As a leading staffing agency, Peoplelink knows that for some, company policies (and change in general) are hard to grasp. Below are some simple tips and steps to properly implement a policy that lasts.
Make Sure the Policy is Necessary
The last thing you want to do is implement a policy that doesn’t make sense for your organization or is unneeded. If you do, then you’ll simply wind up with more red tape and a greater chance that your team won’t stick to the policy once it’s created.
So think about the problem that needs to be solved. Does it really warrant a company policy to help solve it? If not, then find a different way. Perhaps you simply need to communicate an issue or a concern with your staff rather than creating a policy.
Determine Goals
Once you’ve ensured the policy is, in fact, necessary, the next step should be to determine what goals you’d like to achieve through it. Are you trying to improve productivity, reduce the number of customer complaints, or enhance the working environment? Whatever your goals are, make sure you have them clearly defined before working on your policy.
Do Your Homework
Just like with any big initiative, it’s important to do your homework ahead of time. In this case, you should be looking at policies at similar companies and evaluating what worked and what didn’t. You should also be searching for sample policies to use as a launching pad for your own policy. And finally, you should be outlining how the new policy will impact the company and what changes will likely result from it.
Craft Your Policy
Creating a new policy takes more than just sitting down, spitting out a few words on a page and calling it a day. You’ll want to write a draft and then refine it as you go along. One easy way to get started is to think about the kinds of questions your team will have about the new policy and addressing them one by one. Also, get input from another party to ensure you’re not missing any important language or details.
Enlist Compliance or Legal
Once your policy is in good shape, hand it off to your legal or compliance department to review. If you don’t have such in-house departments, then have your company’s lawyer review your new policy to ensure it doesn’t violate any workplace rules and that you’ve accounted for every possible contingency.
Communicate the New Policy to Your Staff
When it comes to change, employees generally need to ease into it. So don’t announce a new policy and make it effective tomorrow. Give your staff some time to get used to the change. Also, allow enough time for employees to ask questions and have their concerns addressed about the new policy before it begins. Don’t expect everything to happen overnight.
If you need more help developing your workplace policies, let Peoplelink know. As a leading staffing agency, we can offer the information and support you need to ensure your policies are both effective and compliant with the law. Contact Peoplelink today to learn more.
