Once you have taken your corporate culture and traveller needs into account, devise or tailor your policy accordingly.

In previous articles in this series, we have emphasized the need to be clear and concise in the text and avoid unnecessary ambiguity. Again, when looking to strike the right balance, the clarity of your communication and the breadth of your policy content will go a long way to helping you achieve programme success.

Another point we have covered has been control. The first step to effective control is ensuring senior management support the policy.

This can be done in many ways including written endorsement of your policy, in general company communication when the policy is released or in cascaded messaging.

Another critical aspect of control is managing the policy in terms of how out-of-policy behaviour and spending is addressed.

There are several options to consider, some of the more widespread of which include:

Pre-trip approval

Post-trip auditing

Penalizing the department for out- of-policy spending. For example: Deducting the cost incurred due to out-of-policy spending to the individual department's travel budget.

Penalizing the individual employee by striking a mark against their performance

Again, whichever option is chosen, it should link into the organization's corporate culture and must be supported by senior management.

Communication is the key

Your policy not only needs to be clear and concise, it needs to be effectively communicated across the organization. Such communication would include:

Presentation of the important aspects of the policy to department leaders, travellers, travel arrangers and your TMCs.

Copies of, or access to, the policy given to all critical stakeholders

Explanation of why the policy has been devised the way it has. This is very important as absence of rationale causes suspicion and dissent amongst stakeholders and can sabotage the success of your programme. You will always get more support and buy-in when sharing with your audience the intent reasoning of the policy, and the robust process undertaken to arrive at its finished state.

Ensure your audience acknowledges what you have communicated and apply the same approach to any changes/updates.

In conclusion, striking the right balance between traveller experience and company policy should be based on one overriding principle: Determine what is fair and reasonable for both the organization and its people. Costs aren't foregone unless savings are realized. It is not enough to merely identify savings opportunities.

Travel managers must manage a programme that delivers the savings promise, and that requires co-operation with stakeholders in order to find the right balance for your organization. Only then will organizations realize the maximum benefit for their travel investment.

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