Denver
- By leading efforts to funnel travel data through iJet and provide a single
hotline for travelers, McDonald's Corp. travel manager
Faye Zeidlhack established a traveler safety program across Asia/Pacific, the Middle
East and Africa—even though the company has not consolidated travel agencies
across those regions.
While a single agency
serves McDonald's travelers in the United States, a variety of agencies serve
its key offices in Sydney, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Some of those individual
offices themselves are serviced by multiple agencies.
"There's a big
geographic gap and a lot of different policies and ways of doing things,"
Zeidlhack said here in August during a Global Business Travel Association
conference.
Zeidlhack first built
her team for the project, including office managers from each of the key
offices, a human resources director from Hong Kong and the head of security at U.S.
headquarters. One of the biggest early challenges was finding time to set up
the initial conference calls between the team and the iJet Intelligent Risk
Systems program manager, but the gravity of a travel security program made it a
priority.
"These are busy
offices with smaller staffs, and they wear a lot of hats," Zeidlhack said.
"Once you explain safety and security, people get it, so they were on
board pretty much right away."
Another challenge was
training the various agencies to submit to iJet the necessary data feeds, such
as passenger name record booking information, so McDonald's could quickly reach
out to travelers when emergencies arise, Zeidlhack said.
The next step was
setting up a single 24-hour hotline staffed by personnel equipped to handle
emergencies and questions in each of the regions. Even if a traveler remembers
nothing but that hotline number, they can access whatever information they may need,
Zeidlhack said.
"If you call from
anywhere in the world, they have information, like if you're having a security
incident or something strange is happening right outside your hotel," she explained.
"Who do they call in Sydney if you lost your laptop, for example? What
insurance options are available?"
The hotline also can help
in non-emergencies. The most common call, according to Zeidlhack, is from
travelers who need to change reservations but do not remember how to do so.
Additionally, the
hotline can be a resource for families trying to reach a traveler during an
emergency, and some employees have used it in the course of personal travel. One
traveler was in Egypt on a personal trip during the unrest this year and used
the security department to get out more quickly than had he been a standard
tourist, Zeidlhack said.
"It was the one
time I didn't have to sell the traveler safety," Zeidlhack said. "Somebody
had this great example for me."
Successful
implementation required some training. Travelers need to know, for instance,
that they must click on provided links within emails sent by the security team
after a booking, which prompts them to fill out profiles and emergency contact
information. McDonald's also provides a safety and security training video into
for travelers, explaining pre-trip preparations they should make and what to do
should an emergency occur while they are traveling.
With the initial program
in place, Zeidlhack now aims to spread it across some of the smaller offices in
the region and roll out a safety and security program in Europe. McDonald's
also is working to consolidate some of its agencies and policies across Asia/Pacific,
Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and leverage insurance policies for better
savings.
By first tackling safety
and security, McDonald's already has paved the way for consolidation. The
project provided an opportunity for global leaders to work closely together,
many of whom had previously communicated predominantly by email.
"There was a lot of
side talk, relative to policies and procedures, talking about what TMCs are
doing for them, fees, airline agreements—other things came into play,"
Zeidlhack said. "It created a lot of team member alignment."