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Communicating this accurately at implementation will drive


far greater adoption of the programme. According to mobile travel company, Travelport Digital, business travellers use on average 16 Apps while travelling, so there is ample room for adoption of your smartphone driven programme.


Maximising data to achieve results If we are focusing on the traveller then we can use his or her input via smartphone apps to collect the trip data. If travel or expense processes are embedded in a company, mobility professionals are often reluctant to disrupt those processes with the travel or finance teams. In many companies there is an established travel approval and


management process. The difficulty for Global Mobility teams is that ‘compliance’ for travel managers has an entirely different meaning. Travel Managers are almost entirely focused on the cost element of


the trip or the use of approved suppliers. For them, compliance means ensuring that an employee is booking the correct hotel chain and they will rarely look at the downstream impacts of the trip on taxation, immigration or payroll compliance. Travel Managers that have a managed travel programme do cover


the duty of care elements very well, but figures from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) show that only 40 per cent of companies have a managed travel programme. If your company has a strong travel management function, work


with them to maximise the data they hold within their systems to achieve your requirements. The data necessary to drive taxation and immigration compliance


is usually held within these systems. The ability to create API data links with systems like Concur or CWT’s and HRG’s travel booking tool is quite simple. Re-using this data and directing it to a tax or immigration rules engine will remove some of the internal conflicts that can arise when trying to implement short-term business traveller management programmes. By working with your travel or expense colleagues, Mobility can quickly and easily source the data needed to focus on tax or immigration compliance. As Mr Bersin pointed out at the HR Tech Conference, buyers should “demand that vendors integrate with each other”.


Seek budget from the multiple stakeholders or resources Mobility teams are more used to taking cost out of programmes rather than adding cost for a new initiative. Mobilise your internal colleagues and secure elements of their budget to fund the data that can flow back to their units and better help them with their compliance obligations. Payroll, Finance and Tax units usually command more power when


new projects are commissioned, so look to secure that budget to assist with the programme rollout. The elusive ROI can be achieved when you are measuring benefits across multiple business units – all coming from a single travel event. A project is more likely to be approved if five or six stakeholders are arguing for it at the onset. Many companies employ temps to manage manual reporting –


parsing travel system outputs or sign in and out sheets to determine who is where but implementing a fixed cost technology alternative is the perfect solution – especially if it results in a cost saving. Projects that are unclear about the final cost can be difficult to approve.


Raise the profile of the Mobility team Many Mobility teams are reactive to the downstream tax or


immigration impacts of short-term business travel. Too often they are called in to resolve difficulties after the transgression has occurred. By implementing a real time programme – either with smartphone input by the traveller or by using travel agency data – the mobility teams can provide timely advice in how to manage visas, withholding


or Permanent Establishment issues. Mobility teams can easily move to becoming better internal suppliers


to their lines of business by reacting in advance to potential tax and immigration risks.


Tax, immigration and security challenges Tax, immigration and duty of care are approaching a perfect storm. This is a critical catalyst in mobilising the internal team necessary to deliver a company wide business traveller management programme. Global tax rule changes sparked by the OECD Base Erosion and


Profit Shifting Project, and the renewed focus by the EU and other jurisdictions seeking to tax corporates in the markets where they create value, have brought a significant focus on needing to know where your people are – and what they are doing in that jurisdiction. The Trump administration focus on immigration and the future


implications of Brexit mean there is greater scrutiny of business travellers entering jurisdictions to ensure they are travelling on the correct visa. Maverick travellers that push the limits of Visa Exemptions can be brought into line by implementing a business traveller programme under this new geo-political environment. The opportunity to introduce pre-trip assessment will be better received in this new world, as even the most maverick of business travellers do not want to be refused entry or detained. The global security situation and the increase in intensity of natural


disasters and security events forces employers to focus on being able to locate travellers in case of emergency.


Conclusion


• Involve the traveller and use smartphone technology to collect data or merge it with existing travel or expense data


• Expand the focus of the project by mobilising the other internal stakeholders affected by business travel events. Support their requirements with the accrued data


• Use the project to raise the stature of the mobility team, establishing them in a greater advisory role


• Harness the changing political environment to mobilise your team


There are many service providers and technology solutions on the


market that can help you manage your programme. These include: BDO’s QuickTrip, Weichert’s Global Organizer, Altair’s Orbit Platform, Santa Fe’s Business Travel Tool, Orion Mobility’s GEM Business Traveller solution, Blick Rothenberg International Business Trips App or the GT Global Tracker.


To learn more about GT Global Tracker, please visit www.gtglobaltracker.com


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