Company policy manuals along with employee handbooks get a bad rap as they’re often considered as the cure-all for insomnia – stacks of pages that are written in a dry language only documenting previous concerns in the workplace or scare the new recruits.
But, the good news is your company policies and employee handbook don’t need to be the traditional training manual. Remember, you are creating a blueprint as to how your employees will operate within the organization. From values, beliefs, and corporate culture to daily policies that help make sure that all the staff members are safe, fair, and enjoying a productive and working environment, all employees should feel not only engaged but eager as well in getting their days started.
Here are some of the best ways to making sure your employees read your company policy manuals:
Start with the organization’s values, mission, and vision
This is how you can set the stage not just for the stakeholders of the business but also for the employees to be pumped and ready in participating in the organization’s goals. Help your company staff in making them feel like they are part in the attainment of something.
Be conversational
Nothing makes people doze off faster than jargon words added into sentences. Always try your very best in being positive, conversational, and upbeat! Remember that the employee handbook is the guide for the business in putting its best foot forward. Be professional even when you are not using stiff or dull language.
Sprinkle in some cool job perks
People always love bragging about cool perks they get from their jobs. Consider loading the benefits of the employees in the front pages or showcase images throughout your company employee handbook and policies. The images should show a great place of work and happy employees that are immersed in the company culture.
Consider the packaging and presentation
If you have some budget and a bit of creative juice that you can allocate, have fun with your company employee handbook which is known to be very dry! Create a document that’s whimsical and delightful which puts focus on team spirit, as well as the eradication of hierarchy and bureaucracy.
Think creatively as you are creating the company policy manuals so you are not only informing the new recruits and existing employees, but you are also enticing them in reading the handbook and making them feel great about their choice of making you as the employer. Try making company values into cheeky visuals and make sure that you maintain a great sense of humor throughout the document.
Be smart with the formatting
Because of the world wide web, we are now used to being bombarded with massive amounts of data every single day. Because of this, we have trained ourselves in reading documents like online articles wherein there are breaks, brevity, bullets, and headers. Massive chunks of texts can quickly feel overwhelming. So, it is, therefore, necessary to make the company manual palatable for skimming eyes. Employees will be reading more when you are giving them a visual breathing room.
Be consistent
This may sound very obvious to you but you should always practice what you are preaching. You need to live the belief system and culture that you have described in the company policy manuals and employee handbooks. There must be fair treatment for all employees and they are to be given compassion. Be consistent with all your actions.
Creating and giving out employee handbooks are both some of the crucial steps in the hiring process. Starting from making the determination on whether you need new hires to formulating the onboarding process, knowing and fully understanding all of the impacts of your actions throughout the hiring process will prove to be an incredible investment in the future success of your business.
What should not be found in a company’s employee handbook?
The words that are less restrictive such as typically, may or generally shouldn’t be in your employee handbook as the document is meant to be a guideline for employees. Your goal is to have consistency in the interpretation of company policies. Also, never refer to regular employees or staff members as permanent. This tends to make staff expect that their employment with you is already guaranteed. If possible, use the term introductory period or orientation instead of probationary. The latter creates an impression that the status of the employee will change as soon as the period is completed. It does not as an employee will still be under the employment at the will of the employer. If you have any doubts with the document that you have created, ask professionals to review it!
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