When it comes to Human Resources policies, you will find plenty of advice. Unfortunately, a great deal of it can be very risk averse. There are also plenty of companies who will happily charge you for writing them on your behalf.
When it comes to policies, there are a few things that we think HR could do. The first one is to consider whether you need a policy at all. Often, what is included in our HR policies is no more than common sense. Take dress codes as an example. Most of what they state is obvious. In the majority of office environments at least, you shouldn’t really need to tell an adult what to wear.
It is important to remember that when you write a HR policy, you are talking to your employees. It is part of your relationship with them. It is part of the employee experience. You are sending them signals about the company, about HR, and about the culture. Most important of all, you are saying something about how much you trust them – see our earlier point on dress codes. This is especially true of new starters. Consider how your policies read to someone brand new to your organisation; what are they saying?
Although often not the most interesting of HR activities, policies are hugely important, more for these reasons than the usual ones that they exist; they can be more than the sum of their words.
If you do determine that you need a policy, here are our top tips!
Avoid stating the obvious.
We once saw a policy that went to the trouble of defining a meeting. Just in case anyone wasn’t entirely sure. If it is obvious, then you really, really don’t need to state it.
Stop trying to cover every eventuality
You can’t. So don’t even try. If you set guiding principles and empower your managers to act within them, then this should be sufficient. Consider a social media policy. If you try and mention every type of platform or activity, or try and think of every way that employees can use or misuse them and then add them to your policy, you will never keep up. But herein lies a key problem; some people like being told what to do in every eventuality. It saves them from having to make a decision, or gives them the opportunity to say ‘HR said’. So amending your policies to principle-led ones will force these people out of their comfort zones to learn and think for themselves. No bad thing.
Don’t let them grow
One of the problems with people policies is that they get bigger without you even noticing. They start off nice and concise, and then a couple of years later you take another look and they have grown without you noticing. Often this occurs when a new situation arises in the workplace, and it is quickly added it in to the document for next time. Overall principles are much better, and less is definitely more.
Don’t have too many
How many policies do you really need? We reckon that the average HR Department has upwards of 30. Sometimes we write policies that we just don’t need. For example, if when managing disciplinary issues you follow the ACAS code, you could just opt to have a statement to that effect in your contract or handbook that says so. There are some policies that you do absolutely do need. Social media is a good example, for no more reason than you might just lose an Employment Tribunal without one.
Be flexible.
Policies are there to provide a framework and guidance. There is a time for following a policy to the letter and a time to take a flexible approach. Over-reliance on policies rather than applying common sense and considering context will disempower your managers and disengage your employees. ‘Because the policy said so’ is never a good way to start any conversation with your people. You don’t have to treat everyone the same, but you do have to treat them fairly.
Consider your tone.
Plain language is just fine. There really isn’t any need for legal language or excessive formality. Write like you speak.
Don’t worry about a signature
There is no legal requirement to get everyone to sign a policy as some sort of proof that they have read it. You do however need to make efforts to draw people’s attention to your policies and make them easily accessible. It just isn’t practical to get people to sign everything, especially as once you revise the policy it will make the original signature worthless. Just like we said earlier, getting people to sign policies also sends a signal – a signal that perhaps you don’t trust people. This is HR work of little or no value.
One of the most important things of all; never lose sight of how a policy or process makes people feel.
Recommendations for policies:
• Review your current policies with a critical eye. Get rid of ones you don’t need. Aim to simplify them wherever possible, including the language within them.
• If you currently spend lots of time printing them, sending them to new starters, or chasing signatures, then simply stop doing this. Just direct people to where they can find the information they need when they need it; that will be more than sufficient.
• Write your own. Don’t borrow them from someone else or crib ones from the internet. Your policies need to be about you and reflect your specific needs.
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