RISK MANAGEMENT
“There shouldn’t be any grey areas,” says Bruce McIndoe, founder of risk management consultancy WorldAware. “If the programme is properly developed, defined and trained for, each person and company should know their role, responsibilities and when to act.” It’s the uncertainty that’s the killer here. The question for travel managers is who is ultimately going to pay for and manage a major incident? You cannot rely on goodwill alone, so how will you re- source an emergency response, however rare that might be? “Having an incident management plan and appropriate business
support teams together with a structured incident response hierar- chy that is well tested is important,” explains a travel manager who works in the energy sector at some pretty tough destinations. “Processes in place are crucial, as is communication. There should
be no compromise on funding emergency situations,” says Ken McLeod, director for industry affairs at Advantage Travel Partnership.
HELD TO ACCOUNT This could be expensive for a humble travel programme. If manag- ers are worried about getting budget allocation for a very rare event, it is best considered within a wider remit – one that involves human resources, duty-of-care and corporate social responsibility. But this is difficult when a procurement team holds the TMC con-
tract of the travel manager. Getting the right audience internally to raise its profile can be a real issue. An unlikely emergency incident is just that. What-ifs and maybes don’t cut it with accountants.
WHAT-IFS AND MAYBES DON’T CUT IT WITH ACCOUNTANTS
“Ultimately the board of directors could be held accountable if something goes wrong and the necessary support and training is not in place. While certain functions can be outsourced, and indeed it is best practice to use experts, using them does not abrogate responsi- bility,” says Peter Cooper, global security director at Collinson. “Consider the worst case and how you, your managers and the organisation would look if something went wrong and it was per- ceived that you hadn’t taken reasonable precautions.” That doesn’t mean you need to sign up to an expensive risk man- agement programme. But it is worth putting a plan in place. “Ensure that you review company policies. The mechanics should
depend on the nature of your business,” says Arthur Bosch, head of business administration at Wings Travel Management. “Yet the ultimate duty-of-care and responsibility will always remain with the company that is sending its employees on business trips.” Having a collaborative approach to risk and managing emer- gencies can ensure the burden of responsibility doesn’t fall on the buyer. “Depending on the level of emergency, our business continuity plan would kick in.” explains one travel manager at an international law firm. “This would include the head of travel, facil- ities, risk specialists, human resources, the chief operating officer, insurance providers, finance and internal communications.” Post-incident reporting is also important. “At DAI we track all incidents, and this enables us to adjust protocols, if necessary. For example, if you are stuck in traffic in Nairobi keep the window wound up to avoid having your mobile phone snatched! Some col- leagues learnt this the hard way, but now all Nairobi travellers benefit from this information,” Sarah Marshall explains. If you don’t have a plan for how you would deal with a natural
disaster, terrorist or other incident, now is the time to draw one up.
buyingbusinesstravel.com
CRISIS… WHAT CRISIS?
TIPS ON GETTING THE RIGHT PLAN IN PLACE
■ Travel managers should not attempt to deal with emergencies in a silo, but involve all the other relevant people within an organisation.
■ Goodwill won’t cut it. You need to be able to manage emergency situations beyond any travel procurement contract you may have.
■ Draw up a plan of a worst-case scenario, so you know how you, your managers and the wider organisation would need to act.
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