Introduction:
Virtuous growth and success for any organisation, irrespective of size, are determined through the optimisation of new and promising business leads. Business travel management refers to the policies and procedures implemented by employers to provide their employees with the travel resources and expenses to pursue potential business propositions.
Embracing a comprehensive travel management scheme attains success from every cornerstone. It allows employees to broaden their knowledge and experience within the field, simultaneously improving retention and productivity. It also promotes an increased work ethic that benefits the prosperity of an aspiring company.
However, that being said, an unmanaged travel policy can tarnish the benefits reaped as hidden expenses, which are often not monitored comprehensively, leaving a company exposed to huge financial losses.
To target the initiative of this blog, it has been established that taxis are the preferred mode of transport regarding business travel, with 80% of our recent survey’s respondents stating the means of taxi travel is more secure and convenient than public transport. CMAC commissioned independent research from 500 UK-based respondents who have verified as relying on taxis for business use to highlight the underlying challenges and consequences of inadequate coordination.
1. Unpredictable Price Spikes
Competitive pricing between taxi corporations such as Uber and Bolt prevails towards consistent fluctuations in travel quotes, meaning it can be difficult for employers to appoint budgets and limitations on the amount spent when hailing a taxi. Black cabs, in particular, provide little to no tracking receipts, making it challenging for businesses to record and monitor employees' journeys or expenses.
Additionally, employees feel more inclined to tip their taxi driver for their fare since their expenses are covered by their company’s policies. A staggering 64% of research respondents admit they round up their fare to provide a gratuity for their driver, leading to over-claiming on reimbursements and inflation costs.
Keeping this in mind, it is critical for any company’s cost-effective oversight to recognise that there is no room for human error or incompetency when it comes to expense management as this continuous pattern of flexible expenses per employee can snowball into financial turmoil.
2. Administration Overload
Expansion and growth allude to the trajectory of a successful business, which also entails investing in recruitment and development of hiring more employees to support the increasing workload.
Administration demands a lot of tedious attention and upkeep, so factoring in the cost of processing a month's worth of expenses for taxis, the time it takes to file these expenses and ultimately processing these claims only begins to scratch the surface of the underlying cost each taxi journey consists of.
Beyond the time and cost consuming elements of expense management, CMAC found that 1 in 10 survey respondents admitted to forgetting their taxi fare before writing it down, misrepresenting the true cost and therefore contributing to potential discrepancies on expense claims.
3. Duty of Care & Compliance
Any company practice should prioritise the safety and security of employees, especially regarding taxi use, which seems to blur the lines of an established business travel policy.
Taxis are considered a safe, secure and reliable mode of transit in comparison to public transport, due to the controlled environment, which eliminates any extraneous variables such as sharing a journey with an unpredictable individual. For the majority of the time, this is the most appealing option for the traveller, but for the employer, should a crisis arise, the whereabouts of the individual are unknown or extremely challenging to locate.
Duty of care guidelines state that the travel status of an employee should be known at all times and that the taxi supplier itself is legitimate and adheres to all relevant regulations and safety precautions. In the event of a road traffic accident, serious reputational and financial consequences can be imposed on a company for being negligent regarding the inadequate compliance of their travel policies.
How can CMAC help you?
CMAC’s independent research found that 50% of companies do not have a defined taxi policy within their travel guidelines. As we’ve discussed, this can result in financial losses due to employees overclaiming reimbursements, inefficient administration, and, on a more serious note, compliance negligence.
For almost two decades, we have made it our mission to assist organisations that want to improve their travel policies by streamlining the regulations, procedures, and costs all under one roof. This ensures your business has the time and resources to invest in optimising objectives elsewhere.
Our people-powered technology allows us to locate and monitor the whereabouts of all our trusted taxi suppliers recruited under a strict compliance scheme, meaning your people will be in safe hands with our people.
With experienced professionals working around the clock, 365 days a year, we guarantee responsive support at the touch of your fingertips. Whilst our global reach across our international offices provides a reliable network of communication regardless of obscure and unfamiliar territories.
We pride ourselves on promising convenient, friendly services, simultaneously driving down costs and saving time across multiple business functions. With a 99% satisfaction rate, we excel at exceeding your expectations.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to our dedicated team at hello@cmacgroup.com and revolutionise your travel management programme.