The extra effort that travel managers have put in over the last couple of years has resulted in a greater appreciation of their role and a higher profile within companies.
With that increase in importance, of course, has come increased scrutiny—especially now, when travel managers are under greater pressure than ever to get employees back on the road while keeping travel costs under control.
And costs are only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to measuring the success of a travel program. Coming out on top in this ever-evolving endeavor requires a commitment to keeping tabs on a range of measurable results.
Get all of the specifics on how to accomplish this important goal in the BTN Group report, 5 Success Metrics for Proactive Travel Managers to Watch. Here’s where to begin.
While the global travel market recovers from the pandemic, the rapid pace of inflation has led to increased costs across the board. What’s also rising, of course, is employees’ pent-up demand to get back on the road.
As stated in the BTN Group report, “There has been a surge in face-to-face meetings between employees in the first half of the year, as organizations struggle to rebuild trust, connections, teamwork, and corporate culture in a business environment where hybrid and remote work patterns are now entrenched.”
Balancing this increased demand with new budget restraints makes the travel manager’s job more challenging. Fortunately, a number of tools in modern travel management solutions can help them keep costs down by:
Want to know more ways to rein in travel costs? Download the BTN Group report: 5 Success Metrics for Proactive Travel Managers to Watch Now.
With the volume of business trips picking up, the more generalized and less easily defined category of traveler well-being is emerging as an important metric for travel managers to monitor.
Among the advice in the BTN Group report: “Travel managers can track traveler patterns as an effective way of measuring one aspect of employee well-being. For road warriors in particular, these metrics can focus on patterns that create stress, including frequency of one-day flights, overnights, and red eyes, as well as overall frequency of travel.”
Travel managers can also use these metrics to initiate a check-in conversation with travelers and better understand how they’re handling the stresses of being on the road. That could result in a follow-up with HR if a recommendation for time off or some other form of support is appropriate.
In addition, companies are exploring options from travel suppliers to facilitate adding vacation days to a business trip while ensuring the necessary separation of business travel and personal costs.
How can you ensure the well-being of travelers? Download the BTN Group report: 5 Success Metrics for Proactive Travel Managers to Watch Now.
Another way that companies are working to alleviate the stress of business travel for everyone involved is to automate the expense and reimbursement process as much as possible.
According to the BTN Group report, “Integrated solutions—some that use artificial intelligence—can significantly reduce the time employees spend entering and reconciling data; they also help uncover errors and even potential fraud.”
The fact is, when expenses are automatically approved, everyone gets more time back. Travelers are spared the burden of filling out manual expense reports, managers don’t have to track employees down to get more information on charges, and finance teams spend far less time on monthly reconciliation. Everyone can focus on bigger-picture goals.
And that’s a win-win for all travel programs.
Get all the metrics and learn even more about their importance by downloading the BTN Group report, 5 Success Metrics for Proactive Travel Managers to Watch Now.