PEOPLE MOVERS

It is clear that businesses want and need more innovative and creative approaches to employee travel in order to tackle the complicated web of requirements and priorities. Customers often ask how to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO), cut carbon emissions, interweave cars with other transport and ensure the best driver experience.

A lot of employees don’t have company cars and need mobility for day-to-day business trips. Add to this that 65% of business travellers are now millennials and Gen Z – and these younger employees have new, ‘greener’ expectations of the travel experience. Yet, research has shown that many work-related journeys are only possible in a car.

And then there is the challenge of managing grey fleet travel, while understanding where discretionary travel costs sit – and keeping an increasingly hybrid workforce mobile.

A lot of the insight required in order to undertake a behavioural shift comes down to understanding and influencing employee travel behaviours. Knowing when, how, where and why employees travel is key to encouraging what makes sense on each occasion: virtual meetings, active travel, public transport and/or motoring.

That analysis can be used to devise programmes that change behaviours and transform travel from unmanaged to managed. Pool cars used by employees could be replaced by a dedicated on-site car club – or by installing car club telematics in existing vehicles – to drive better utilisation and reduce the number of vehicles needed.

Replacement vehicles could be managed more seamlessly, reducing downtime with a connected, transparent ecosystem of information that ensures everyone from end user to fleet manager to bodyshop is informed at the same time. Data, combined with mobility expertise, allows fleet managers to imagine smart, progressive solutions.

When looking at the future of employee mobility, sustainability and reducing emissions is often top of mind. Electric vehicle usage is one way to further nudge behaviours in the right direction.

Even just putting the electric option at the top of the list when employees hire a car online can increase the number of EV users. Ensuring company car or salary sacrifice drivers waiting for a new EV have an EV as their lead-in vehicle has a similar impact.

At the same time, EVs will not meet the requirements of every journey or employee need. The electric transition is only one in a series of measures that can help to make business travel more sustainable.

Encouraging drivers out of – usually older – grey fleet cars and into low-emission alternatives could perhaps be even more effective in reducing emissions than replacing an entire fleet with EVs. Placing greener, more fuel-efficient vehicles within easy reach of grey fleet users means they are less likely to jump into their own cars.

The future of mobility brings an opportunity for organisations to think creatively and create a better travel experience for employees. There are transport options available today that didn’t exist 10 years ago – and opportunities for capturing data that enable businesses to focus on mobility holistically.

Consultancy and analysis help businesses select the right transport choices, in line with company objectives. The travel policy of tomorrow is going to reflect that. Employees already expect low-emission travel as standard. They also want round-the-clock accessibility and flexibility. Remote and hybrid workers want mobility wherever they are. They will need the same level of convenience using a rental or pool car as they get when using their own vehicle.

The good news is that this is all achievable for fleet managers who engage in partnerships, enabling them to manage employee mobility today and for the future.