The bulk of an HR Directors job is talent management. To manage a team of employees means to ensure the company and the employees are both safe and performing at their best. What it doesn’t mean is looking over an employees’ shoulder and constantly critiquing every move they make. Helping an executive to feel in charge of their day without hindering their creative spirit is important. HR Managers are not parents; they are employers.
Still, it can be a fine line at moments because HR does have some “parent-like” duties. For instance, if executives travel overseas, it’s the responsibility of the company to help keep them safe along the way.
Traveling employees don’t want to feel as if every move is being monitored. That’s understandable, because a top performing employee trusted with overseas travel should feel free enough to do their job how they see fit. Yet, a company can struggle between allowing employees the freedom to do their job and keeping a watchful eye on them for safety reasons. When employees travel on business, it is the duty of the company to protect them even at a distance. That’s why it’s important to frame the relationship as a partnership instead of a power struggle.
FoneTrac is a Solid Layer of Employee Travel Security…Not Surveillance
HR may be responsible for employee overseas safety, but they don’t have to micro-manage. FoneTrac’s smartphone travel safety app provides an invisible layer for easy travel safety monitoring of employees. If an employee is scheduled for an early morning arrival into Brussels, corporate HQ doesn’t need an admin by the phone to wait and confirm a safe landing. Fonetrac’s command center (part of the GlobalSecur system) is open 24/7 and employees can simply check in on their iPhone or Android via the app. When an employee hasn’t checked in, it may not be a safety issue. Long flights can be exhausting and the VIP may have rushed up to their hotel room only to crash out on the pillow. The geo-location tracker feature will quietly monitor the executives’ location when they’ve forgotten to check in.
Travel safety monitoring of employees also applies to emerging threats nearby. The FoneTrac geo-location tracker will sync the VIP’s current location with any changes in the surrounding environment. If a monsoon warning is in effect, for example, the GlobalSecur command center will continue to watch for signs of an eminent threat to the executives’ locale. All this monitoring happens without disturbing the busy executive. If the warning turns into an evacuation, GlobalSecur takes charge. That’s when FoneTrac goes into action and becomes the support system both HR and the employee need. An evacuation plan and on-site security can be deployed as arranged with the employee and the company. This allows executives to stay in charge at work until the situation is dire enough to hand the power off to an IMG security expert. Now the relationship has become a partnership instead of a surveillance nightmare.
Safety and security is important for any traveling employee, it just doesn’t have to become a burden to their psych. If you are an HR Manager or Director in charge of travel safety monitoring for employees, contact IMG about the FoneTrac security app. We’re happy to run you through a demo!