With a shiny, silver, sharp scalpel, the doctor cuts open the chest to gain access to the heart valves. Complaining of shortness in breath and pains in his chest, the patient has suffered from congestive heart failure and must endure a valve replacement. The bustling operating room activities unnerve the newcomers and learners while the experienced staff proceed skillfully. Throughout the procedure, the interns learn, the nurses assist, the anesthesiologists medicate and the surgeons strategize and execute.
With every cut, the doctor wonders, "Am I doing this procedure correctly?" The doctor, a general practitioner rather than a cardiologist or heart surgeon, read about heart surgery in a medical journal and thought he'd try it. Plus, the doctor has a heart, so he must know something about it, right? No one would accept the life or death, or malpractice risks associated with an unqualified doctor performing such a surgery. Yet, inexperienced generalists cut apart initiatives and programs every day in the business world. In travel and meetings, the risks may cause legal, financial and operational liabilities.
Today, the travel industry suffers from Congestive Travel Management Failure ("CTMF") which is the inability of an organization's travel and meeting program to adequately supply travelers with the best service and organizations with cost and risk reduction. The symptoms are shortness of funds and the lack of an organization-wide travel and meeting strategy. Even worse, organizations have indiscriminately cut travel and meeting directors from the workforce only to use general supply chain staff to diagnose and determine a prognosis. Without the experts, an organization may face critical situations, unprepared.
A plane crashes; does our organization have anyone onboard? A meeting attendee talks about an imminent suicide; do we have a standard operating procedure to handle difficult situations? A gusting hurricane may uproot our travelers and meeting attendees; do we know what to do and how much it will cost us? A meeting management supplier is suspected of overcharging and fraud; do we know what to look for? A travel management company is not supplying us with the lowest fares; how do we uncover the lost savings? A hotel is suing us for a meeting attendee injury that occurred onsite at their property; did we include the proper language in our hotel contract? Granted, medicine and hospitality are two very different industries. Medical staff experience daily life or death crises and require significantly more education than hospitality professionals. Still, both industries are complex and require institutional knowledge gained by years of experience.
The travel and meeting operating room needs procurement specialists alongside travel and meeting experts. The first group shares its knowledge on procurement principles, general contract terms, strategic sourcing, reciprocity policies, and price elasticity; the second group manages the category using its knowledge of basis points, cost per mile, yield management, logistics and industry specific contract terms.
Do not underestimate the value of travel and meeting experienced professionals. When an organization does not employ a hospitality expert, they often reach out to third-party consultants. In the past several months, I have guided numerous Consultants without Category Experience ("CwoCE") towards learning this complex industry. They think, because they travel, they must know the category, right? Confronted with the complex travel and meeting industry, these interns are shaping programs at hundreds of organizations. The interns may reside in procurement, internal audit, marketing or even a consulting firm but may not have the depth of category experience necessary to shape and manage a multimillion dollar T&E budget.
So, ask yourself…do you want the expert surgeon or the general practitioner to diagnose, strategize and execute your T&E programs?
Debi Scholar, GLP, CMM, CMP, CTE, CTT
Thank you for visiting the T&E Plus Blog on expense management, travel management, business meetings, events, incentives, strategic meetings management, entertainment, virtual meetings, tickets, hotels, airlines, ground transportation, T&E policy, plus more...
Debi has the following designations:
· Wharton Aresty Executive Education/National Business Travel Association (NBTA) Global Leadership Professional (GLP)
· Meeting Professionals International Certificate in Meetings Management (CMM)
· Convention Industry Council Certified Meeting Professional (CMP)
· NBTA Corporate Travel Expert (CTE)
· Six Sigma Green Belt
· Chauncey Certified Technical Trainer (CTT)
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