In 4 out of 10 businesses, the CEO manages home/work travel

The key figure for mobility policy within Belgian businesses seems to be the big boss, according to a large-scale European study carried out by the Arval Mobility Observatory. In 4 out of 10 Belgian businesses, the CEO or managing director decides how the employees’ mobility is organised.

“Only in companies with over 500 employees is the ultimate responsibility for the company fleet, the options for car sharing, or the start-up or expansion of bicycle leasing fully delegated to the fleet manager or the operational director”, explains Yves Ceurstemont, Head of Arval Mobility Observatory Belgium.

Many businesses are currently closely examining their mobility policy in order to figure out how they can increase the sustainability of their employees’ commute. Under the impetus of tax regulations and ESG goals, the transition to an electrified fleet is accelerating, and other mobility solutions, such as the introduction of shared company vehicles, leasing (e)bikes and speed pedelecs via the employer, and the repayment of multimodal journeys, are also gaining popularity. But the options given to an employee for commuting to work sustainably often depend on the big boss, according to a survey of 300 Belgian businesses by the Arval Mobility Observatory.

“In 4 out of 10 Belgian businesses, the CEO or managing director decides which options are offered for the employee commute. This encompasses which mobility budgets are offered and whether lease bikes are provided, but also includes the integration of shared company cars or the option to lease a car via the cafeteria plan.”

- Yves Ceurstemont, Head of Arval Mobility Observatory Belgium

Fleet manager silver, COO and purchasing director shared bronze

The only businesses category where the CEO tends not to have the final word is the group of businesses with over 500 employees, where just 27% of cases involve the CEO making the final decisions with respect to mobility policy.

Across all business categories, the fleet manager is the ultimate decision maker on mobility policy in just 13% of cases or 3 times less frequently. In third place, is the COO or Chief Operating Officer and the purchasing director or procurement manager, each of whom determines the direction of the mobility policy and how multimodal home/work travel is organised in just 10% of Belgian companies respectively.

“Setting out or making changes to a mobility policy impacts on various areas particularly in smaller organisations so it makes sense that a CEO or managing director wants to hold the reins. There is the financial aspect, the ecological aspect and the organisation's sustainability ambitions, while mobility solutions are also playing an increasingly significant role with respect to recruitment and retention. The puzzle has become more and more complex over the past few years, particularly in our country due to modified tax regulations.”

- Yves Ceurstemont, Head of Arval Mobility Observatory Belgium

Above the European average

When we compare the Belgian figures with the European average and the figures in our neighbouring countries, we can see that Belgian CEOs are more likely to make the final decisions on mobility policies in their organisations than their British, French, German and Dutch counterparts. The only place where CEOs are more likely to make decisions on the organisation of employee mobility is Luxembourg.

Note to editors

The research was carried out in 20 European countries where Arval is active, in a total of 5,854 companies with company vehicles, of which 300 were Belgian. Belgian businesses were categorised into 4 groups: small (fewer than 10 employees) with 101 respondents, average (with 10 to 99 employees) with 58 respondents, medium-sized (with 100 to 499 employees) with 78 respondents and large (with 500+ employees) with 63 respondents.