It’s good to have clear, compliant and concise HR policies and procedures. But how do you make sure that all managers and staff can access them when they need to? How do you ensure they only refer to the latest version? And how do you make it easy for employees to get hold of the relevant forms, such as booking holidays, reporting sickness absence and obtaining the necessary paperwork for appraisals?
• Organise your policies and procedures so that it’s logical and helps people navigate easily. You could use the 3-Rs for example: Recruitment, Retention, Release.
• It’s helpful if each policy follows a standard format. For example, start with an introduction then the scope – who this applies to. Then the procedure to be followed, using outline numbering for reference. End with a list of who is responsible for what regarding this policy and procedure and where readers can obtain other help. Use either second person (you) or third person (he/she) throughout for consistency.
• When you can, avoid the use of printed staff handbooks or employee manuals which are expensive to produce in terms of paper and print materials and in time taken to collate, bind and distribute – and they’re not ‘green’. Above, all they are quickly out of date and difficult to update.
• Electronic or ‘soft’ copies means that you can easily update as policies and procedures need revision, for example with the new ACAS Code of Practice for disciplinary and grievance procedures in force from April 2009. You can use hyperlinks to link procedures with the relevant forms and external support sites. Staff can use ‘search’ to quickly find the relevant sections.
• A major advantage of ‘soft’ copies of your policies and procedures is that all employees can access the material. They can increase the font size, use computer Accessibility Options to change the page and text colour or use screen readers and screen magnifiers as necessary.
• Use an intranet if you have one or consider a dedicated web-site for your HR policies and procedures. Appoint one person in the HR team who has the responsibility to ensure the site is working and up-to-date. You add security with a log-in function.
If you want help in developing or revising your HR policies and procedures, or making them accessible to all your staff through an intranet or dedicated web-site, contact us.