A New Economy, a New Role for Travel Managers

Technology innovation and the shifting economy are prompting ongoing, significant changes to the field of travel management. There are alternatives to traditional travel, such as virtual office arrangements and temporary or permanent relocation of employees to minimize the disruption of travel.  Companies are also choosing to place employees geographically closer to clients, which increases investments in business driving and decreases commercial air travel spending.

The lines between travel management and other workforce mobility programs are blurring.  A “new normal” is emerging, which focuses less on travel management as a standalone process and more on workforce mobility management which encompasses all programs and policies related to employees working outside of the office.  These changes are encouraging organizations to view their programs and processes differently and adopt a more holistic view of mobile employees to sustain long-term effectiveness, maximize cost savings, and improve employee productivity.

Should travel executives take on a broader role of helping their companies assess multiple mobile workforce options?  What measures are you taking to integrate your travel management programs with the other employee mobility programs in place at your company?

Greg Harper
President
Runzheimer International

Comments

[RamonGustav]

Congratulations! You have so much useful information, write more.

[Tom Caraballo]

What measures are you taking to integrate your travel management programs with the other employee mobility programs in place at your company?

In a recent client interaction with the CAO of a large environmental services organization, this very topic was discussed. The CAO felt the more able we are to account for all costs associated with each trip/client visit, the better his ability to analyze the true cost of sale and develop metrics to measure sales force effectiveness. We have now set forth working with his PeopleSoft platform and our GPS mileage tracking system to either integrate or feed the mileage data to give a holistic representation of his field sales groups activities. This would enable the CAO and his management team to have one place to view all costs associated with each trip.

Tom Caraballo
Account Manager
Runzheimer International