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Duty of care
KEYS TO EFFECTIVE
DUTY OF CARE
the travel manager’s task is to interpret, execute and communicate policy to make sure their TMC and suppliers understand what needs to be implemented,” says HRG’s Lancaster. “Our obligation is to support companies’ policies in every way or, if the only seat available to get someone home safely is in first class, then we overrule policy to do that.” Technology is central to good duty of care, whether that is traveller tracking, posting information on websites or timely communication. One option for the latter is supplied by Contgo, newly acquired by Concur. “It is a very powerful communication engine, with the ability to send a text or email to any employee at a given time,” says Concur’s vice-president of business development, Pierre-Emmanuel Tetaz. “It allows users to programme the system so that a traveller receives a message after a six-hour flight to remind them not to drive but take a cab, or to send a text reminder to use a certain taxi company in India, or to cover a procurement issue on arrival in Mexico – for example, the company’s preferred hotel is such-and-such, and the rate includes wifi and breakfast.” Adecco is ranked as one of
the world’s largest recruitment companies. Of its 3,200 staff in the UK, 2,000 have the
potential to travel. “Duty of care comes before cost savings and is one of the primary reasons we stay with our TMC, Click Travel,” says the group’s UK and Ireland procurement manager, Brian Jeal. “Everything I need to know is online – we can see where all our travelling staff are, when they went out, when they get back. I can see exactly who is travelling today, tomorrow, next week... Click has traveller tracking technology, keeps a record of all our transactions and bookings, and provides a 24/7 support function for travellers – which means I don’t get any issues when someone misses a train or turns up at a hotel and there’s no booking.” Adecco has a car policy that
encourages travellers to break for 30 minutes after two hours’ driving, and to take overnight accommodation after a four- hour drive, or to use public transport. In addition, “Click has a warning system that allows them to distribute messages to travellers, for example, during the ash crisis”, says Jeal. “Our traveller tracking system provides easy access to a real- time dashboard where you can pinpoint travellers on a map and as a list, and download that information to Excel,” says Click’s Lucie Harrison. “From here, customers can quickly broadcast messages to all affected travellers.” Regular and clear communication, teamwork
Planning, implementation and compliance are the bedrock of good duty of care, according to International SOS.
PLANNING INCLUDES: • Risk assessment • Strategic planning • Developing governance (policies and procedures)
IMPLEMENTATION INVOLVES: • Managing global mobility • Communication • Education • Training • Tracking • Informing employees about changes in risk
• Advising, assisting and evacuating in the event of an incident
COMPLIANCE MEANS: • Control and analysis to ensure a programme is being implemented correctly
• Good reporting that leads to continuous improvement
– both internally and with suppliers – and a holistic view are crucial to allow companies to achieve good duty of care. Apart from being good company culture to look after employees to the highest practical level, it is also a matter of self-preservation for the employer, whose liability could prove only too costly – financially and in reputation. n
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