s Director of Operations,

Chris Vince, says many clients have been “flattening” travel policy, so that a single set of rules applies across the company.

Another area of agreement is that communication is crucial to achieve a successful streamlining or simplification of a travel policy. Fail to secure “buy-in” from travellers and any policy changes are likely to hit a brick wall.

Lea Duchemin, Account Manager at Corporate Traveller, says: “Corporates need to let their travellers know of any policy changes and the reasons for those changes. Technology helps this process – whether that’s via the client’s intranet, internal communication channels or their TMC’S online booking tool.

“Engaging with individual travellers really helps to drive compliance. Travellers can check whether they are in policy providing it has been communicated to them.”

To mandate or not

Whether to mandate a travel policy often depends on the particular sector the organisation operates in, or its own internal corporate culture. Many companies choose to use elements of both “carrot and stick” in their efforts to drive higher compliance levels.

One industry that tends to see higher levels of mandated travel policy is the energy sector, which has its own unique dynamics in terms of moving ship crews and rig workers around the world.

Alice Linley-munro, Travel Analyst at Oil Spill Response, says: “Our policy is mandated and there are consequences for stepping outside of it which range in severity dependent on the number of

There has been a move away from two-tier travel policies where the top executives or VIPS in an organisation have previously been allowed to follow different rules”