Mobile Workforce Blog

Gain Business Travel Negotiation Power With Benchmarking

The proliferation of data today offers great benefit if it is turned into intelligence.  Fortunately, this intelligence is available to help manage one of the largest discretionary expenses for most corporations: business travel.  Corporations can gain negotiation power with vendors by using cost benchmark information on airfare, hotels, ground transportation, and meals.  Our recent car rental negotiation survey is a strong example of results.  79% of the survey participants indicated actively pursuing negotiations with car rental companies with a savings result of 13 to 30% annually vs. standard car rental rates.  What benchmark data does your organization use and what type of additional information would you like to see tracked?

Greg Harper

President

Runzheimer International

"Group Move" Considerations

As corporations continue to adjust to the new economy, a result has been an increase in mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring.  These changes have produced a growth in relocations, often involving complete departments and groups of employees.  What’s an extremely interesting challenge for human resource leaders is that the growth of these “group moves” comes at a time when employee reluctance to move is at an all time high.   When you factor in high expense and that top talent is often involved in these initiatives, significant risk exists.  Those risks, multiplied when you consider a group move, can include hard costs of up to $1 million for a failed relocation, the loss of key talent, and the inability to complete a key business assignment.   Success today requires a complete business and talent management strategy that outlines objectives, uses the most current geographic data, and defines a support plan for employees.  What new approaches is your company using to maximize relocation investments from a business perspective while supporting employees with a significant personal change? 

 

Greg Harper

President

Runzheimer International

Re-grounding Why Employee Mobility Matters

Over the last several weeks, I have been fortunate to meet with a number of different firms on the topic of Employee Mobility. These discussions have continued to illuminate the fact that this is indeed a strategic topic for leading companies and it is great to see the progress being made. There are some great examples emerging of companies making this a strategic priority and seeing wonderful outcomes. There is no question that all of us are expected to do more with less. This is true in virtually every company. At the same time, we need to think strategically and understand the leverage and connection points in our businesses. Employee Mobility impacts every aspect of a company. Ranging from device management, to business driving, to various modes of travel and relocation – mobility is on the rise. Companies that are emerging stronger have been able to think strategically internally and externally in order to make great decisions to impact their business and help their customers. Opportunities for greater outcomes related to cost savings, satisfaction and corporate agility abound in the area of employee mobility.

It is great to see this topic continue to gain momentum in leading companies – is your firm truly leveraging opportunities for greater Employee Mobility methods, policies and practices?

Greg Harper
President
Runzheimer International

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

Quality and Accuracy

Someone commented to me the other day that if given a choice the quality of information/data is far more important than the speed of producing the output.  We are all continuing to adapt to ever increasing expectations for speed.  We spend time working on ways to make information available in real time – this is generally a good thing.  As the conversation went further it made me also realize that we all continue to take quality for granted in our ever increasing quest for speed.  The news has been filled lately with a couple extremely high profile items related to quality.  In a couple cases that come to mind, some folks may have been guilty of making a trade-off for speed vs. quality.  In the end, this is very costly.  We look for efficiency and need to be careful we do not take quality for granted.  The news of late is a great reminder for this. 

In our business, we all want increased speed for responsiveness.  We also cannot forget the critical point that the efficiency increases need to be predicated on precision and quality processes.

Greg Harper

President

Runzheimer International

The Weather and Employee Mobility

A number of areas throughout the country have been hit with significant snowfall and other weather related situations of late.  As children, many of us can recall going off to bed and hoping for the celebrated “snow day” only to wake up to the news that school was indeed still going to occur.  On certain special days however, the wish was granted!  Fast forward to now…we still see snow days.  In fact, when these occur you can often catch media coverage of how even without school occurring everyone knew to show up at a certain time for the special snow ball dual (the proliferation of social media has something to do with this).  Communication has improved greatly to help us all deal with weather related issues:  we get text alerts if our kids’ school is closed or delayed; you can get up to the minute updates about flight status’ pushed to you anywhere; and we can better predict drive times and plan accordingly.  The cancellations of late remind us all that for many roles, even if you can’t get to the office, your work can still get accomplished.  The ability to work virtually can help many companies with business continuity.  For some roles, this can lead to no drop in productivity even though many cannot get to the office (if indeed you originally needed to).  The ability to work virtually paid off huge for many companies in the past week.  I heard many stories about folks who were able to still service clients, advance projects and get work tasks completed with no issues while unable to get to the office because they had solid continuity processes and tools in place.   

All business can be affected in some way by inclement weather.  The ability to work virtually for business continuity reasons played out greatly for many companies and employees who were able to work virtually.  Has this affected your business and how did things go?

Greg Harper

President

Runzheimer International

Emerge Stronger

The last 18 months have been challenging for most firms, yet recent data suggests that over 50% of the current Fortune 500 companies were actually founded in down economic periods.  In a nutshell, these firms innovated, found opportunity to do things a better way and forged new directions.  It is not enough to simply wait for things to generally improve – they won’t.  A lot of great material is being posted about “the new normal”.  Business conditions have profoundly changed and this is not simply a cycle.  There are great opportunities out there for companies to chart a new course and find better ways.  The first step in that process is to understand the current state (what is really going on).  We continue to see a number of companies that are failing to see the opportunity for cost reductions, reduced risk, capital preservation and greater employee benefits that can be realized through more effective mobility management programs.  These are not difficult to find, it simply requires initiative and someone to champion a change.  The results can be tremendous and it is great to see how many companies are embracing the new normal.

 

We are also seeing wonderful advances in technology which will help improve the reporting and substantiation processes.  These advances will have tremendous time savings for mobile employees and also ensure greater accuracy of information provided….all at your fingertips.  What steps have you seen or has your organization taken to emerge stronger?  

 

Greg Harper

President

Runzheimer International

 

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Virtual Office Policy Limits Liability

Significant advances in technology and communication over the past decade have made the concept of the virtual office much more attractive and practical to companies facing complex human resource and logistical challenges.  This is not a passing fad – it is a wave that is here to stay.  Mobile technology and related virtual office expense categories are gaining scrutiny as organizations attempt to capture, understand, and better control this area of spend.  As companies adopt more virtual office approaches, they are faced with the need to establish standards and policies in order to treat employees fairly, manage a growing expenditure, benefit the most out of their investment, and limit liability. 

 

Despite the fact that in today’s cost-cutting economy many organizations are examining their virtual office and mobile device expenses with more effort and energy than ever before, it is staggering how few organizations actually have a documented and understood policy on the topic.  Without this, each work group is left to makes its own decisions which will lead to inconsistency and lack of sharing of best practices.  What steps has your organization taken to limit liability and increase the effectiveness of your virtual office workers?  

 

Greg Harper

President

Runzheimer International

The Economic Horizon of the Automotive Industry: Driving Big Changes

They say 9 out of 10 conversations you have with someone in person will eventually include observations about the weather.  The same is almost certainly true when you have a conversation about mobility, but instead of weather, many times you end up talking about cars.  The automotive industry is undergoing a permanent, significant change right at this very moment. 

 

Fisker Automotive recently acquired the Wilmington, DE plant from General Motors to produce a new line of plug-in hybrid automobiles.  Fisker enters this market without the costs or burdens of having to retool an entire assembly line, fund billions in pension obligations, or re-shape a culture with a preordained-sense of “this is how we’ve always done it.”  Fisker, in partnership with Quantum Technologies is building a beautifully styled hybrid automobile on an entirely new drive train platform.  Their initial offering (the Karma) is a luxury automobile with a number of notable performance characteristics.  The California-based Tesla Motors company has achieved buzz in the industry for its super-high performance all-electric Tesla Roadster, outperforming gasoline-powered sports cars by a significant margin at a similar price point.  Both Tesla and Fisker’s products erase conventional wisdom about “miles per gallon”, carbon emissions that exacerbate the growth of greenhouse gases, manufacturing profitability on a small scale, and “alt-fuel” cars that look like high school science projects.  They have broken through.  Meanwhile, Chrysler’s new owner recently released its five-year plan for the organization.  Included in their strategic view was the American introduction of smaller, more fuel efficient Fiat 500’s to the domestic line-up while other legacy models are retired or retooled.  

 

These are some great examples of where true innovation is occurring in a challenged industry.  In your mobility conversations are you supporting new ways of thinking?

 

Greg Harper

President

Runzheimer International

Why employee mobility matters (more than ever)

Most companies are talking about the need for change based on external conditions, yet they are not changing fast enough to address gaps and capitalize on opportunities.  Investing in effective employee mobility programs can show a wonderful return.  It is also an investment in your most important asset – your employees.  Fifty-one percent of the workforce is mobile on any given day, which has increased 31% since just 2006.  Investments in mobile workforce programs have also continued to rise.  Your mobile workforce programs offer a great opportunity for change, from agility to optimal business support that gets people to the right place at the right time.  In a world of change, mobility matters in organizations more than ever.  How are you taking advantage of mobility to drive change? 

 

Greg Harper

President

Runzheimer International