TRAVEL BUYER Q&A
James Finnie
Bob Papworth talks to the global travel relationship manager at recruitment specialist NES Global Talent
What’s the scale of NES Global Talent’s travel management task? NES has 7,000 contractors on its books and 500 permanent staff. Not everyone travels, of course, and from a contractor perspective, travel requirements will depend on the job location and terms and conditions of their contract. We are booking travel from 14 of our offices and it can be to and from literally anywhere. Destinations include Ghana, Iraq, Australia, Indonesia, South Korea and Kazakhstan. About 85 per cent of our bookings are flights as clients often provide onsite accommodation, or contractors take long-term stays.
How long have you been in your current role? How did you get there? I’ve been with NES for four-and-a- half years and in my current role for just over two years. My first job from university was with Travelbag where I was booking tailor-made, luxury, round-the-world trips. After I moved into business travel with Carlson Wagonlit, progressing from travel consultant to operations manager in my nine years there.
What are the basics of NES’s travel policy? How do you communicate it and achieve compliance? If we are booking travel for contractors, we will work to the client-specific requirements to ensure we can invoice our expenses correctly. In terms of our staff, all travel is pre-approved by our senior management team. We have dedicated NES travel bookers in all locations who ensure compliance to the policy. Lowest logical fare is the basis of the policy and the class of service is approved dependent on the length of the overall trip, the turnaround time and the requirements of the traveller and the business.
36 BBT May/June 2018
effectively and they’re flexible in their approach. My business manager Louise Eames is patient and takes the time to understand our business and how we work.
To what extent is ‘travel avoidance’ an option, given the nature of the recruitment business?
There is nothing like meeting people face-to-face and I don’t think that will ever change regardless of how technology advances. That said, every company can be smarter when managing their travel costs and deciding on which trips are important and which can be done via different means. With recruitment, it’s important to meet clients and contractors regularly face-to-face.
What have been the greatest challenges in your role, and what are your greatest achievements to date? Turning NES’s travel programme from localised offerings to a global offering would be my biggest achievement but it has also been my biggest challenge. You don’t want to disrupt something that is working well, but you need to put in process and practices that meet the requirements of a global organisation like NES.
“CTM sorts out issues quickly and effectively and they’re flexible in their approach”
Do your travellers understand/ appreciate the value of the policy? I believe so. NES is a global company but with a local feel. Despite the variety of locations, we work closely together across all of our offices. The senior management team is supportive of the travel programme and helps ensure the objectives of the policy are understood.
How long has Corporate Travel Management (CTM) been your TMC? Describe your relationship We’ve been with CTM for a little over a year. They won the global tender that we undertook in 2016 and we felt that they matched us best in terms of culture and global location match up. Our relationship with them is good – as with any relationship there are challenges, but CTM has always been focused on partnering with us for the long term. They sort out issues quickly and
In a wider sense, what do you see as the biggest issues facing the travel management community? IATA’s New Distribution Capability is a challenge as most TMCs still focus their technology around the GDS. Booking travel is easier now, but one of the biggest issues is staying ahead of the game and continuing to add value to a company’s travel programme.
NES GLOBAL TALENT is a manpower specialist that provides candidates across the oil & gas, energy, life sciences, manufacturing, chemicals, mining, construction & infrastructure and IT sectors worldwide. It has 50 offices in 28 countries.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152
