TRA Guides

TRM Stakeholder Engagement Engaging key stakeholders across your organisation is critical to the success of any Travel Risk Management (TRM) programme. TRM is not just about compliance or risk mitigation—it’s about ensuring the safety, wellbeing, and productivity of your employees while they travel for work. This guide outlines how to effectively communicate the importance of TRM to departmental stakeholders, executives, and travellers, ensuring company-wide buy-in and support. 1 Understanding the Importance of Stakeholder Engagement Travel Risk Management (TRM) impacts multiple areas of a business—HR, finance, security, legal, and operations—making it essential to involve a broad range of departmental stakeholders. Additionally, executive leadership and travellers must understand the value of TRM to ensure policy compliance and support. Why Engagement Matters: Holistic support: Each department’s needs and priorities are different, and their input is necessary to create an effective TRM programme. Executive buy-in: Leadership must see the strategic value of TRM to allocate resources and budget. Traveller compliance: Travellers need to understand how TRM benefits them directly to ensure they follow the protocols. 2 Engaging Departmental Stakeholders Different departments have unique perspectives on travel risk management and engaging them early ensures that all needs are addressed. a. Human Resources (HR) Why they care: HR is responsible for Duty of Care obligations, employee safety, and wellbeing. They will also handle any personnel issues that arise from an incident on a trip. Engagement strategy: Frame TRM as a key element of employee wellbeing and retention. Highlight how TRM aligns with HR’s role in ensuring a safe and supportive work environment. Focus areas: Employee training, well-being, and personal safety during travel. b. Finance and Procurement Why they care: Finance and procurement is focused on cost control, budgeting, and the potential financial risks of inadequate TRM (such as lawsuits or medical evacuations). Engagement strategy: Present TRM as an investment in risk mitigation. Show how having an effective TRM programme can reduce unexpected costs (e.g., emergency expenses) and ensure cost-efficient travel. Focus areas: Cost savings through risk avoidance, insurance coverage, and reduced liability. c. Legal and Compliance Why they care: Legal teams are concerned with liability, regulatory compliance, and protecting the organisation from litigation related to duty of care breaches. Engagement strategy: Highlight how a robust TRM programme ensures compliance with international regulations and reduces legal exposure. Discuss how ISO31030:2021 sets an industry benchmark for travel risk management. Focus areas: Compliance, Duty of Care, and legal risk mitigation. d. Security Why they care: Security teams are tasked with protecting employees from threats and managing responses to incidents abroad. Engagement strategy: Collaborate with the security team to ensure TRM policies cover crisis response, traveller location services, and local intelligence. Position TRM as a tool to improve incident response and protect employees. Focus areas: Traveller tracking, crisis management, and security protocols. e. Operations Why they care: Operations teams rely on business travel to maintain productivity and efficiency. Engagement strategy: Show that effective TRM policies support business continuity by reducing travel disruptions and ensuring employees feel safe and productive while travelling. Focus areas: Business continuity, operational efficiency, and travel logistics. 3 Engaging Executives Securing executive buy-in is critical for funding, resources, and overall support for the TRM programme. Senior leadership must understand the strategic importance of TRM beyond just travel logistics. a. Why Executives Care Risk mitigation: Executives are responsible for protecting the business, its assets, and its people. A TRM programme minimises risks that could lead to significant financial and reputational damage. Strategic alignment: TRM supports the company’s long-term goals, whether it’s expanding into new markets, ensuring workforce productivity, or fulfilling corporate social responsibility. b. Engagement Strategy Link to corporate goals: Align TRM with broader company objectives, such as global expansion, talent retention, or sustainability. Show how effective travel risk management supports these goals.  Present data and case studies: Use real-life examples or data to demonstrate the financial and legal risks of not having a proper TRM programme. Highlight the role of TRM in business continuity and protecting the organisation’s reputation. Demonstrate ROI: Emphasise the return on investment (ROI) of a strong TRM programme. For example, avoiding a costly medical evacuation or crisis can save significant resources and prevent business disruptions. c. Focus Areas for Executives Alignment to organisational strategic goals Business continuity Legal compliance and Duty of Care Reputation management Cost and risk mitigation 4 Engaging Travellers Travellers are at the core of the TRM programme, and their compliance is critical for its success. However, they may see TRM as a burden if not properly engaged. a. Why Travellers Care Personal safety and wellbeing: The most immediate benefit for travellers is their own safety and security while on the road. Clarity and support: Travellers want to know what’s expected of them and feel supported, not micromanaged, while they travel. b. Engagement Strategy Communicate the ‘Why’: Explain how TRM directly benefits them by keeping them safe, ensuring access to help in emergencies, and providing tools that make travel easier (e.g., traveller tracking or local safety alerts). Provide training and resources: Offer easy-to-access training sessions on personal security, travel health, and crisis response. Provide travellers with tools like emergency contact cards, mobile apps, and pre-travel briefings. Highlight success stories: Share examples of how the TRM programme has helped other travellers avoid or manage difficult situations. This personalises the impact and makes the programme more relatable. c. Focus Areas for Travellers Personal safety and emergency response Clarity on policies and expectations Access to tools and support 5 Creating a Collaborative Travel Risk Management Culture To foster organisation-wide engagement in travel risk management, it’s important to create a culture of safety and responsibility where TRM is seen as a shared commitment. a. Cross-Departmental Collaboration Ensure that all departments understand their role in supporting travel risk management. A cross-functional TRM committee or group can facilitate collaboration and ensure that policies are shaped by the input of all relevant stakeholders. b. Regular Communication Communicate regularly about the TRM programme, updating stakeholders on changes, success stories, or emerging risks. Continuous communication keeps TRM top-of-mind