Travel Reward Points Are An Employee Perk [poll results]
We recently ask HR Bartender readers who keeps the reward points accumulated during business travel. Honestly, this one didn’t even come close. Maybe that’s why we received a lower response rate than usual. When it comes to business travel, employees get to keep the points.
It made me wonder if part of the reason is because employees have to pay for travel then get reimbursed. Employees get the benefit of keeping the points because the company gets the benefit of not issuing company credit cards. That might be slightly cynical, but if it works, that’s great. Especially for employees that travel a lot.
True story: I once held a volunteer leader role that didn’t issue credit cards (because it was a non-profit). But there were times when the organization would owe me $5,000 or more in reimbursable expenses. At some point, they started realizing that people were not going to volunteer if they had to spend and wait for reimbursement for large sums of money. That’s when the credit card policy changed.
That same philosophy holds true for employees. If employees are doing lots of travel, the points serve as recognition for being away from family and home. Being a road warrior is a tough job. What’s a few thank-you points really cost the organization? Maybe a lot.
Image courtesy of Sharlyn Lauby
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