Employee Needs Have Changed. Has Your Travel and Expense Program?

For travel and expense (T&E) programs and policies to work, they must take employee needs and real-life experiences into account. Just when some organizations thought they had these elements aligned, the pandemic hit and the world changed, causing dramatic shifts in employees’ needs, behavior, spending patterns, and expectations. For example, many employees who used to stay in hotels started booking apartments or vacation rentals. Some employees who used to only travel for business began extending their business trips with a personal vacation either before or afterward, since they could work from anywhere.

All of these changes can create significant gaps between your organization’s T&E program and your employees’ real-life needs and experiences. But, if you take the time to listen to your employees, you can quickly identify and understand the reasons behind their decisions and close those gaps.

Below are five easy ways to do that:

1. Gather employee sentiment data. Employee sentiment is a relatively new term, but it essentially refers to how your employees think and feel about your organization and their experiences. It’s the vital information your organization needs to understand your employees’ views, challenges, and experiences. Some of the best ways to gather employee sentiment data about their on-trip experiences and needs throughout the T&E lifecycle include: using a technology solution to regularly collect employee opinions and feedback, conducting a formal survey, and discussing in focus groups, managerial meetings, and performance reviews.  
2. Measure employee sentiment. Whenever changes happen, as they inevitably will, it’s important to know how your employees feel about those changes. By measuring and tracking employee sentiment over time—by team, department, or even your entire organization—and reviewing the data, you’ll be more aware of what’s going on in your organization so you can quickly identify and address any issues and proactively respond to important trends.
3. Combine employee sentiment and operational data. This will help you figure out what’s working and not working in your T&E program—and why. It will also give you the critical insights you need into your organization’s spending habits and patterns. It will also enable you to identify potential risks in your program, and uncover reasons for variance in your most important spend categories.
4. Assess how travel policies impact employee sentiment. Your organization’s travel policies aren’t meant to be static. Instead, they should change and evolve over time to keep up with organizational, employee, and typical life changes. Thus, it’s important to know and understand how your organization’s policies are impacting employee sentiment, well-being, productivity, and attrition risk so you can modify and update your policies accordingly.
5. Use the data to improve your T&E program. Review and analyze all the data and create an action plan to improve your program. This will help your organization bridge the gap between your employees’ expectations of your T&E program and their real-world experiences. It will also enable you to improve compliance, cost efficiency, and duty of care, while better managing and controlling spending across your organization. What’s more, when your employees see that your organization uses their feedback to improve their experience, they will feel heard and valued, encouraging even more communication in the future.

Business travel has changed and getting the employee experience right has become a lot more complicated than it used to be. And that’s why, if your organization hasn’t assessed and recalibrated your T&E program in a while, it’s a great time to start.

Learn more about how to assess changing employee preferences, expectations, and experiences by visiting us online.