The big names on the Paris stock exchange have introduced a travel policy. Reducing the costs generated by business travel is now part of an overall strategy to optimise non-production purchases.<\/p>\n
This concern is easy to understand: over ten billion euros are at stake worldwide, and tens of thousands of business travellers. Making savings on a global budget of around a hundred million euros is sure to boost the bottom line.<\/p>\n
This concern to improve the organisation of staff travel and to reduce company expenditure by lowering transaction costs and the average price of tickets has recently become an established feature of national and even regional groups. As a result, it is increasingly common for travel policies to be introduced in large SMEs, with annual travel budgets of 500,000 euros or more.<\/p>\n
Far from being improvised, implementing such a policy requires real know-how and a good deal of thought. Not to mention the negotiations... Beforehand, the general management or human resources department draws up detailed specifications in order to launch a call for tenders with a view to selecting a travel agency or network. Once this stage has been completed, the task is to define its own policy with the help of the travel agency and\/or a consultant, taking into account various criteria.<\/p>\n
Like the practices of American groups, which emphasise fairness between different travellers, the harmonisation of travel conditions is tending to develop on this side of the Atlantic. As a result, technicians are increasingly travelling under the same conditions as senior managers, and even members of the executive committee. Accustomed to business or first class during the euphoric years, the latter are increasingly content with tourist class when travelling by air.<\/p>\n
\"As an example for the travel policy we have just introduced in the company I manage, the watchword is rationalisation. Everyone, including me, now travels in the same conditions of comfort\", confides this CEO of a French company with annual sales of over 300 million, including 60 % generated internationally. With greater latitude in their decision-making, SME managers can still afford to cross borders like VIPs.<\/p>\n
Within companies, it is common to define two broad categories of travellers: 'occasional' and 'frequent', depending on the number of trips they make each year. Taking at least ten long-haul return flights a year generally qualifies you as a \"frequent flyer\".<\/p>\n
More than the travel rules, it is the transport services that vary from one category of employee to another,\" stresses a travel manager. Parisians who regularly visit a production unit in the provinces may have to choose between a TGV journey and a national airline. On the other hand, those who regularly visit subcontractors or customers in Asia are faced with several choices: in addition to the class of transport, they may or may not travel with the national airline, on a direct flight or not\".<\/p>\n
Airline tickets are by far the biggest item in a company's annual travel budget. To contain this, it's best to write down all the rules clearly.<\/p>\n
In recent years, business travellers have become accustomed to business class and even first class. But the hunt for savings has introduced limits based on the length of the journey. \"Depending on the company, the question arises as to whether employees should be allowed to travel in business class for flights of three or five hours or more,\" says Jean-Claude Cano, Business Travel Director at Selectour. But some companies set the limit at ten hours' flying time! What's more, as flights with a stopover are longer and cheaper, some judicious employees may be prepared to make a stopover in Geneva on their way to Egypt in order to use business class! Here again, it's best to be clear about company policy. \"When it comes to introducing restrictions, the ideal solution is to give something in return: for example, by giving the green light for business class on long-haul flights, or by offering a day's recuperation on the spot if the same journey is made in economy class,\" suggests Matthieu Gufflet, senior consultant at EPSA in Paris. And spending the weekend in New York, with accommodation provided by the company, often leaves people indifferent.<\/p>\n
The authorised class of transport is not the only question to consider. You also need to consider your choice of airline. Thanks to its frequent flyer programme, Air France-KLM allows miles to be earned on business trips, which can then be used personally by the traveller or even their family. For some, this practice is tantamount to misuse of corporate assets. Several American groups do not hesitate to state clearly in their internal regulations that \"the choice of an airline must not be guided by bonuses offered as part of a frequent flyer programme\".<\/p>\n
For European or even national flights, it is best to specify the booking class. For example, Tempo challenge for the former and Y for the latter.<\/p>\n
In the 'air-rail' match, the length of the door-to-door journey to local destinations is one of the criteria for choice. So a Parisian company will be tempted to favour Eurostar, even in first class, for journeys to London, or to make Thalys compulsory for Brussels.<\/p>\n
For domestic connections of less than three hours by train, first class on the TGV is generally permitted. This is because of the comfort and flexibility of the tickets. But the professionals admit it: \"In France, the national airline's real competitors are not the low-cost carriers, but the TGV, which has the upper hand for journeys of no more than a few hours\".<\/p>\n
Of course, there are exceptions depending on a company's geographical location and transport infrastructure. For example, for meetings in the capital, a company based in M\u00e9rignac will prefer to fly, while another, located in the Eurom\u00e9diterran\u00e9e area in Marseille, will opt for the TGV.<\/p>\n
Travelling alone in a car between two aircraft, travelling with several people on a long journey or transporting equipment do not entail the same constraints. The rules involve defining the authorised category of vehicle - A, B or C - and the recommended service provider. \"When a rental company is referenced by a company, the use of another rental company can only be exceptional and justified\", we often read in the internal regulations.<\/p>\n
You can't compare the price of a hotel room in Paris, London, Moscow or New York. The solution? \"Instead of setting the same spending ceiling throughout the world, companies are modulating their accommodation budgets according to geographical zone,\" explains Jean-Claude Cano. They base this on price comparisons of hotel rooms around the world. They may even use the rates negotiated by the travel agency, as direct agreements for hotels are rarer than for air travel.<\/p>\n
Once the travel policy has been established, it is important to explain the changes it introduces clearly to employees. It is up to the travel manager to organise an in-house information meeting with travellers and their booking assistants. Once understood by those concerned, the internal regulations will be distributed to staff in paper form or electronically. In a large group, they can be posted on the travel intranet site.<\/p>\n
For practice to match theory, the travel policy must be enforced. To achieve this, a company can intervene both before and after the fact. In order to rationalise travel and encourage internal communication, it makes sense to impose a real validation system. The principle is to obtain authorisation from the line manager before any trip is made. In addition, the travel agency receives very clear and strict instructions from its client.<\/p>\n
\"Stanilas Berteloot, Marketing Director at KDS, points out that \"in principle, the use of self-booking tools, i.e. online booking tools, helps to ensure compliance with travel policy. Provided that these tools are correctly configured and take account of the instructions codified in the company's travel policy. As Cyriaque Benoist, Travel Director at Alcatel, explains: \"Our booking tool is configured according to our travel policy, and we recommend the best possible choices between certain suppliers offering the best prices. We are currently looking at ways of automatically sending information by e-mail when a discrepancy is identified.<\/p>\n
Although any abuses are easily identified in the regular reports produced by business travel management solutions, a well explained and understood travel policy has every chance of being adhered to.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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