There is a growing understanding about how technology will revolutionise business processes. Many companies believe they are aware and have invested many resources in digitalising, but to the best of my knowledge we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Like Titanic we are sailing too fast and while aware of possible icebergs, neglecting any danger. This situation applies very much to travel.
Today most companies rely on the existing structure with most key suppliers such as air and hotel, and travel management companies (TMC) or other airline approved intermediaries. GDSes control inventories and distribution; payments by credit cards. It is common knowledge that the business model is old and to a certain level extinct in a cloud-based technology world. However, it works!
Most companies and their travel managers, HR, IT and supply departments are aware of the need to rethink the future business model, but in many cases are obstructed by the "not invented here" syndrome, silo thinking and fear of the future. The trend is already showing with corporate travellers selecting alternative booking channels and management. This moves travel management from just looking at cost to review travel as more than just a part of a company resource, and therefore must be treated differently.
The behaviour and re-education of employees has become a key science in some of the big companies. But it's not just travel; they will need to rethink how work, tasks, projects, sales, account management and administration will be handled in the future. The areas companies will look at include
- Human resource in a global and diverse world with constant change in job description
- Technology including new communication channels, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robots and rethinking processes
- Metadata
- CSR including safety in general from securing buildings to protect employees away from their workplace
How to rethink the future
The only way to eat an elephant is bit by bit; the same applies in any organisation. You need to involve HR, IT, stakeholders, project managers, management and travellers in the process and firstly consider how to approach employees being away from the normal workplace in the future.
The cost of working away from the normal workplace is an expensive exercise including direct cost but even more importantly waste of time, indirect cost of the hours away from home and administration. The total investment is usually three times the direct cost and includes a lot of wasted time.
The return on investment can be very high where it brings in the orders and the work the customer pays for but on the other hand arranging internal meetings just for an update is a very expensive exercise. In between many tasks, physical work, brainstorming, HR work and a lot of different needs to be fulfilled.
I love the words WHY and WHAT; the process starts with these words.
- Why do you need to meet?
- Why do you need to be away from your workplace?
- Why do you need to meet physical face to face instead of using other communication channels?
- What is the purpose of the meeting?
- What is the ROI on the investment?
- What do you need on the trip?
Think about behaviour together with travel. Do not send the introvert to a new country or customer unless it is the expert talking to other experts. Send the extrovert instead and let the introvert expert support from home, using calendars etc to show where you are and for how long. Use the time away best possible for the company.
When returning travellers should be encouraged to show interest not just in the purpose but also how the trip went and if sharing experience can help the company and the traveller.
Look out for your people
Travelling is a tough business and is felt both physical and mentally. It applies for all transport to a destination. Listen to traveller needs and experiences while ensuring return on investment; good people are difficult and expensive to replace.
These days there are a number of solutions to gather most data, from the big players like SAP Concur to simple and easy to use processes that gather data and load into Excel.
What will your management wish to know?
- The return on investment direct and indirect by having employees on the road
- How this helps the company short and long term
- The satisfaction of the people on the road. Do they feel fairly treated?
- Customer and supplier satisfaction and quality delivered
- The total time invested including wasted time
- Transparency and relevant KPI
What could be relevant benchmark and KPIs to management?
Here are some examples:
- Travel and entertainment total cost as a percentage of company total cost
- The total number of hours spent on meetings away from workplace as a percentage of total hours
- Create an overview of hours in meetings and add financial value ie hourly cost of people participating versus financial outcome. Do the same with travel
- Use short surveys to measure the satisfaction of the travellers after return
Individual companies will find the solution and information relevant precisely to themselves and in turn it will help them make good decisions.
How will intermediaries, suppliers, consultants and technology companies match this?
I believe new alliances and companies will emerge and offer platforms able to deliver in depth knowledge: from creating new KPIs to better and qualified advice on a large range of services from safety to surveys. On top of this there will be new ways of reading and mining data with results helping companies to make more qualified decisions.
The key to success is to help companies get an overview of the soft part of their investments relating to the human factor. Human behaviour is a complex science and difficult to manage; this is where companies will be most happy to receive external help.
Any intermediary needs to win over both the company (customer) and the traveller. Knowing your traveller helps the strategy with your TMC. If the traveller always departs at 0600 in the morning, do not offer a cheaper flight at 1000. Know where and how they plan to stay whether a boutique hotel, five-star or even private lodging, and know if they are allergic or need special food. Make travellers aware that you know; most trips are booked online or via mail and this makes face to face or verbal contact even more important. Show them you care — not just before but during the trip too.
Internally, be proactive and contact intermediaries and stakeholders if you see differences in patterns or new destinations. Data should be available to you now and not in 4-8 weeks.
It's time to be dynamic and proactive without pushing.