Companies that are
growing on average invest nearly twice as much on employee mobility than
non-growth companies, according to a recent survey by Runzheimer International,
"and it's paying off," according to Greg Harper, the company's
president and CEO.
In the introduction to
Runzheimer's latest survey report, Harper suggested that "those
firms with lower investments in efficient programs for mobile workers are
simply not reflecting growth. This should serve as a solid indicator ... and
speaks to the importance of connecting the points of mobility spending and
overall growth."
Based on data collected
from 103 North American organizations between September 2012 and February 2013,
the survey found that growth companies (defined as those that grew revenue by
at least one percent during the previous two fiscal years) in the past year
invested an average of $11,779 per mobile employee. Mobile employees include
business travelers (those who took at least one business trip last year, accounting
for an estimated 32 percent of the total U.S. and Canadian workforce), business
drivers (17 percent), relocatees (5 percent) and international assignees (2.3
percent). Growth companies accounted for about one-quarter of the survey sample
(reporting average growth of 11 percent).
By comparison,
non-growth organizations on average spent $6,527 per mobile employee.
The study also
determined that mobile workers at "high-growth" organizations (defined
as those with revenue growth of at least 10 percent during their past two
fiscal years) account for 38 percent of the total workforce versus 31 percent
at non-growth companies.
Overall, respondents on
average in 2012 directly spent $1,225 per mobile device, and another $211 on
support costs.
Business Travel Benchmarks
Runzheimer also found
that participating organizations on average in 2012 spent $10,997 directly per business
traveler—including airfare, lodging, meals, car rentals and rail—which was up
7.3 percent year over year. They spent another $713 on average for business
traveler "support costs" (including internal and outsourced
resources, technology, prorated salaries, benefits and various fees), marking a
15.8 percent decline from the prior year as the number of business travelers
served by one full-time equivalent on average increased by 4.6 percent.
"This could indicate a redirection of investment into travel versus
support cost, and an increase in program efficiency," Runzheimer wrote.
On a per-trip basis, average direct business traveler
spend declined by $10 from a year earlier to $1,957 while the average per-trip support
dropped $80 to $128.
Meanwhile, survey participants that implemented
expense management software (accounting for half of all respondents) on average
reported a direct spend of $1,414 per trip—27 percent less than the overall
survey benchmark of $1,957—while those using Excel spreadsheets or paper
processes directly spent $2,379 per trip. According to Runzheimer product
manager of travel and expense management Austin Klein, organizations using
expense management software "have greater visibility into their spend,
greater audit capabilities to review their expenses and can have tighter policy
controls."