of Canadian business travellers found many Canadians agree business travel is not all it’s cracked up to be. The entire process – from booking the trip, down to safety and privacy – is anxiety-inducing for many Canadians. They attribute a large part of this to lack of policies around accommodation, transport and other travel expenses while on the road. The most stressful part of travelling for business tends to be when employees are planning and booking their trip .
Through my years of travelling for work, I’ve had stressful experiences. My first business trip felt like a disaster. I was new, and I wanted to make a good impression, but everything went wrong. I mixed up the flight times and we arrived at the airport 25 minutes before departure – I had to beg the flight crew to let us board. Our hotel was overbooked, so we scrambled to find accommodations at the last minute. Then, a storm rolled in, knocking out power for days.
This delay has employees contemplating if they should even bother submitting expenses. Troublingly, 54 per cent of Canadian business travellers reported they forfeited expenses in 2018 either because they felt the expense was not worth filing or because their employer simply never reimbursed them. There is a clear need for companies to improve reimbursement processes.
The good news is, employees know what will help – better expense reporting tools and clear policies. Almost half of respondents said their company’s policies are unstructured or only somewhat structured, with rules that are not comprehensive. Furthermore, three in five cited a need for better expense reporting tools.
If there’s one thing employees know will make a difference, it’s technology. Canadian business travellers have become accustomed to using apps and smartphones to enhance their daily lives, but 73 per cent don’t believe their companies have kept up with the times. There are many tools that can help employers streamline booking processes, provide resources that allow employees to feel safe when they travel and simplify all the steps in between.
Globe_Careers This was a shameless SAP Concur plug, and was quite honestly hard to read.
Globe_Careers LOL, travel in Canada period, is not all it's cracked up to be...