Business travel is an indispensable part of the private economy, as face-to-face meetings can reliably secure sales and partnerships in a way that no Zoom meeting really ever could. Business travel can be complicated to manage, though – and HR policy plays a more important part than may initially be apparent. The following represents a number of crucial considerations to help you prioritize employee wellbeing on a business trip.
Is the Trip Necessary?
This is a vital, if broad, question to ask about any upcoming or potential business excursion. Trips can become quite costly to the business very quickly, and if there are no measurable benefits to the trip then it may be in the company’s best interest that it does not go ahead. As well as financial concerns, from an HR perspective, unnecessary trips could breed discontent in non-executive staff, where they would require employees to take valuable time away from their home and families.
Who Goes on the Trip?
Before any concrete arrangements are made regarding the business trip in question, it’s important to define who exactly will be going on it. This feeds into the above question about necessity, as unnecessary attendance could have a knock-on effect on budget and office morale. There are also a number of legal considerations to make, from visas to travel insurance – all of which add up in terms of time and financial cost.
On Travel Policy
It is key for businesses to have a concrete business travel policy and procedure in place, to reduce the cost of administration before each trip and to minimize mistakes made with regard to planning. Such a policy would include contingencies for emergency situations, general rules for employee conduct and instructions for other processes such as visa management.
Safety
Safety is your primary concern as HR when it comes to organizing a business trip; employees and executives are travelling on behalf of the company and could be considered to be under its duty of care. In the case of company CEOs, charter flights may well be necessary for their safety and also their privacy. For non-executive staff trips, commercial travel with adequate travel insurance should suffice, but systems must be in place for emergency eventualities such as cancelled flights.
Expenses
Another important system to put in place for business trips is that of expenses. There are many ways to allocate expenses to employees on a trip, but one way to ensure said trip comes in under budget is to pre-load debit cards with allocated money. This way, you are in direct control of the total trip spend, even ad hoc expenses such as taxis and food.
Resources
Being a business trip, there will be a host of important documents and resources each employee will need to have during the excursion. Creating a comprehensive list of the things they need, and ensuring the relevant staff have those resources available before departure will ensure the success of the trip and prevent any costly emergencies on the other end.
