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Every Company Needs the Protection of a
Policy and Procedures Manual
Does your business have a
written policy and procedures manual that covers employee guidelines,
personnel procedures and company rules?
A comprehensive policy and procedures manual clarifies employee
expectations about your business policies and communicates corporate
standards of action and behavior. The manual can also protect your
company from possible legal action and exposure to employee fraud.
Every business needs a document that clearly details your rules, your
regulations and how things should be done. This
is especially true of one-owner businesses where the owner can be on
vacation or ill and someone else has to fill in for the duration.
To help you get started on a policy and procedures manual for your
business, here are a few topics that should be included. By no means is
this a complete list but if you can work through these you’ll have
gained experience and made a good start.
Position descriptions – outline the role of each employee and
what they are there to do. This must include a statement of their levels
of responsibility and their authorities for decision-making and
expenditures.
Personnel policies – give details of your policies on employment,
working hours, remuneration, vacations, sick leave, and retirement.
Cover areas like entitlement to bonuses or salary increases so that
employees know exactly what they have to do and aren’t in doubt about
their working conditions.
Organization chart – this should show at a glance who reports to
whom and where they fit into the overall structure of the company. For
the purposes of this chart the position is the key identifier. Each box
should be labeled predominantly by position with the incumbent’s name
below it in smaller type.
Credit policy – what are your credit terms? How long do you wait
for payment? What are your requirements for opening a new account? How
do you chase debtors whose account exceed your terms?
Purchasing policies – Who in your company has the authority to
spend its money for business purposes? What are their expenditure
limits? This section must also state what paperwork is required for
making a purchase, how many competitive prices should be obtained, and
what records must be kept for all transactions.
Misconduct – How can you discipline an employee unless you’ve
already made it clear what your expectations are for their behavior? You
can’t! There’s a legal minefield awaiting the employer who hasn’t made
the company’s policy clear to all its employees. This policy must
address issues of honesty (theft), issues of performance (persistent
lateness), and sexual misconduct.
Occupational Health & Safety – It’s best to relate this section
to the appropriate state and federal legislation that applies to your
business. Employees need to be given clear guidelines as to what
constitutes safe behavior on the job, from where safety equipment must
be used to lifting procedures related to their work.
Internet and emails – An increasing amount of time at work is
being spent visiting websites and sending and receiving emails. When
it’s all for business, fine, but if the websites or emails are
inappropriate it can be very costly. Having firm policies in place helps
prevent problems.
Stationery & forms guide – Every business has its own ‘look’,
including styles for letters and other pieces of correspondence. These
are part of company procedures and need to be summarized in the manual
so that all team members have a reference source to follow.
There are many other subjects your manual should cover. Start with the
most basic areas outlined above and add others that you determine are
needed. Be aware that changes will be needed to keep your manual up to
date.
Most company policy and procedures manuals simply state what to do in
certain circumstances, but more often than not they don’t state a reason
for having a policy in the first place, nor for having the particular
policy they have.
A typical policy might be: “All incoming correspondence will be
acknowledged within three working days” but won’t say why
acknowledgement is required nor why the three-day limit has been set.
If the reasons for policies are given as accompanying elements to the
statements of policy it will provide valuable information and prevent
misunderstandings if later on the policy is questioned or examined.
With regard to the above policy, the rationale could be stated as: “This
will prevent urgent matters from being delayed while a letter is written
and sent.” A policy review might note that the majority of external
correspondence is now received via email and acknowledgement can be made
as a simple reply to an email received.
Regardless of the size of your
business, the policy and procedures manual is an essential management
tool. It is an expression of the owner’s wishes as to how that business
should be run, and a source of advice on how things should be done. It
tells everybody where they fit into the overall structure and who they
go to for decisions.
Whatever time it takes to prepare your company’s manual is worth it. It
should be required reading of all employees, particularly new ones, and
regularly reviewed to ensure it stays up to date.
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