Travel policy and what to put in it

It’s true to say, many businesses pay lip service to having a travel policy.

By Steve Hall, director, Mint Business Travel.

They’ve been told they should have one so they create one without much thought to the overall aim.

Is it to save money? Or improve the overall travel experience of employees so they don’t mind going on business trips? Is it to keep them safe while they are travelling? Or is it a combination of all these things?

Step 1 is to understand why you are creating a travel policy so define the objective.

The next step is to understand the elements you want to include within a travel policy.

Bookings

How do I book Flights/ Rail/ Hotels? What extras can I include on the booking? Class of travel/ newspapers/ meals etc. During the Business Trip Client entertaining/ accepting hospitality/ Own food & drinks What can I claim for? Taxis/ Coffee What do I do in the event of an incident in the area I am travelling? Post Trip How do I claim my expenses? How do I let you know how satisfied I was with the trip? Step 2 Create the Policy Document

90% of information is transmitted to the brain visually so why not create the policy in as visual format as possible using infographics / Powerpoint Presentations / Videos.

Clearly there is going to have to be words but why not use process charts using colours to represent different aspects of the policy. Next time we’ll talk about the best ways to implement travel policies to ensure that employees understand and use it.