Claims management provider Crawford and Company employs 10,000 people globally, including 1,350 UK employees. As the organisation responds to insurance claims around the world, overseas travel is part of many employees’ jobs.
To give greater visibility of where employees are going, all travel is booked through one agency. Shaun Kelly, chief ethics officer at Crawford and Company says: “We have a sanctions list of countries that we don’t allow employees to visit but the travel agency will also alert us if someone is travelling to somewhere of concern so we can approve it. The safety of our employees is paramount: we’d rather upset an insurer client than put our people at risk.”
Before any overseas assignment, employees also receive a pre-travel briefing to ensure they are aware of any cultural differences and risks. Suzie Norman, head of HR – UK and Ireland, at Crawford and Company, says: “We support them with accommodation and the paperwork they need before they go. Once they’re overseas, we also have weekly check-ins to make sure everything is ok.”
Having centralised travel information also makes it easy to respond if there is an emergency situation anywhere in the world. “It could be an earthquake in Japan or a terror attack in London but we will know instantly which of our employees could be affected,” says Kelly. “We can then reach out to them to make sure they are safe.”
If an employee needs additional support, travel insurance is in place to assist them. Additionally, the organisation can use its network of offices and local representatives around the world to help an employee who is in difficulties.
This support can even extend to employees’ families, as Kelly explains: “If an employee’s son or daughter is on a university placement overseas we can provide them with contact details for our local representatives. If they need medical treatment or have a problem, it can be useful to be able to tap into this local knowledge.”