A 10-question Test for
Assessing a Travel Program's
Strategic Value
Never has there been a better time to elevate the strategic value of corporate travel programs.
The problem is that most travel programs are glued to providing tactical value. Think cost savings, data reporting, duty of care, Covid updates, and traveler satisfaction. No question, these all add important tactical value.
Today, travel programs must do much more to add strategic value.
What does a strategically valuable travel program look like?
Senior management will see it as a key enabler of business goals, constantly aligned with corporate strategy, a source of competitive advantage, and a catalyst for building creativity, culture, and teamwork across the organization.
Not many travel programs add much strategic value yet, but any program will if you can answer “Yes” to each of these 10 questions.
tClara's 10-Question Travel Strategy Test
Give your travel program one point for every “Yes”.
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In the last 12 months has senior management clearly prioritized your travel program's top goals, i.e., chosen between lower costs, better traveler health and safety, more successful trips, less travel-related CO2 emissions, and longer road warrior retention? ("If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.")
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Is your travel policy intentionally designed to reduce lower-value trips and improve the likelihood of success for each higher-value trip?
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Are you actively contributing to the Work From Anywhere and Return to Office policy decisions?
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Are your travel program and policies viewed as a competitive advantage when recruiting and retaining frequent travelers?
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Do you require an unbiased pre-trip assessment of each trip's justifiability?
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Is each trip linked to a strategically important goal, e.g., "Win revenue", or "Improve our workforce"?
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Do you track and report indicators of traveling too much or too little for each strategic goal?
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Can the executive sponsors for these strategically important goals quickly change the criteria for justifying trips linked to their goals?
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Do you have specific goals, strategies, and KPIs for improving your frequent travelers’ health, safety, and wellbeing?
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Do you have specific goals, strategies, and KPIs for reducing the amount of your program’s travel-related carbon emissions?
tClara estimates the average score today among mid-to-large travel programs would be fewer than three points. Six points would be very good; nine would be excellent; 10 is entirely possible for many, many travel programs.
Trip Tester, our travel justification tool, can help your program score six of these ten points. It's hard to imagine a strategically valuable travel program that doesn't use a tool like this.
Sure, there may be other questions to assess your travel program’s ability to add strategic value. Please adapt this list as you see fit.
The key is looking at your travel program through a strategic lens, and recognizing how much more valuable it could become.
Want to discuss your travel program's path to adding more strategic value?
Contact Scott Gillespie at scott@tclara.com