Corporate mobility is critical to conducting business in the modern world, so responsible travel management requires companies to perform a comprehensive executive and employee travel risk assessment. The overall question is what kinds of risk does a corporation expose itself to when sending an employee or senior executive abroad? An exact answer would of course depend on detailed knowledge about specific destination involved, but several broad categories of risk can be defined. As an overview, these include:
Risk to employees and executives
This can include physical security issues of crime or civil unrest, and medical issues such as illness or stress.
Risk to corporate reputation
Criticism from ethical investors and pressure groups if the corporation is seen to be working with a government seen as corrupt or culpable in human rights abuses. Employees may be “entrapped” by scams that seek to tarnish corporate image.
Risk to data and/or equipment
Data carried by travelers on laptops or smartphones, which could include proprietary corporate information or future plans, could be ex-filtrated. Computers may be targeted for “ransom-ware”.
Legal risk
If an employee or executive is charged with misconduct in some jurisdictions his or her corporate employer may be held liable. In some countries police and/or judges are corrupt, or are not independent from political pressure, which can place employees at risk from bogus charges.
Financial risk
Corporation-issued credit cards could be stolen and misused. Business contracts may be denied unless payments (kick-backs, bribes) are made.
Travel risk assessment and management
This items on this list may make employee travel seem like a daunting challenge, but in a way represents a worst-case scenario. Certainly no single employee is going to encounter more than a handful of these on any given trip. Further, with proper pre-trip planning each type of risk can be “managed” to a degree that makes the trip a net positive for the corporation.
Remember: every corporate situation is unique and far beyond the scope of a mere blog post. To learn more about how detailed travel risk assessment for your employees and executives can help your organization, reach out to us and have one of our friendly staff explain more about the benefits.