Source: SAP Concur Newsroom

Tripkicks, an SAP Concur App Center Partner, shares industry insights from the ProcureCon Travel Conference

Your travel policy says a lot about your corporate culture

36% of hiring managers report that candidates are asking for a copy of a company’s travel policy. Why is that? Well, much of the workforce, which is trending to 50% millennials who view business travel as a perk, or at least an expectation, want to see how they’ll be treated. Also, savvy job-seekers have found that a travel policy says a lot about the corporate culture. Does the company trust its employees to make good decisions? Does it prioritize the traveler’s well-being?

Revising travel policy takes a village (or at least many stakeholders)

While the group agreed that a lot of great resources exist for benchmarking and researching new trends and policy decisions, the process of actually revising the policy is still incredibly cumbersome. Ownership is often shared across many different (passionate) stakeholder groups. Today, most organizations are aimed at shortening or simplifying the policy, and the approval process presents a major and daunting roadblock. Companies who have had some successes here (think: less frustration!) have leveraged technology for a coordinated review and sign-off process across stakeholders. Technology is also used to share policy updates with travelers.

Bleisure: A secret benefit?

75% of business travelers took a bleisure trip last year and that number is only increasing. Despite the popularity, many travel managers still do not address it in the policy. Sure, they approve it (provided that no personal expenses make their way onto expense reports), but they do not specifically call it out in their policy. We can’t help but think, is this a missed opportunity for programs trying to become more traveler-centric? With just a quick mention and some bullet-point guidelines, companies can create goodwill with travelers, and mitigate risk.

Take baby steps towards home-sharing

With 79% of travelers preferring ride share, travel managers have widely embraced it in their corporate programs with few seeing major risks beyond traditional taxi providers. When it comes to home-sharing, all agree that more risks are present (the key/access process being a significant one). But many are warming up and even taking baby steps. While some millennial-driven companies integrated home-sharing content into their OBT, more cautious companies can allow it specifically for longer-trips, or have a process where the request and property are reviewed/vetted by corporate security prior to booking.