Should You Let Employees Book Their Own Travel?

 

There’s a debate going on when it comes to employee travel right now—should employees be able to book their own travel? When employees are traveling, the work they’re doing is important. Saving money is also important. And there’s a third consideration to be added to that—employee satisfaction.

We’re at a time where employees are in the driver’s seat in many ways, and it’s employers who are struggling to find and keep good talent.

So, with all of these factors coming into the equation, a lot of companies are having the debate of whether or not they should allow employees to self-book their own travel, and in-line with that debate is whether or not unmanaged or managed travel is right for the organization’s needs.

The following are some of the many factors to keep in mind if this is a struggle your organization is currently evaluating.

The Role of Expense Management Automation

If you’re considering self-booking options for employees, be aware that it’s ideal to have automated expense management technology in place. This can actually end up eliminating a lot of the potential issues that come with self-booking.

To provide just one example of how expense management software can change how employees book travel and how they submit their expenses, consider the case of hotel folio itemization. In the past, it could be a huge problem because business travelers hated the idea of going through and manually itemizing everything. It led to errors and more opportunities for fraud, and that small task could create much bigger problems. That could lead employers to reconsider any kind of autonomy in the employee travel and booking process.

Now, however, that has been completely shifted. There are expense automation tools that allow for the relevant data to be extracted from a hotel bill and then line items are created. It’s easy and efficient, but also promotes a sense of accuracy and compliance. It’s technology like this that makes it more realistic and affordable for companies to offer autonomy and self-booking options.

It’s all-in-all a lot easier to offer employees options when they travel if there is a framework in place that manages that, and expense management automation can deliver that framework.

The Benefits of Managed Travel

When considering something like self-booking, you do have to look at the other side of the spectrum which for many large companies is managed travel. Managed travel isn’t without its own set of merits.

For example, there’s a sense of efficiency and organization. In some ways even with managed travel, there may be opportunities to offer employees autonomy.

For example, some travel management companies may have a self-booking portal for employees to use. Of course, it may be more limited than what they would have if they were completely rogue in their booking, but it could be satisfying enough for employees who want to make their own choices.

Other benefits include the fact that this is all travel managers do, so they’re going to know how to save money, and they’re going to have strong existing relationships with potential suppliers. They can also be useful for risk management and duty of care.

The Downsides of Managed Travel

As far as the downsides of managed travel, there is the fact that these programs are expensive. It might be significantly less expensive to have a strong policy, use an expense management system, and then let employees make their own travel choices beyond that.

Employees generally don’t like the idea of managed travel either. The more rules employees feel like they’re subjected to, the more likely they are to rebel and break them.

Finally, employers underestimated the fact that in many cases when left up to do it on their own, employees may just find the best deals. They can search for deals and at the same time travel the way they want to. If employees are guided by a strong policy and an expense management solution that will keep up with overspending, it can become like a game to them to find low-cost flights and accommodations. They’ll also have the added perk of being able to rack up their own points and rewards, which may make them happier to travel.

Employers do have to decide what the right option for them and if self-booking is something that could work, but if employee satisfaction is a big priority, then it might be the right direction to take. If you are going to allow for more freedom in how your employees travel, create a system for communicating what their plans are and ensure they stay in contact while they’re traveling.

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