1. Healthy & Safety
Duty of Care is the responsibility of an organization to look after its employees and crews while they are travelling for work. This means you should always be aware of accommodation standards, process compliance, and the whereabouts of the team.
Duty of Care programs ensure you’re prepared for any bump in the road. For example, some of these circumstances may include:
- Missing a flight or flights being rescheduled/cancelled
- Misplacing important documents, such as a passport
- Health risks ranging from global pandemics to hospitalization caused by an accident, infection, stress, or fatigue
- Car accidents that occur during work travel
- Natural disasters such as hurricanes, blizzards, thunderstorms, and tornadoes
Ensuring your team has access to decent, secure, and clean accommodation and travel benefits the arranger and the traveller because it increases peace of mind on both sides and establishes a necessary level of trust.
2. Administration
The policies you put into place must be clear, concise, and easy to manage. Many times, administrative efforts can end up costing you more time and money due to disorganization or inefficiencies in policy management. Some common questions you may want to ask yourself are:
- Does your accounts payable team have hours available to research different camp or hotel options and costs?
- Will training be necessary to ensure your crew understands how to submit expenses for each of their stays?
- How will you ensure the cost of accommodations is recovered on project-specific travel needs?
These questions may vary, but a good best practice to follow is thinking through each stakeholder involved and assessing how they will be impacted. Once you’ve assessed all the possibilities, you’ll have a clearer image of how you can be efficient without sacrificing the needs of your crew.
3. Expenses
Another element you should be clear about is expenses. Every traveller is different, and each job may entail different expenses. Ensuring you and your team are on the same page about which expenses are reasonable and which aren’t will avoid any confusion or misconceptions.
When it comes to expenses, finding a balance between flexibility and freedom with oversight and regulation is critical. For instance, you may offer food allowances but still direct workers to book travel with preferred vendors. This balance is key to establishing trust and respect while also staying in control and organized.
4. Responsibility
Responsibilities are important factors in travel management. As you assign specific tasks and duties to different team members, make sure that each individual or group is clear on what they are expected to do.
Putting accountabilities in place will not only keep everyone on the same page, but it will ensure that accurate travel costs are being accounted for, avoiding the risk of incorrect billing and misaligned costs.
5. Communication
This may seem obvious, but communication is key. Once a travel management policy is in place, it’s imperative that everyone is up-to-date with the latest information. Ensuring all executives agree communicating with leadership and management teams is essential to avoid confusion across the board.
As you educate leadership and management teams, make sure you’re providing them with resources that will answer any questions they may have. Communicating with employees that will be impacted is critical if you want to avoid unnecessary mistakes.
