Traveller budgets & TRM

As part of my role in #travelriskmanagement I have a vested interest in those on the road and how their companies treat them. Your #travellers, your #employees, your #contractors, your #guests ....put simply your #people. So whenever I have the opportunity to speak to a traveller to gain some #experience or insight, believe me - I am straight in.

A few months ago I had a visit from an #energy supplier (who shall remain nameless) - in fact more accurately, I had a visit from a young man who was working for a company who were #contracted to fit smart meters for my energy supplier.

He was a very amiable person who was comfortable talking as he worked, in fact he offered up almost immediately that being away from home can be #lonely and it's nice to speak to customers. In fact, that was the best part of the job for him, meeting #people. So we sparked up a #conversation and I soon knew about his young family and partner, his aspirations and the good and bad parts about being on the road.

During the conversation he let me know that he often covered areas that were a distance from his home, so he'd usually be out Sun-Thu or Mon-Fri, 4 nights a week, he'd not had a good night as there was an issue with his room and he'd spent the night in his van...."I see," said I! "I hope you don't mind me asking, but I work in travel risk management (followed by a quick explanation of what that is) and I'd be really interested in understanding what #budget do you have for your 4 nights a way and how does it work - do you have to arrange it all or is it done for you?"

￡200. I looked at him, thinking wow - things have really improved, then I realised: "You don't mean per night do you?"

I was HORRIFIED.

Baring in mind, he covers the south of the UK including London. He has a budget of ￡200 per week, including VAT, including ALL meals and ALL accommodation. Sorry, "What??????" Followed by:

"How much time do you spend trying to find suitable places within budget?

Do you have to top up personally?

What happens if you can't find anywhere?

Does anyone know where you are staying?

Have you ever walked out of anywhere?"

I can tell you the answers to these questions are as shocking as the budget itself, although considering said #budget, sadly not necessarily surprising. I have worked with organisations who have #engineers and #fieldworkers out on the road all of my working life. It's common for services to be #outsourced, so the reality of the situation of the traveller is very removed from that of the one paying for it. It's very common for them to have lower budgets than the traditional business corporate; but seriously in 2023 - ￡50 (incl. food & VAT) per night in the south of England is not acceptable. With this budget, you are literally forcing your people to make unsafe choices, this includes your vulnerable people too. Before you scoff....(my dear reader) whilst your budget might be higher, please check what your organisation does for contractors as far as TRM is concerned....they often fall outside of programme or systems, meaning there is limited or no visibility of them. #WhatHappensWhen?

When we say #iso31030 is for all travel, we mean all travellers too. It's not just for employees. An organisation has a #responsibility for anyone travelling on its behalf, employee, contractor, guest; yes it's more complicated but when it comes to mitigating risk they have to be included. It is likely in the case of the situation above that the company sub-contracting for this work set these budgets, as it will be part of the overall package they offer - so who is to blame here, the end client or the sub-contractor?

3 words...People Risk Management. These people are your #frontline. They are visiting clients on your behalf. People speak to each other, I have definitely changed my opinion of my utility company based on this information. All people absolutely deserve to have a good nights sleep, in #vetted accommodation with healthy food choices, when working away from home for business. They should not be #forced to #comply with standards based on an ##unrealistic budget that I assure you the #executive teams would not endure.

You see the ultimate test of how well your travel safety or travel programme is working is to speak to your travellers. #Savings and #reductions might look good on a spreadsheet, but remember each line is a lived experience, that affects your people in a number of different ways. Is forcing your team into #uncomfortable or #dangerous situations, really worth the risk? If you want to save money, reduce your volume. (TRM also helps with this of course!).

Don't be like the company above - consider your programme from the eyes of those using it, ask and consider their opinions and work together in how you can make your travel programme #stronger.

We facilitate #workshops and #stakeholdermeetings for organisations who are serious about #changing their travel programmes for the better. Please get in touch with us at 8 Phase Consulting Ltd. or via Bex Deadman - AKA Travel Risk Bex on Linked In