Why employee-friendly travel policies are crucial to the bottom line

In the face of new COVID variants, your travel policies must be more flexible, according to an article in Forbes.

With the “Great Resignation” happening at companies across the country, many workers are leaving their jobs to look for positions in more supportive environments. And that includes companies with travel policies that are in line with their needs and comfort levels during the pandemic.

Two-thirds of respondents to a Harvard Business Review survey said they’d be more likely to stay at their old jobs – or accept new ones – at a company that’s strongly focused on their health and well-being in all aspects of their employment.

This means that while cost is still an important consideration, it can’t be the be-all and end-all anymore. You’ll now have to balance the cost of added business travel flexibility with the costs of employee turnover.

Travel policies to consider

Now more than ever, employees are seeing their companies’ T&E policies as an extension of the business’s culture. So they expect the values their companies champion to be present in these policies.

Example: If the top brass values people’s work-life balance, they shouldn’t have travel policies requiring employees to fly out on weekends for business trips. And a company that values productivity also wouldn’t make an employee choose a flight with multiple layovers simply because it’s cheaper.

Not only should your travel policies line up with your company’s mission, policies should also consider people’s general comfort and enjoyment.

Clearly you don’t want employees racking up expenses via five-star restaurants or first-class flights. But it’s key to consider not just the raw costs of travel, but employee satisfaction. And Finance will be the first ones to hear if they aren’t happy with their options.

With that in mind, it may be smart to get together with your A/P team, HR and Payroll to come up with more employee-friendly travel policies.

You could consider:

• allowing employees to take the morning off after a late-night flight
• giving them a broader financial range for certain travel expenses instead of a hard number
• offering them more choices on car rentals (e.g., electric cars/hybrids), or
• allowing them to take PTO during business trips for downtime.