5 Ways Small & Midsize Cos. Can Keep Travelers Safer

Many small and midsize companies prioritize traveler safety
over savings when building travel management objectives, according to survey
results of 299 U.S.-based SMEs released last month by midsize travel management
specialist Corporate Traveler and business travel trade group the Global
Business Travel Association. Forty percent of those respondents put the most
emphasis on traveler safety, while just 20 percent said cost control was their
overarching objective. This, despite the fact that a 63 percent majority cited
travel costs as their most acute pain point. 
 

But why, you ask?

Adverse traveler safety incidents cost companies significant
time and money, and—when the incident is serious—reputational risk comes along
with it. Not every incident is major, but accidents and disruptions that happen
away from home come with increased risks and uncertainties, especially when
there is a physical threat or health issue involved. 

High-profile incidents like business travelers getting
stranded by natural disasters or caught up in geopolitical crises can grab
headlines. More commonly, however, travelers are involved in traffic accidents,
leave home without critical medications, lose travel documentation or take a nasty
fall. No matter where safety incidents sit on the risk spectrum, companies—including
small and midsize businesses—have a duty of care to their traveling employees
and should be committed to keeping them healthy and productive.

That said, small and midsize companies rarely have robust
corporate security departments waiting to collaborate with a travel manager or
travel administrator, and travel risk management funds may be hard to come by. Doing
something, even if it is not comprehensive, is always better than doing nothing
when it comes to traveler safety. 

In that spirit, here are five ways to improve business
traveler safety at your small or midsize business: 

1. Designate a Booking Channel. Whether
   you take leap and partner with a corporate travel agency or go with a first-step
   online booking provider like Booking.com for Business, Amtrav or TravelBank
   (and there are many others), designating a booking channel is the first step
   toward gathering the majority of travel bookings into one place. Granted,
   you’ll need to have a booking policy and an awareness campaign to get employees
   on board. Start early with this—educate them as part of the new-hire
   orientation process. 

2. Communicate & Educate. Make
   safety front and center of your program by creating a business travel tips
   campaign, whether it’s distributed through an email newsletter, a company webinar
   or an ongoing travel Slack channel. Some companies have created travel safety
   chatbots with answers to real-life travel challenges. At the most fundamental,
   do your travelers know who to call if they experience an emergency while on the
   road? Basic traveler safety tips like discouraging late-night arrivals, reminding
   travelers not to leave luggage in a car, to park near entrances and exits and never
   to announce their hotel room number in a crowd can be eye-openers to travel
   novices. International travelers, in particular, may need to research their
   destination markets, understand viable ground transportation routes, read some
   local news before departure and remember to take digital and printed copies of
   travel documents.
3. Understand What You Already Have. If
   you are working with a travel management company or travel agency, find out
   what traveler safety support you have access to. Traveler location dashboards or
   traveler safety alerts via a mobile app might be built into your deal. There also
   are some new programs specifically for small- and midsize companies from
   long-standing travel risk management providers like International SOS and
   WorldAware. If you have a business case to access those programs, build it and
   get the funds. But if you don’t, there are still resources at hand. Dig into
   your company’s insurance provider to understand medical coverage for traveling
   employees. What contacts and procedures are in place? Make sure employees have
   that info. 
4. Expect the Unexpected. What about
   your company’s response to a travel emergency? Is there a protocol in place, and
   who is involved aside from the travel administrator? For small and midsize
   companies, an immediate supervisor might be the first point of contact for a
   non-urgent issue, but real emergencies can be very dynamic situations and won’t
   be handled by a single person. Who else in the organization should offer support?
   Human resources is a good start. Legal support also might be required. What
   about IT? If there is a security team, they definitely should be involved. Work
   with these stakeholders to create an emergency response plan and consider
   scenarios: car accidents, medical crisis, kidnapping or active shooter, natural
   disaster, cybersecurity or stolen company laptops. As a thought exercise, use
   close-call events as a guide. What “could have” happened in previous
   situations?

5. Pull Together a Policy—Now. Voices around
   travel risk can get shrill, but you shouldn’t ignore the fact that the more
   travel required for a business, the more it opens up a risk horizon for
   employees and the organization. A travel administrator needs to address the
   impact on both fronts via a travel safety policy. Some classic dos and don’ts
   include limiting the number of executives that travel together on the same
   plane or train. Limiting who and where travelers are able to rent cars versus
   hiring a black car or using designated ground transportation options. Banning
   certain travel suppliers that the company deems as unsafe. Newer considerations
   include IT protocols for travelers to protect against information theft. Also, limiting
   red-eye flights for the well-being of travelers, or adding a layer of safety
   recommendations for female, LGBTQ+ or other groups who may be exposed to
   additional travel risk while on the road.