I have been chatting with peers lately about this topic. I have heard things like;
"It's totally effective because its part of our company DNA."
"I don't know if my travelers even know there is one."
"It's more of a guideline than a policy."
"There are policies for everything in our company, so we have to have one and I think I do a good job of keeping ours updated."
When programs look to make changes to travel, their first instinct is to look at travel policy. When people look to create a travel program, they start by creating a travel policy. So, when and how did this question about its effectiveness come bubbling up?
Let's look at a policy...per one of my friend's quote above, it's a guideline that says what I can, cannot, should and maybe even should not do when I am expensing travel to the company I work for. It's a protection measure for the employee to tell them what's appropriate. It's also a protection measure for said employee because they know what could lead to their demise within the company. It's a document that everyone from HR and Legal can use when needed to ensure someone is not defrauding the company. It's also a document that managers can use to help to manage their travel budgets.
All of those are good things!
A policy, however, does become ineffective when it's never looked at, by ANYONE. If people don't know it exists, if people never look at it to make updates, if people never look to it to help guide their budget and planning....then it certainly has become ineffective.
That, my friends, is not good.
So, whether your policy is one page or 60, bring it back to life. Review it, clean it up, and make sure people know about it. What measures can you take to help people internally understand the importance of the document and how it can help them? If it's not being used, then blow it up and start all over. I consider policy the playbook. If we don't all know the plays that will make us successful, we probably won't have a winning season. And while life is not always about winning or losing, I prefer to win...and keep going.
"It's totally effective because its part of our company DNA."
"I don't know if my travelers even know there is one."
"It's more of a guideline than a policy."
"There are policies for everything in our company, so we have to have one and I think I do a good job of keeping ours updated."
When programs look to make changes to travel, their first instinct is to look at travel policy. When people look to create a travel program, they start by creating a travel policy. So, when and how did this question about its effectiveness come bubbling up?
Let's look at a policy...per one of my friend's quote above, it's a guideline that says what I can, cannot, should and maybe even should not do when I am expensing travel to the company I work for. It's a protection measure for the employee to tell them what's appropriate. It's also a protection measure for said employee because they know what could lead to their demise within the company. It's a document that everyone from HR and Legal can use when needed to ensure someone is not defrauding the company. It's also a document that managers can use to help to manage their travel budgets.
All of those are good things!
A policy, however, does become ineffective when it's never looked at, by ANYONE. If people don't know it exists, if people never look at it to make updates, if people never look to it to help guide their budget and planning....then it certainly has become ineffective.
That, my friends, is not good.
So, whether your policy is one page or 60, bring it back to life. Review it, clean it up, and make sure people know about it. What measures can you take to help people internally understand the importance of the document and how it can help them? If it's not being used, then blow it up and start all over. I consider policy the playbook. If we don't all know the plays that will make us successful, we probably won't have a winning season. And while life is not always about winning or losing, I prefer to win...and keep going.
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