For many people, traveling with them is simply a luxury and does not require any effort to prepare for travel. It is simply a pleasure for them to spend the best time in relaxation, but for companies or organizations, the situation is different for them. Travel is considered an independent management of her own business and her staff.
In these days, we should find an effective travel risk management system that ensures the safety and comfort of our employees. Traveling for employees is a natural situation for them to practice the company's business outside the borders these days.
The absence or neglect of travel risk management may cost companies more money than you imagine not only to lose more money but to damage its information and secrets, which leads to damage to reputation and loss of data. And sometimes may be subject to the legal risk of not protecting the safety of its employees in accordance with the Labor Law.
Therefore, in three steps, we will show you how to set up travel risk management, especially for small businesses that operate on fairly modest budgets, but before presenting the steps, we must clarify the following:
1. Safety
The company should consider two main points: (safety of employees - safety), such as terrorist attacks, kidnapping, natural disasters, car accidents, etc.
2. Convenience & Contact:
Problems that staff may experience during travel, such as delayed flights, lost luggage, and moving away from their loved ones may lead to a decrease in productivity so they must be taken into consideration.
The travel risk management does not work separately from the rest of the departments, but there are those who assist in the implementation of its functions, such as human resources management - legal administration - financial management - and management itself, so avoid that creates risks to the traveler and the employer:
2.1 Travelers' risk:
- Fatigue
- Not to speak the language of the country.
- Stay away from them friends
- Lack of full awareness of local health risks.
- Ambiguity about where to go.
2.2 Employer risk:
- Sudden illness of employees
- Loss of data carried by the traveler.
- Misuse of travel expenses by the employee
- Technological inadequacy to assist the employee.
- Legal risk of lack of proper care for the traveler
So we will review the effective steps to travel risk management for small business owners:
1. Good preparation:
1.1 Determination of management responsibility:
Key departments must identify persons for (initiator, senior sponsor, stakeholder with accountability, and project manager).
1.2 Risk assessment:
It includes the company's ability to assess and manage travel risk and to avoid potential threats to the company.
2. Implementation:
Each risk can be mitigated or minimized by using a T4 response from risk. The first letters of (Treat, Transfer, Terminate and Tolerate) and it's abbreviated as follows:
2.1 Treat:
It means controlling risks or minimizing the impact of them through proactive measures
2.2 Transfer:
It means transferring risks through insurance or paying to other parties willing to take risks on behalf of the company.
2.3 Terminate:
It means changing dangerous ways to eliminate them and avoid them.
2.4 Tolerate:
The risk is to be borne if it has a weak impact on the company and can be borne by the company compared to other risks that have a significant cost effect.
(Continuous communication: providing communication methods and identifying people responsible for follow-up greatly reduces risks to travelers)
3. MANAGE:
The audit includes monitoring of the management of the Company's travel risks and its roles as follows:
3.1 Establishment of a multidisciplinary committee
3.2 Measure performance regularly to reach best practices.
3.3 Search for input from top management in potential destinations.
3.4 Survey and collect feedback from passengers on the whole trip to assess them in full.
3.5 Policy review if any type of accident occurs.
summarizing
An effective program can be implemented to manage the risks of small business through those points:
1. Establish a clear policy for travel through business owners and experts and be communicated to all parties.
2 - Implementation of a training and educational program for passengers and coordinators and managers who will monitor and cover the risks of public travel and ways to mitigate them.
3. Accepting information about the trip from reputable sources, including the risks encountered, medical information, country profiles and travel tracking system that provide easy communication with staff in crisis situations.
4 - Providing the global driver service to ensure the safety and comfort of staff and save time.
5 - 24/7 help service for the personal support of travelers.
6 - Develop a plan for the management of potential accidents, which will be a guide in cases of crisis and emergency.
7 - Provide a program of insurance, medical and security covers the risks of frequent travel such as lost luggage.
8. Updating the crisis management plan continuously to cover all types of risks.
These are some tips that companies must follow to ensure simple and safe travel for their employees
