The phrase "digital transformation" is everywhere. More than just a buzzword; digital transformation is a powerful concept that, shaped by technology advancements, can drive real business evolution and value.
The pace of digital progress and adoption is not just benefitting high-tech companies in elevating their valuations. It is related to accelerated growth for the many businesses embracing it successfully. It is having a positive impact on the workforce as well; employees have become untethered from their laptops and desktops but continue to be connected and accessible.
However, getting to these benefits does come with challenges. Organisations have to figure out how to strategically embrace digital transformation to enhance current business models and boost value. This is compounded by the need to be even more agile in order to satisfy a digitally savvy workforce, acquire and retain talent as well as adapt to a continuously changing landscape.
Digital transformation as a business strategy
Companies that get digital transformation right are able to streamline processes, automate tasks and employ more efficient and effective practices — freeing up internal resources to focus more on activities that drive value and contribute to business growth rather than pure admin. However, many companies are struggling with how best to approach digital transformation within their organisations. Individual departments or the sidelines of the core business are often driving efforts, which result in a siloed approach that fails to add value across the entire company.
True transformation cannot be achieved simply by automating existing processes. You need to purposefully use the technologies available to you in a way that changes how things are done in order to achieve results that are more valuable. This approach should not be limited to one area of your business; it must be viewed as a holistic approach driven by the internal executive team that makes digital the core of the business and the heart of the culture. It should be applied throughout every level of your organisation especially within key areas that may still be employing manual, outdated processes like corporate travel and expense management.
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'Plug and play' technology is important to bring benefits across the business ©Infografx/iStock
The impact of digital transformation on corporate travel and expense (T&E)
Despite online collaboration or video conferencing tools being widely available, global corporate travel spend continues to grow and is forecast to reach $1,125.5 billion in 2025. For most companies, T&E is often the second or third-largest area of controllable spend. But, because many companies are using outdated tools and processes, it is also a critical area in need of digital transformation with the potential for significant cost savings, both in actual spend and especially the costs in processing and managing T&E.
Part of the problem with today's corporate online booking tools (OBTs) and expense management systems is that the initial technologies that were developed were simply a replication of old manual processes (e.g., moving spreadsheets online). Trying to spin an old system as new does not make it compelling to users and this is having an impact on employee adoption and compliance.
True transformation is about reimagining existing travel and expense processes and workflows and adapting them to the way users live and work. Technology needs to enable and empower in a seamless way instead of simply automating to deliver maximum benefits to travellers, travel managers, finance, and in turn, the business.
The employee-centric digital workplace
Today's workforce is largely made of a generation that has grown up immersed in technology. They expect access to fast, intuitive tools that offer the capabilities they are used to experiencing in their everyday life through their own personal devices. In short, they are looking for a consumer-grade experience.
That is why outdated processes and technologies, those that involve spreadsheets and manual management and filing of expense reports, are not only time-consuming for employees and the back office; they are also met with resistance. Digital transformation of T&E naturally drives users to stay within the managed programme without requiring complex compliance programmes and checks. It ultimately leads to better spend visibility and control, improved duty of care and compliance for the organisation at less cost and effort.
To drive adoption and promote compliance with company policy, organisations must meet digital expectations and offer employees a more personalised experience for booking travel and managing expenses.
Benefits of using technology to automate and unify T&E
- Significant cost savings in annual corporate T&E spend
- Employees spend less time booking travel and more time focused on revenue-generating tasks that contribute to company growth
- Improved compliance with corporate policy and external compliance requirements
- Freeing employees from their desk and supporting mobility by enabling T&E processes on the go
- Insight into exactly where their travellers are at any given time, in the event of an emergency
- Expense reporting and processing is streamlined and faster, resulting in:
- A reduction in reporting errors
- Reduced time processing and issuing reimbursements
- Enhanced visibility with the ability to use data to make ongoing improvements to processes and negotiate better rates with vendors
Executive checklist to digitally transform T&E
From a business strategy perspective, digital transformation is not a "once-and-done" effort — it is continual. Technologies that support business are evolving rapidly. As an executive, you need to review and evaluate your processes and technologies on a regular basis, looking for areas to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
Here are five key steps you can take today to digitally transform your T&E strategy.
- Unify travel and expense on a single platform with one code base which makes data and workflows efficient, improves visibility of spend and simplifies reconciliation.
- Ensure all players are on the same team. Finance, procurement and travel managers should all be on the same page and working toward the same goals and objectives.
- Automate and evolve the process. Advance your T&E practices so that it is more efficient and intuitive for all users, and delivers the flexibility they need, without being tied to their desk.
- Define an adoption strategy. Establish a clear plan to promote adoption and set targets to meet along the way. Adoption of your T&E solution is the most important element of success — without adoption there is no corporate value.
- Capture data. Collect and analyse data for better insight into traveller behaviour and to help with forecasting and planning.