A policy is defined as a principle or rule to guide decisions to the desired outcome and it is also considered as your “Statement of Intent” or “Commitment” to a particular goal.
Now, basically at the end of the day a lot of people have policies, and they sit on their shelf. Well, that’s a complete waste of time.
What you need to do is:
- Let the employees have access to your company policies, whether it’s in the employee section or the management section.
- You should also induct your employees into the company policies. There’s no meaning in having a company policy if the employee doesn’t even know why the policy exists and what it stands for.
- And at the end of the day, the best thing you can do is to involve your employees in the policy process.
What should a policy include:
- an introduction, an overall statement of commitment,
- the aim of the policy,
- the outcomes of the policy when implemented properly,
- how the organisation plans to implement the policy,
- any legislation relating to the topic,
- the monitoring, reviewing, and consultation process and
- a procedure if needed.
Why do we have Policies?
- To help the business in its activities.
- To help ensure compliance in laws, statutes, regulations, and government requirements.
- To help reduce risk and to have long-term applications that are subject to regular review and updates.
What are Procedures?
A procedure basically means the document after a policy that instructs the worker how to do something, when they should be doing it and who is going to do it. And again, all your employees should have access to all those procedures and they should be inducted into these procedures as well. Also, the main thing is that they should be involved in the process.
Procedures are a great way to not only keep your people safe but also to make your business grow. Sometimes, the procedures that you create and put in place don’t work. So, a procedure is actually something that you are always actually developing to make it the best it can be.
What are emergency procedures?
The emergency procedure is a plan of actions to be conducted in a certain order or manner, in response to an emergency event. Here’s how you create an emergency procedure:
- First, you’ll have to identify certain scenarios that relate to your business.
- Develop a Policy specifically for that scenario.
- Develop a Procedure for that scenario.
- Identify and develop alerting systems for that scenario.
- Then if that scenario occurs, you need to identify and maintain the equipment that should be used in the emergency procedure.
- Then you need to develop responsibilities.
- Induct and train your staff on the emergency procedures.
- Review, record and refine the procedures to make the procedure work better every time.
What is the difference between a Policy and a Procedure?
A regular policy regulates, directs, and controls actions and conduct, ranging from broad philosophies to specific rules.
A procedure tells the users how to, and who will implement the policy.
Before preparing a policy, it may be appropriate to identify your company’s goals and also your activities and develop policies around them.
What policies do I need to develop?
First, you need to identify all those areas in your business where you actually need to develop policies and procedures. Because everyone has a different type of business.
The first place to look to identify the policy needs is the activities your business undertakes, the type of business you are, your industry standards, and the services that you provide.
For example, a warehouse may have policies relating to the use of machinery and Drugs and Alcohol Policy, where an office environment would need policies relating to Workplace Bullying and Harassment, Computer Use, etc.
All companies should have a number of policies in place, remembering that a Policy is ineffective if it is not actioned and the employees are not aware of the policy. The best way to action policies is to develop an induction into all the policies you have developed and induct your employees.
Need help with your HR Policies & Procedures? Email me at: corinne@tweakhr.com.au.