This will set the tone, content, and even the organization of your policy manual. Make sure the entire team, including management, understands and buys into the "why" early on. Once you have that executive mandate, now you can start the actual development.Ĭonsider why you're writing your new policies, and let that inform the actual writing process. That means there will need to be several people involved in the final approval. dos and don'ts of the employee kitchen on the 7th floor), you need the highest leadership buy-in you can get.Īfter all, these policies will drive the culture of your office, there are also legal implications of these new policies. If it's anything more than a simple departmental requirement (e.g. Develop a policy charter or mandateīefore you start writing any new policy, you need buy-in from top leadership. Since these are the documents that affect how everyone works every day, you need to get it right. Writing policies and procedures can be a long and involved process, and you'll spend almost as much time preparing as you will actually writing. Sharpen your pencils, brew some coffee, and grab a doughnut, because it's policy writing time.
We'll talk about how to prepare for writing your policies, how to write a policy and a procedure, and how to implement your shiny new policies and procedures.
This article will show you a few best practices for building a solid foundation in guiding your team toward success. That is, if employee safety is one of your bedrock policies, and the organization expects complete adherence to your safety policies, the procedures establish how those policies will be followed, such as the wearing and disposal of PPE (personal protective equipment), or the training requirements for handling hazardous materials. They also define the lower-level processes that shore up the policies. The procedures are how those policies are carried out. Your policies are the high-level principles that set the tone for the entire organization. In that same report, the authors found that 47% of organizations say keeping policies current with changing regulations is their number one challenge.Īs you write new policies and procedures or rewrite your old ones, it's important to understand the difference between the two. Why are policies and procedures important?Īccording to the Navex Global 2016 Ethics and Compliance Policy Management Benchmark Report, between 2013–2016, 44% of organizations faced legal or external regulatory actions where a policy came under review as part of the action or defense.
They equip your staff to meet their strategic goals, reduce legal and regulatory risk, create standards for performance, and identify opportunities for improvement. They're the visions and expectations of your executive leadership, showing how employees are expected to carry out those visions and meet those expectations.
That means your policies and procedures manual shoulders the burden of creating your company's culture. Policies and procedures are the framework that your organization is built on, reflecting your values and guiding your employees to success in their daily operations. They define the standards for conduct and appropriate behavior. They provide guidance, answer questions, solve ambiguities, detail best practices, and keep your people safe and out of legal trouble. Sometimes they seem like common sense recitations of things that "go without saying." They cover things that you’d hope people know they should be doing, or not doing, as they go about their jobs.īut policies do more than that.
We'll admit, sometimes policies and procedures are dry and boring. How to implement new policies and procedures.Why are policies and procedures important?.