American Express Meetings & Events (AmEx M&E) released the results of its latest study, Mitigating Meetings Risk: 2016 vs. 2013 Findings, with the goal of understanding the key areas of meetings risk among planners.
AmEx M&E said it was interested in determining whether there had been shifts in meeting planner and meeting owner activities and behaviors related to risk (specifically those items identified in 2013). 400 meeting planners, meeting owners and company leaders were surveyed about risk mitigation.
More planners and owners agreed that risk was properly mitigated in their organizations, with 89% of planners and 80% of owners responding that they felt their company had a handle on the situation. This is a big increase from 2013 when only 49% of planners and 56% of owners felt in control of risk.
Some of the key risk areas where improvement was seen by respondents include:
- Duty of care/crisis management – includes processes for scripted communications, data redundancy/backup, and use of international medical and security services. 86% of meeting owners with a policy in place current have, or plan to have, specific duty of care clauses.
- Meeting supplier contracts – 86% of planners say legal and procurement departments review hotel contracts, which is an increase of 31% over 2013). Only 8% said they review themselves.
- Tracking and reporting – almost 95% of meeting planners are tracking and reporting on all meeting expenses, up almost 15% from 2013. More planners reported receiving a budget.
AmEx M&E also found several areas to watch out for:
- 17% of planners said there was no formal meeting policy in place within their organization.
- Almost 1/3 of planners do not have standard operating procedures in place to manage a crisis.
- 9% of planners don’t think a contract needs to be executed with meeting services suppliers.
- 50% of meeting owners still report their organization doesn’t require planners to track savings.
The organization also went on to mention the increased percentages of meeting planners and meeting owners who said they would follow through on an unethical request (7.6% and 15.5%, respectively). For more information on the study and to download the full report, visit the AmEx Global Business Travel site.
