Introducing Expense Management to Your Team

Introducing Expense Management to Your Team

Introducing Expense Management to Your TeamIt’s an exciting time for you. You’ve done your research, compared multiple programs, crunched the numbers, and you’ve finally got it: your decision for the expense management program you want to adopt. It’s time to let your employees know.

There’s a common misconception that employees will be hostile to expense tracking. Some employers believe their team will take the move personally, or that it will be seen as the boss placing blame on workers for high company costs. A little education and honest conversation will go a long way in laying these fears to rest.

1) Explain how it will benefit the company

Make it clear that this move is all about benefitting the company. This isn’t about looking to single out one group of employees and asking them alone to cut their costs. This is about taking a bird’s-eye view of how your company is spending money, and looking to improve expense management as a team. Emphasizing that you’re in this as a team will keep any feelings from being hurt or any one person feeling like they’re to blame.

2) Celebrate how it will benefit your employees

It always helps to let your team know what they’re getting out of this. Highlight the freedom they’ll get from an expense management program: they’ll be able to have all their expense reports funneled into one central place, rather than having a supervisor asking after it. It’ll also help them generate any supplemental reports they may need, taking the guesswork out of the process.

Streamlining the process will also help improve workflow, making everyone’s job easier. This will allow your employees to devote their time to other areas of their work, besides organizing receipts and manually drafting expense reports.

3) Answer questions honestly

The best way to keep your team from feeling like this is an attack is simply to provide education. The more information you put out up front, the more obvious it is that this is a smart move for the company as a whole, and not a witch-hunt (though it will certainly help weed out any dishonest workers in your group).

Be open and honest about the impending changes. Answer questions about how your expense management program will be rolled out, and your team will be fully informed and ready to tackle this new program with you.

Expense management programs aren’t ways of placing blame for a company’s costs. They’re practical, useful tools that help you get a better idea of where your business’ money is going. Bring your employees on board by being open and honest about your new program. Education will go a long way in getting everyone on board.