It’sTime to Take the Wheel.

When the flight attendant comes on the intercom and asks if anyone knows how to fly the plane, it’s usually best to let somebody else raise their hand. But when your travel program is floundering with outdated policies, evolving expectations, and nosediving budgets, it’s up to you to grab the helm.  

Yes, that’s a hefty responsibility, but let’s not get nervous and wait for some other passenger or peer in your company to steer things right again. Let’s instead look at this as your time to shine. The spotlight that’s pointing at you (and highlighting all the wildly unpredictable changes in corporate travel) creates an opportunity to rethink and reshape your entire travel program. It is a chance for you to build what your business and your travelers demand.  

It is a moment – the moment – for you to lead. 

So… Where do you go? And because those lining up behind you might ask: How do you get there?  

These are good questions, and we could spend months on the answers. In fact, you probably will as you revise and roll out your updated travel program. But for now, let’s take a quick look at four key pillars to build into your program – and a webinar essential to knowing where travel is headed next.  

The webinar, Exploring Impactful Trends in Travel, goes straight to the list of things that are likely keeping you up at night. Things like increasing costs, staffing shortages, and other travel-industry challenges guaranteed to impact your T&E program. After a healthy discussion of what’s going on, the keynotes address the top two trends in travel today:  

1. The Rise of Traveler Expectations

2. The Great Reshuffle (hybrid work, virtual travel, supplier costs, etc.) 

We could go into great detail here, too, about travelers’ desires to get back out there again, and how “work from home” has become “work from anywhere,” which increases the burden on your travel budget. But if you watch the webinar, your questions will get answers.  

Now, as you begin to think about rethinking your travel program, think about these four pillars proven to support effective travel: Flexibility, Sustainability, Safety, and unsurprisingly, Return On Investment.  

One: If you’re running a rigid system in an era defined by undeniable unpredictability and that demands flexibility, your program is going to stay on the ground. You need a way to immediately adapt to changing regulations, surprise mandates, and suppliers pulling the rug out from under you. You’ll also want a way to do it all while giving your travelers (and, of course, the C-Suite) more choices and more control.  

Two: Sustainability has never been a bigger topic, so instead of talking about it, act on it. Give travelers a clear and simple way to choose suppliers that match your company’s sustainability goals. Make it easy to take a train when it’s a better option than booking a flight. Stay in hotels that have strong environmental ratings. And build it all into your program from the beginning.  

Three: The pandemic scared everyone, and even though people are itching to hit the road again, they’re unwilling to throw caution to the wind. Your program must help travelers make safe, smart choices – like sharing COVID-19 protocols for their destination – and showing them neighborhood safety scores when they’re selecting a hotel. Keep your travelers safe, and you keep them happy. And that makes it far easier to keep them, period.  

Four: It’s always a good idea to demonstrate that your travel budget is a good investment. So look for ways to illustrate which trips are essential and what kind of ROI to expect.  Use tools that help dissect your spending, so you can see (and then show) how your organization’s investment in travel is paying off. And give the other leaders in your company the clarity and confidence to continually reinvest.  

Reshaping travel in your company isn’t like landing an aircraft, but to be honest, it might feel that way. Either way, it’s time to take the wheel of your program and start steering it in the right direction. This really is a moment to lead, and no one is more qualified than you.  

And again, take a peek at that webinar to get started.