The Implications of a Harsh Travel Policy

Corporate travel managers and financial stakeholders in budding companies often feel the need to track their employee’s business trip movements mercilessly. The result? Exhausted travelers who are forced to conform to guidelines which may not even be necessary.

When it comes to business expenses, there should be a certain degree of trust put into employees. After all, no one wants to feel like they’re being watched by Big Brother around the clock! While innovations such as travel management apps help companies to track their traveling employees, what happens when companies take it too far?

The Implementation of Strict Travel Policies

75% of American business travelers claim that their employer enforces a strict travel policy, while the majority of their counterparts in other countries claim that their employer’s policy is less strict or clear. The United States, France, and the UK lead the world with the strictest policies, but this doesn’t stop them from breaking the rules sometimes.

While travel management apps are helping corporate travel to be more seamless, overall satisfaction still varies greatly depending on which country you assess. India, for example, has employees who feel very positive about their business travel, citing a great work/life balance and enhanced morale. Some, however, put this down to the recent economic development in the country. Nonetheless, the research indicated that Indian business travelers were more likely to follow their corporate travel policy rules despite their lax nature, perhaps feeling less of a need to “rebel” and “go rogue” due to a frustratingly strict travel policy.

Using Incentives for Corporate Travelers

More companies are incentivizing their employees to make cheaper decisions while abroad, as opposed to milking their company credit card for everything they can. An increasing amount of companies are offering point systems to their traveling employees, which measure how wisely they spend their corporate funds. Many of these systems can be conveniently tracked via travel management apps.

However, although workers from India and Singapore largely enjoy these systems, only 36% of US workers claim that this structure would influence them, making them the least enthusiastic candidates for the system out of everyone who was polled.

It appears that strict corporate policies can be a turn-off for many US-based workers, although it could be said that this is due to cultural differences when compared to Eastern countries. To take your policy compliance and adoption to the next level, consider implementing a travel management app, like Ava. This is Adelman’s proprietary mobile app that lets travelers seamlessly manage and update their travel profile anywhere, anytime. Contact us to learn more about what Ava can do for your business.