Modernize your corporate travel benchmarks for an efficient program
Traveling (and de facto, creating benchmarks for what efficiency is) looks a bit different these days. Benchmarks that worked three years ago, fall short now. And what works now probably won’t thrive in another three years. In a landscape that’s fluid, are you drawing relevant comparisons today – or are you stuck in the past?
Adapting to the evolving nature of corporate travel demands a fresh perspective. Now, more than ever, understanding your position within the market serves as the cornerstone for reevaluating and enhancing your travel policy. The quest for better insights not only fosters increased predictability and control but also lays the groundwork for building a resilient travel program that evolves in sync with industry changes.
Let’s get started.
5 tips for better benchmarking:
1. Know exactly what you want
This one may seem self-explanatory, but it’s the most pivotal step. Establish measurable objectives for what you want to achieve through benchmarking. Remember: a broad scope without specific goals yields ineffective outcomes. Don’t just say “I want to enhance employee-wellness on business trips.” Articulate precise, measurable targets. To do this, you’ll need a clear understanding of your current processes and performance.
Aggregate pertinent information from both internal and external sources, such as your TMC, expense management systems, online booking tools (OBTs), and traveler surveys. Ensure that the data gathered is accurate, consistent, and comparable. This might require some fine-tuning measures, such as making inflation adjustments to maintain the integrity of the comparisons.
2. Harness your tools
Maximizing the use of specialized benchmarking tools – especially through TMC partnerships – is crucial if you want to stay ahead of an ever-changing landscape. This type of technology offers real-time insights into how your travel policies compare to your peers. From there you can create tailored strategies addressing various program needs. (More on this later).
3. Back up your benchmarks
Benchmarking initiatives should never exist as a stand-alone activity. After all, what value is there in knowing where you stand if there’s no follow-through to better your processes and ROI for corporate travel? Do you want to achieve operational excellence? You’re going to need a change management strategy. Do you want a program that supports global transportation goals to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2030? You’ll need an organizational change plan for that, too.
4. Connect with your peers
One of the best ways to benchmark and stay on top of current corporate travel trends is by exploring and networking with your professional circle and industry experts. You could join professional associations like the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and actively engage with their events, webinars, publications, or forums. Additionally, attending trade shows, conferences, or workshops provides the perfect platform to exchange best practices, gain fresh insights, and tackle challenges alongside fellow travel managers.
5. Choose the right partner
Not every TMC or travel consultant approaching you with an offer to benchmark your processes can actually meet your needs – whether they don’t have the level of expertise you need or they lack the connections that would best suit you. Be very careful about who you choose to benchmark with, and why. A TMC capable of modernizing your corporate travel program should be able to provide:
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Specialized tools for accurate benchmarking across various metrics.
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Real-time insights through cutting-edge technology, aiding in informed decision-making.
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Tailored strategies addressing cost optimization, sustainability, and traveler well-being, crafted to align with your specific program needs.
Better partner, better benchmarks
As you contemplate the choice of benchmarking partner, understanding how your TMC’s reporting capabilities can aid in navigating these market conditions becomes a pivotal consideration.
Here’s some key considerations to keep in mind as you evaluate whether your TMC has right tools needed to increase your program predictability and control.
Cost/Spend
According to projections by the GBTA, travel and events costs are anticipated to rise again in 2024, albeit at a much more moderate pace than the rapid post-COVID resurgence witnessed in 2022.
While full recovery to 2019 spend volume appears likely by late 2024 or early 2025, Deloitte predicts corporate travel will likely be smaller than the pre-pandemic landscape. This can be attributed largely in part to tougher supplier negotiations, particularly in Europe. As buyers return to the negotiating table with lower expected trip volume, some suppliers are pushing for higher rates, with hospitality providers reportedly taking a stronger approach than airlines.
As such, knowing how you compare with your peers can shed light on additional opportunities to save. Can your current TMC’s reporting capabilities help you stay on top of current market conditions?
Sustainability
More organizations are committed to building greener travel programs, but the biggest roadblock they face is knowing how to forge the path to get there.
According to Deloitte’s assessment, nearly 2 in 5 European companies and 1 in 3 US companies feel compelled to curtail employee travel by more than 20% to meet their 2030 sustainability targets. Unfortunately, this strategy will likely put a cap on corporate travel gains for several years to come.
In their most recent report, GBTA outlines several recommendations for more sustainable travel without slashing your volume, including:
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Consolidating trips wherever feasible to maximize Return on Emissions (ROE)
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Encouraging the use of trains
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Investing in technologies dedicated to emission reduction
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Selecting suppliers aligned with your program's sustainability objectives and performance criteria.
Solutions like FCM’s personalized airline sustainability scorecard are designed to assess and quantify your environmental impact on corporate travel. From there, consultants schedule a meeting to talk through their findings and advise on the next best steps for you – even if you’re not a client.
Traveler well-being
Before the pandemic the focus for travel managers was often cost reduction. But in a global study of FCM clients, Duty of Care (DOC) is now rated as the #1 priority.
Every corporation needs to be on the front foot when managing their travelers' well-being and safety.
Your TMC’s travel experts will help you better understand the relationship between cost containment, travel policy, and employee productivity by assessing factors like:
Health and Safety
Travel experts can scrutinize health measures, ensuring adequate insurance coverages, medical assistance, pre-travel medical checks, and emergency support that are integral to maintaining traveler safety.
Friction Reduction
The wear and tear on frequent travelers can detrimentally affect productivity. Benchmarking through your TMC, you focus on reducing friction and ensuring road warriors remain efficient and effective even during prolonged journeys.
Change is a partnership
If travel managers need to change with the times, then so do TMCs.
FCM has an unrelenting commitment to supporting our customers as corporate travel evolves. FCM Consulting supports organizations around the world through positive change to enhance and optimize business travel programs. Navigating complex travel environments for our clients means that travel – and business – can reach its maximum potential.