Travel Risk Management and Duty of Care
Duty of Care and Travel Risk Management are More Important than Ever
The global coronavirus pandemic has made real what had for so many years been an abstract risk for companies with international business travelers: A new virus appeared in a remote location and quickly began to spread. Local and national governments reacted with emergency measures, including border closures. Employees out on business trips suddenly realized that international flights were cut, freedom of movement was curtailed, and in some worst-case scenarios, travelers discovered they were to be placed in quarantine in a foreign country or perhaps even needed medical attention themselves.
Our shared human experience during this crisis shows us why it is now more important than ever to put a managed travel program in place that prepares us for global emergencies before they undoubtedly happen again.
For most businesses, employee travel plays a critical role in achieving their goals. Yet as we’ve seen with the recent COVID-19 crisis, traveling for business inherently carries a certain amount of risk. As soon as one of your employees gets in the transfer to the airport the risk of natural disaster, medical emergency, or geopolitical event suddenly has the potential to affect their life.
As businesses move past the current COVID-19 crisis, it will be more important than ever before that they create a plan to manage risk and provide care for employees.
Global Crises Require a Thoughtful Approach to Duty of Care and Travel Risk Management
When disaster strikes, businesses quickly discover if they have implemented the right policies to establish lines of responsibility, make decisions quickly, efficiently locate their travelers, and keep them equipped with the latest information to deal with the crisis.
Unfortunately, many companies find that they are underprepared. In a survey conducted before the COVID-19 crisis by SAP Concur, large percentages of companies reported notable gaps in their duty of care and employee traveler risk management programs. The survey found that:
A quarter of the companies surveyed do not keep accurate employee records
Nearly half said they did not have visibility across all of the business travel occurring under their watch; and
The majority admitted they had no idea how to extract employees from an international emergency situation.
The call to action should now be crystal clear: Your company should know where employees are when they travel for business, and your employees should be equipped and informed to deal with emergencies when they happen.
CI Azumano offers this eBook as a source of information for research and planning as you re-examine your Duty of Care policies.
Duty of Care & Travel Risk Management are now a Priority for Every Business
To begin to get your head around Duty of Care and Travel Risk Management, it is important to establish a common definition of those terms.
Duty of Care represents the moral and legal obligation that your company faces to take responsibility for employee traveler safety and to provide a credible plan and the approach to doing so. In our post-COVID world, your company’s Duty of Care policy will no doubt be an important driver of employee satisfaction, and may increasingly be seen as “table stakes” for recruiting top talent.
Travel Risk Management represents the specific plan your company will implement, maintain and communicate (proactively and consistently) to your employees.
Take the first step by building the right cross-functional team: Addressing your Duty of Care policy and building your Travel Risk Management plan may seem daunting, but this isn’t something you have to do on your own. A Duty of Care policy and a plan for Travel Risk Management should be designed by a cross-functional team of employee stakeholders across Finance, Legal, Human Resources, Security, and the corporate travel manager.
Additionally, third parties, such as Travel Management Companies (TMCs) like CI Azumano, as well as medical and travel security firms bring much-needed expertise for planning and coordination.
Keep going by leveraging global best practices to build the right plan:
Build a travel policy with proper decision-making authority: Develop a travel policy for your employees that clearly establishes the decision-making process and ownership for determining when an emergency requires company intervention.
Be aware of the risks related to your top business travel destinations: Leverage resources like the US State Department to stay on top of travel advisories and warnings. These advisories can help you anticipate your needs in the case of a medical, political, or environmental emergency.
Leverage 3rd party expertise and technology to create visibility and communication under a managed travel program: Build partnerships around service and technology providers to track traveler bookings; get easy access to reporting and expense data; leverage mobile apps to ensure immediate two-way communication between the traveler and their travel advisor 24x7x365.
Ensure your employees are current on proper documentation and keep a copy in the cloud: Are you keeping track of employee passports and verifying that their passport is valid for more than six months? Also, consider keeping document copies in a secure, encrypted cloud-based storage profile service so that your employees can access their documents anywhere in the world.
Establish exit plans for challenging situations: Proactively plan for getting employees home safely. You may do this yourself, or work with your TMC or Global Security partner to determine the best way to extract travelers from trouble situations.
Selected a respected and recognized TMC: Travel Management companies have established critical relationships with air, car, hotel & technology suppliers that provide faster channels for problem resolution. An experienced travel counselor leverages their knowledge and access to make decisions quickly and efficiently to help travelers navigate the most challenging situations.
Conclusion
Recent events have shown us all that Duty of Care and Travel Risk Management are now more important than ever for companies and their business travelers. Your top talent will expect that your company has a detailed plan and a commitment to keeping them safe while they are out creating value for your company. Making that commitment and putting that plan together will require a significant collaborative effort, but the return on investment is priceless.
Developing the right partnerships will be critical to your success. As we mentioned above, securing the right third-party partnerships is essential for building a solid Duty of Care and Travel Risk Management plan. A great TMC partner with demonstrated experience in managing through crises can assist you with your Duty of Care and Travel Risk Management plan.
CI Azumano Business Travel has a fifty-year track record servicing Fortune 1000 companies and the US Government. As an Elite Concur Partner, CI Azumano is part of a select group of TMCs supporting the world’s most popular and powerful online and mobile travel booking management platform. We also integrate with international travel security firms like International SOS and Worldaware. Reach out to us to learn more about how CI Azumano Business Travel can help you protect your travelers with the top-level service and support they deserve.
CI Azumano Business Travel is your complete resource for travel management. Our strategic blend of people and technology empowers companies to maximize ROI on every aspect of travel. At CI Azumano, we combine our in-depth travel industry knowledge with a steadfast commitment to customer service to deliver innovative business travel solutions.