Many companies may think that they have their employee travel costs under control, but that may just be a false impression simply because the company isn’t seeing the bigger picture. Let’s compare this to gym membership, you may think that the membership is a good deal just because the monthly membership fees are a small amount. However, a look at the bigger picture (buying new trainers, acquiring a new water bottle, fuel and parking fees, not to mention the energizing refreshments you need after each session) can sober you up and make you rethink that gym membership. The same approach needs to be taken when assessing the success of your travel policy. Are you looking at it through the consolidated lenses of the big picture, or you are basing your judgment on just the cost of tickets and hotel rooms? Andrea Tsakanikas, the President of CrewFacilities (a travel management company with decades of experience in the field), suggests that companies consolidate their records of all travel-related costs so that a true picture of what is happening can be obtained. You can’t manage what you don’t measure, can you? Experts at CrewFacilities reveal that consolidating all travel-related expense records helps to increase compliance with your company’s travel policy because you can easily tell when an employee has booked outside the channels recommended in the policy. Such errant employees can be advised to stick to the guidelines, so the company will not face any duty of care issues resulting from non-compliant travel behavior. Additionally, Andrea Tsakanikas has seen how records consolidation can save companies a lot of money in travel expenses. For example, companies can compare the cost of taking each member to different destinations for annual team meetings. Such insights can result in a decision to hold team meetings in a particular destination that is found to be cost-effective. The savings made from the use of the consolidated data can go towards other company budget points, such as paying employee bonuses. Consolidating all the records of employee travel also makes it easier to negotiate with service providers since you will dangle the carrot of the bulk business that you bring to the table during the talks. Such a negotiating chip isn’t available to companies whose records are scattered, and consequently, they may not get the desired concessions from service providers. You don’t have to worry about where to start in order to consolidate your employee travel expense records. Just hire CrewFacilities to manage your employee travel programs and the travel management company will use its technological tools (CrewFacts app) and human resources to provide a seamless way for you to get all the ducks lined up. You will start enjoying the numerous benefits, such as custom reports on various expense issues, which such records consolidation brings.