Many industries require their employees to be ‘in the field’ – on business trips, projects, or in-person client meetings. These include travelling nurses, sales representatives, event planners and many more. While travel can unlock amazing opportunities for the company, it can also create complexities in tracking business-related expenses, employee productivity (especially when factoring in uncommon metrics), and reimbursements.
How HR can stay in-tune with travelling employees
When employees are in another location (or even another timezone), the lines may become blurred as to where HR can step in to assist and support. HR should have processes in place to ensure that it can keep track of employees’ progress in their responsibilities, and to be able to offer support for their needs, even from afar.
HR’s focus should be in ensuring that the employee is safe while on a business trip, and that their actions align with the purpose of the travel (and the wider scope of the company’s goals) and are compliant with the legal and company requirements. It should monitor to ensure that the employee’s time spent working during the travel is within established parameters. HR can also ensure that it provides the proper resources to the employee before, during and after travel – such as providing clear instructions and guidance on any documentation needed, how the employee can record their work progress, what costs can be documented as travel expenses, and how the employee will be reimbursed.
Using travel and expense management software to automate the process
HR can take advantage of technology specifically made to assist employees during business travel, and to provide HR with valuable insights into the return on investment of the travel – even across multiple employees or teams in different locations. One example of this is Empfly, which offers solutions tailored for business travel needs.
Emplfy’s field monitor app actively tracks activities conducted by employees during travel to different sites, automatically creating a detailed report. This documentation includes not just key performance indicators being worked towards, but also the financial expenses that require reimbursement, making sure nothing falls through the cracks. Additionally, Empfly’s attendance-tracking manages employee information, including who has access to certain sites and how many hours they’ve worked.
By using travel and expense management tech, and pairing it with robust work travel policies to ensure compliance, productivity, and employee satisfaction, HR can make the most out of travel-related projects.
