How firm is your travel policy?

In an ideal world, each employee would take responsibility for keeping travel costs down. Corporate travel spending would shrink and every dollar of your travel budget would be used wisely. But the real world doesn’t work that way. So it’s up to travel managers to help craft travel policies that strike a balance between being firm and flexible. Depending on your company’s culture, you may want a forceful policy that:

• Makes clear the travel policy is required
• Violators will face repercussions
• Outlines penalties, from denying reimbursement to firing

Most companies aren’t ready to get tough to that degree. They present a travel policy as a “guideline.” Even so, you can add teeth to your policy by making sure your travel policies are treated as standard operating procedure and that they are backed by the company’s CEO and other top executives. After all, a travel policy that is ignored is of little use. Meanwhile, a travel policy that has a high compliance rate helps reduce corporate travel costs and persuades vendors that your company’s business is worth reduced rates.