The subject regularly comes up: the lack of clarity in expense reimbursement policies and its consequences. At the forefront of this issue, SAP Concur reveals the results of a new study. With problematic findings, for both the company and business travellers.
Naturally, fraud does not escape SAP Concur’s radar. According to the travel and expense (T&E) specialist, one in two business travellers (50 %) admits to having circumvented their company’s travel expense policies at least once in their career. In more detail, SAP Concur highlights several instances of inappropriate behaviour: using corporate discounts to book personal travel (17%), unauthorised ‘bleisure’ – meaning extending a business trip without taking holiday leave or informing one’s manager – (14%), or even the use of company funds for personal expenses (13%).
According to SAP Concur, these behaviours differ across generations. Whilst a third of baby boomers (32%) and 37 % of members of that generation admit to breaking the rules, the figure rises to 55 % for Generations Y and Z.
Business travellers who bend the rules are never short of ‘reasons’ to explain their deviations from the norm. First and foremost is the excessive flexibility of reimbursement policies, which, according to 50% of those surveyed, makes it easy to justify most expenses. For 15% of business travellers, these breaches of the rules represent a form of compensation for salaries they consider insufficient. And for a similar proportion (14%), a lack of loyalty to the company is said to be the cause. Finally, 13% of those surveyed believe that cheating is normal… because ‘everyone does it’.
Expense anxiety and a culture of mutual trust
But fraud is not the only problem highlighted by SAP Concur in this study. According to the T&E giant, a quarter of employees prefer not to claim certain legitimate expenses, “for fear of attracting attention”. This phenomenon – referred to here as ‘expense anxiety’ – takes several forms: 18 % of employees fear being labelled as ‘spendthrifts’. And 19 % of those surveyed do not want to give the impression that they are spending more than their colleagues.
Faced with this problematic behaviour, SAP Concur urges a move out of the grey area, by clarifying the rules: " As an employer, you want to trust your staff to follow the rules. But vague guidelines leave room for interpretation, and delegating the responsibility of interpreting these rules to your employees can, in reality, generate genuine anxiety regarding expenses. » analyses Romain Delcroix, Head of SAP Concur France. He continues: « Companies must clarify their policies and integrate transparent safeguards directly into T&E management processes, to create a common understanding of what is covered – so that every employee feels legitimate in declaring their actual expenses. This is how a culture of mutual trust is re-established: compliance stems more naturally from a successful employee experience. ".
