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Top Workforce Challenges For Travel Managers (And How To Solve Them)

May 30, 2023
Finding and booking workforce travel can be complicated. Learn the top workforce hurdles travel managers face, plus how they can solve them using LodgeLink

Travel management is a difficult task. It requires negotiating rates, organizing flights or transportation, managing budgets and much more. Organizing workforce travel comes with its own unique set of challenges.

Your travel managers can help set the tone for your work crews, but only if they’re able to anticipate workforce challenges and solve them before they occur. We’re breaking down five of the top workforce challenges impacting travel managers today and providing information to help solve them.

The Complexity of Workforce Travel Challenges

The challenges that travel managers face in workforce travel are different from those faced with typical corporate travel. They can be much more complex. With workforce travel, travel managers are normally responsible for supervising Project, Crew or Team Travel (PCTT).

This means travel managers can be responsible for finding and booking lodging that accommodates large groups for an extended amount of time — all while staying within the company’s tight travel budget. 

That is just one of the many ways managing PCTT can complicate the job for workforce travel managers. 

Top Five Workforce Challenges Travel Managers Must Solve

Because PCTT travel is so complex, travel managers must solve workforce challenges unique to any other industry. Listed below are the top five challenges travel managers face.

1. Ensuring Crew Safety & Well-Being

Keeping workcrews safe is one of the most important parts of the job. Approximately one-third of our lives are spent working. Aside from maintaining their physical health, one of the top workforce challenges travel managers must solve is ensuring crew safety and well-being. 

Whether you think so or not, it’s increasingly important for travel managers to protect the mental health and overall welfare of their crews in addition to their physical health, especially when travelling is involved. 

It can be challenging for some crew members to be away from home for so long; their whole routine is being disrupted. If the travel arrangements are unsatisfactory or the plans aren’t properly communicated, it can leave crew members stressed or dissatisfied, resulting in poor productivity. 

So how do travel managers protect the well-being of their travelling crew members?

First and foremost, communication. Proper communication of travel procedures, changes in bookings or emergency alerts can make or break the trust between work crews and travel managers. Effective communication builds trust and gives travelling crews a sense of security when away.

Using LodgeLink’s Duty of Care, travel managers can help simplify travel communication with crew members. In the event of an emergency, Duty of Care tools allows travel managers to react quickly by locating and tracking the location of travellers and initiating emergency communications.

A person on a phone looking at flights

At the same time, crew members can receive alerts for risk advisories, itinerary changes and even access destination information through Duty of Care technology. Ultimately, this technology can help create peace of mind for travel managers and crew members, solving this workforce challenge. 

Another way travel managers can monitor the safety and well-being of their crews is by finding comfortable lodging. One of the most significant challenges in making workforce travel arrangements is finding housing that accommodates their unique needs.

When it comes to project-based travel, crew members are expected to perform physically demanding tasks day in and day out. Ample sleep and a good meal are crucial and will reduce the risk of burnout or injuries on the job. 

Before booking a stay, travel managers should ask themselves the following:

  • Is this hotel clean? — Yes, cleanliness matters. This will be their home away from home for weeks or months
  • Is the customer service experience positive? — At some point, they’ll interact with someone from the hotel or lodge. A kind face or friendly interaction can make them feel more comfortable
  • Do they have 24-hour dining options? — Most crews will be working long, sometimes unconventional, hours. Their lodging should have around-the-clock meal options
  • Are there laundry facilities on site? — Like we said, cleanliness matters
  • Do they offer parking for large vehicles? — Being able to come back and park directly in the parking lot instead of a separate lot after a long day's work can be such a relief

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. For a complete list of amenities travel managers should consider, see our blog titled “Crew Lodging Amenities: What Travel Managers Should Look For When Booking Workforce Travel.”

2. Managing Budgets & Negotiating Rates

Companies are always looking for ways to reduce costs, so it’s reasonable to expect travel managers could feel some pressure to reduce their spending. Finding ways to improve their strategy and cut back on costs is another challenge travel managers must face. 

This is especially true when finding and booking rooms for work crews of up to 50. Finding quality housing at a fair rate for an extended stay is hard enough to do for just one person. Try doing it for large work crews!

Here are a few reasons why your company may be overspending on workforce travel: 

  • You have no travel partnerships
  • Your travel policies are unclear
  • You’re using non-negotiated rates
  • You’re using analog booking processes for large groups of people
  • You don’t have access to efficient travel analytics or receipt organization

By using LodgeLink, your team can start curbing unnecessary travel expenses with technology designed to simplify the complications of workforce travel. 

Your travel managers won't have to worry about negotiating rates and calling multiple hotels, because we’ve already done that for you. We have partnerships with thousands of hotels and lodges across US and Canada. Just set your preferences in the platform, and we’ll only show you hotels within your budget and location.

Rebecca From MasterBUILT explains how their team works with LodgeLink to solve their workforce challenges together.

3. Solving Disruptions When They Occur

Disruptions are inevitable, especially with crews with upwards of 50 people. Solving the problem is just part of the challenge here — communication with crew members during a disruption is another challenge travel managers must solve.

Using a risk management plan, travel managers can proactively solve workforce challenges before they occur. An effective risk management plan should consider and outline all of the possible disruptions that can occur over the duration of the project, along with an action plan in the event the risk occurs. 

To reduce the inevitable stress triggered by the disruption, travel managers should create a clear communication policy within their risk management plan. The communication policy should include:

A person in a safety vest pointing at a machine on a construction site
  • Clear points of contact — Delegate who to call under certain circumstances; this will help eliminate the confusion about who to contact, helping resolve the issue faster 
  • A preferred method or medium for contact — Outline how crew members are expected to communicate with the travel manager. Is it via email, phone call or some other internal communication method your company uses?

That said, travel managers should always be available if a designated point of contact doesn’t answer or if additional questions occur. 

4. Manage Crews Without Micromanaging

No one likes a micromanager, especially when they’re hundreds of miles away. Travel managers must learn to delegate some responsibility to the project manager on site with the crew.

Travel managers can set their expectations by creating and enforcing a travel policy. The travel policy can outline what items crew members control and which items or purchases that must be approved. 

LodgeLink’s booking features allow travel managers to manage permissions and give some control to the project managers (admins) on site. With this feature, the project managers can edit their bookings in real time if a problem occurs.

As always, communication is essential here. Travel managers should give their crews space to function independently but must also keep the lines of communication open for questions as they arise.

5. Reporting & Reconciling Costs

One of the travel manager's most complex but most important jobs is reconciling costs and reporting on the project after it concludes. Analyzing spending can help the company determine what worked and what didn't, helping to drive strategy in the future. 

Using LodgeLink’s platform, travel managers can gain increased visibility of the crew’s spending. Using Tracking Codes and Payment IDs, you can access a detailed breakdown of costs to help eliminate leakage. 

Additionally, when your travel managers book through LodgeLink, we will pay all travel costs upfront and send your team one consolidated invoice at the end of the project. All invoices will be stored in our platform to reference at any time. 

To learn more about the value of consolidated invoicing, hear directly from Meagan, Manager of Billing and Payables at LodgeLink.

Meagan breaks down LodgeLink's invoicing process.

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