This integrated world of business is, without a doubt, one of the ways that companies, nowadays, keep track of employee travels. Organisations have been known to utilise different tools and technologies to track employee movement while on a business trip.
But why do companies track my travel? How can it benefit the organisation? How can it benefit the employees? Let’s continue discussing this issue by exploring what the goal of tracking travel is, what benefits it provides. What could be some of the potential concerns in terms of privacy, and finally, best practices to achieve a delicate balance between efficiency and the proper individual rights of their employees.
Why Do Companies Track Employee Travel?
A host of factors underlie company interest in tracking employees’ travel: from compliance and safety through control of costs to improvement in efficiency. Perhaps the most basic driver is for compliance with company policies and legal directives. An example here is in many industries, especially foreign ones, where there exist legal systems such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, FCPA. Which calls for strict travelling controls that prevent certain unlawful activities, including bribery.
Travel tracking also makes it easier for companies to handle travel budgets. Travel is expensive, and close watching of expenses can be sure that travel will fit within the limits of a company’s financial budget. Tracking of itineraries of travel, travelling expenses, and trends give companies an opportunity to negotiate with providers of travel better as well as remove unnecessary expenses.
Key Benefits of Travel Tracking
1. Cost Control
While the travels of employees are very important for a company. So is the control of when and how it spends its money, and high costs do come with employee travel. With tracking tools, an organisation can easily keep tabs on what money employees incur and bill appropriately to them. In this way, an organisation can avoid overspending on its employees’ travels and make sure that money is spent within the approved budget. As some travel management systems integrate into expense software. This can be made even more efficient with minimal paperwork and full transparency into finances.
2. Employee Safety and Security
Travel tracking leads to employee safety. With the capabilities of companies tracking the real-time locations of their employees. They know where their workers are located, especially in risky locations. If an emergency such as political unrest, a natural disaster, or health crisis strikes. The company will swiftly respond to ensure the safety of its employees. This system is of prime importance to industries where labourers go to volatile regions like mining or construction. Among others, where real-time tracking assumes a major role in maintaining standards of safety.
3. Maximising Productivity
The use of tracking tools will ensure that schedules for travels by the employees are well-coordinated with meetings and other work-related activities, thus decreasing scheduling conflicts. Scheduling conflicts do not have to arise between travel time and participating in meetings or other work-related activities. Thus ensuring more utilisation of time for employees when travelling. Such systems also streamline booking processes, enabling employees to spend less time on administrative burdens and more time on their core task.
4. Streamlined Experience for Employees
With tracking, companies would be able to monitor travel and receive feedback on accommodations, airlines, and itinerarie. Which they can use as a basis for changes in future travel plans to ensure that journeys are more comfortable for employees and therefore a more comfortable work-related experience as a whole. Travel can thus be ensured to make employees less worrisome or under pressure and more focused on business needs.
How Companies Track Their Travel
There are several tools and systems which help employers track employee movement, with far-flung capabilities in tracking their flight patterns to their usage of hotels along with real-time tracking of movements. Most of these systems combine GPS and cloud-based options, making it easy for organisations to manage the travel plans of employees without a hassle. Some of the most widely used ones are :
Travel Management Systems (TMS): These are booking and managing the travel in a much more centralised manner. TMS software also has the capability of integrating travel policies. So that it can ensure that your employees remain in sync with the company guidelines for booking flights, hotels, or transportation.
Expense Management Software: It helps track expenses incurred by travel to ensure budget control is kept. Employees can input real-time time and expense logging through the use of tools like Expensify and TripIt. Then reconcile with employees’ company’s travel records for accuracy and transparency.
Real-Time Location Trackers: The employees engaged in logistics or energy sectors have location tracking tools to ensure their security while they follow a decided route. In case an employee diverges from the route or enters a high-risk zone, an alert can be sent immediately.
Privacy Issues and Legal Matters
Travel tracking has various benefits, but it also raises serious issues concerning privacy. Some workers dislike their location being tracked; they feel annoyed by this because. According to them, companies might misuse the information that they obtain. Companies have to come out with clear and transparent guidelines of travel policy explaining to their employees on how data related to tracking will be used, stored, and protected.
Data Privacy Acts, such as the General Data Protection Regulation of the European region, should also be considered. Data collected must only be relative to travel management and the safety of the employees. It must also be secured with encrypted systems to avoid a breach.
Best Practices of Travel Tracking
To balance the value of tracking the travel behaviour of their employees concerning the privacy of the latter, companies may consider the following best practices:
1. Transparency: Communicate to the employees the reasons why their travel is being monitored and how the data will be used. Employees need to know what information is being collected and for the benefit of whom-the company or themselves.
2. Consent: First, seek employees’ consent before installing any travel tracking systems, especially real-time location tracking. It is an opportunity for them to express if they have any concerns over it, which can be proactively addressed.
3. Data minimization-collect only what is necessary: Possibly there is no need to track the location of an employee at a granular level. If what is strictly needed is perhaps only his/her check-in time at the airport.
4. Regular updates: Monitor the travel tracking system periodically to ascertain whether it still meets its intended purposes. But does not infringe on the privacy of employees than is necessary. This will encompass auditing the data protection to prevent abuse of employee’s data.
5. Employee Authority: Give the employees as much as possible control over the tracking process. For example, give them authority over monitoring and reviewing their travel data, and solicit feedback to the system for improvement.
Conclusion
Employee travel tracking would give a company numerous benefits, whether it be the optimization of travel costs or ensuring safety and following any legal regulations that come with it. This would allow for the management of trips for organisations, thereby enhancing productivity and the overall experience of the employee. Meanwhile, it should be implemented with proper care for the workers’ privacy and concerning the laws governing data protection. Now, while maintaining transparency and keeping a balanced approach, companies can capitalise on all the value that travel tracking could bring to them and respect the rights and concerns of their workforce.
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