The Benefits of Automation in Travel Management Workflows
Traditional methods of travel management can lead to errors and delays, ultimately impacting the company’s financial health. Moreover, bottlenecks in the system can have a cascading effect, leaving many employees frustrated.
To avoid such issues, enterprises need to keep their travel processes efficient. This is where automation proves to be a game-changer by streamlining travel management workflows.
Automation of travel management workflows refers to the use of technology, such as software, to replace manual tasks with tasks that function independently according to predefined rules.
Following are the major benefits of automating your travel management workflows.
Increased Efficiency
Managing travel manually can be tedious. It involves tasks such as maintaining traveler information and keeping track of all trip itineraries manually.
This can lead to a decrease in productivity for travel managers as they spend a lot of time on these activities regularly. In fact, nearly 70% of workers believe that companies can use automation to reduce the time wasted on repetitive work.
A solution to increasing efficiency is automation. Travel management workflows can be automated with the help of travel management software.
The software takes care of tasks such as managing receipts, data entry, and workflow organization. As a result, companies can free up the time of human resources and use it to focus on tasks that drive growth.
Higher Cost Savings
Manual methods of business travel management are inefficient in controlling travel expenses. It can make it difficult for managers to control travel expenses and keep track of employee spending. Further, it can lead to issues such as difficulty finding the best travel deals and the risk of travel expense fraud.
In addition, using paper-based processes for managing business travel can be expensive. This is because of the added expenses of storing, printing and managing paper records.
However, automation can offer a solution to these problems and help you save money in several areas. According to a report by Deloitte, companies that have already implemented intelligent automation beyond the pilot stage have achieved an average cost reduction of 32%.
With automation, businesses can obtain better deals on travel bookings, increase transparency in employee expenditure, and reduce the cost of manual labor. This enables them to increase their cost savings.
Improved Data Management
In the traditional way of managing employee travel and expenses, managers have to manually enter the details of each employee’s trip into a spreadsheet. This process is time-consuming and prone to errors due to human intervention. It can also cause issues down the line due to inaccuracies.
However, with the help of automation, this process becomes much simpler and more accurate. Once an employee uploads their receipts, the software uses optical character recognition (OCR) to extract the data from the receipts. This eliminates the possibility of errors, making the data more reliable.
The data is then stored in a centralized location, making it more accessible. The software also provides a consolidated view for simpler management. As a result, it becomes easier for the team to search for specific information when needed.
Streamlined Reporting
Usually, manual travel management workflows can make it difficult for managers to access real-time travel reports. This can cause issues such as delays in identifying cost-saving opportunities and decreased control over T&E.
However, with automation, managers can get a clear view of expenses as soon as employees upload them onto the software.
Not only does automation provide real-time visibility into expenses, but it also provides reports of travel spending. Managers can get reports for last-minute bookings, preferred suppliers, the highest spending department, and much more.
Further, managers can automate getting these reports weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Consequently, they are able to make better data-driven decisions.
Faster Approvals
In traditional travel management workflows, employees must manually fill in travel request forms and either email or physically submit them to the appropriate approvers. Unfortunately, this process can be quite cumbersome, and sometimes the request form may go unnoticed by the approver in their busy inbox.
Fortunately, with the help of automation, the travel request form is automatically directed to the approver. The software also sends alerts to the approver when they receive a new travel request. This process ensures that travel requests are managed efficiently. Plus, it reduces the likelihood of requests going unnoticed.
By automating the travel request process, approvals are much faster and easier. Approvers can easily review and approve or reject travel requests with just a click of a button.
Improved Policy Compliance
It is not uncommon for employees to ignore travel policies. This is especially true in cases where policies are difficult to understand or if they do not align with the employee’s preferences.
In such cases, travel management software that automates compliance checks can be a solution. The software allows employees to easily understand which options are in or out of policy while they are searching for flights or hotels within the approved travel tool.
Further, automated policy compliance checks can also be integrated into travel management software. It means the software flags claims during expense filing that fall outside of policy requirements.
You can do this by pre-defining rules for the software based on your policy and can also modify it depending on your needs. This way, the software verifies claims before they are sent to the approver.
Enhanced Traveler Experience
Automated travel management workflows help make business travel less stressful for employees. With the help of predictive analysis and AI, managers can identify the potential risks of cities and prevent sending employees to those places. This helps ensure the safety of travelers.
In addition, AI chatbots provide round-the-clock assistance to employees, which makes the travel experience smoother. Plus, automated alerts for upcoming trips keep travelers informed about their itineraries, reducing the chances of missed flights. Ultimately, the overall business travel experience for employees is improved.
Automate Your Travel Management Workflows
Certainly, automation can benefit your business by streamlining your travel management workflows. However, to automate your systems, a travel management software solution is needed.
For this purpose, you can invest in ITILITE, which is an advanced travel management software solution. ITILITE automates approval workflows, policy compliance checks, and expense reporting.
ITILITE also provides a centralized dashboard for data management and trip tracking, giving you a bird’s eye view of your travel program. Plus, it enables you to make informed decisions based on actionable insights.
Book a free demo to learn more about how ITILITE can transform your travel management workflows.
