The way to Develop a Good Company Policy

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I do know that sometimes organizations – and human resources departments – are accused of getting too many policies. But having good policies is crucial. The emphasis here being on the word “good”.

Policies provide consistency. And consistency can assist with maintaining compliance, streamlining processes / procedures, and providing efficiency. One other thing to recollect, policies and procedures are two various things. Consider a policy as a broad guideline or rule that sets expectations. A procedure is a step-by-step list of instructions.

So, a policy is the “why” we do things, and a procedure is “how”. Often policies and procedures are written together. An example may be the corporate policy that claims employees taking time without work is significant for mental and physical health. The procedure then lists the steps for the way employees request time without work.

While policies and procedures are different, many organizations develop them together since it creates alignment, which ends up in higher consistency. Again, the secret’s developing a great policy. So, I believed we should always review the steps for developing one.

6 Steps for Developing a Good Company Policy

Determine for those who actually need a policy. This might be the toughest step. What’s the purpose of the policy? For instance, organizations have safety policies like wearing ear coverings if the decibel levels are too high. Yes, this can also be a law under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), however it’s designed to maintain employees protected and healthy. So, corporations have policies.

Organizations also need to make a decision if there’s a necessity for a separate policy or simply additions / adjustments to existing policy. One example I’m hearing about is social media. When social media was latest and just becoming mainstream, many organizations developed separate policies. Now that we’ve been working with social media for some time, I’m hearing less about separate policies and more about updating existing policies to incorporate social media.

Establish who must be involved in developing the policy. There are company policies and department policies. Each impact employees so include the impacted departments in policy development. It may be helpful to also include accounting because policies ~~might~~ often have financial impact. And don’t forget legal, whether that’s in-house counsel or an external partner.

Depending on the policy topic, one other resource may very well be internal material experts (SMEs). Let’s say, the organization is developing a policy regarding digital file maintenance. The corporate might wish to talk with their technology team to be certain the policy aligns with privacy and security protocols. Bottom-line: HR shouldn’t be developing policies in a silo.

Research any pertinent details and draft the policy. It is a continuation of the last point about material experts. If the organization is developing a policy, they could have to do a little analysis to assist form their opinion. Once all the info is reviewed, then the policy might be drafted. Again, this may occasionally or may not include a procedure.

For example, I’ve worked for organizations that had policies about rehiring employees. Some organizations were apprehensive about it; others encouraged it. Some were open to bridging an worker’s service depending on how long they were gone, others not a lot. But HR was liable for providing data about what number of employees the corporate rehires and the way long the gap is of their employment. This helped the organization resolve if it was crucial to have a policy.

Oh, and a fast side note regarding my rehire example: Please keep in mind that no-rehire policies can’t be discriminatory or retaliatory. Also, some states could have provisions that make no-rehire clauses unenforceable. You must check with legal counsel if you have got any questions.

Conduct a policy review. Once the policy is drafted, the management team must buy-into the policy. Hopefully, if the suitable persons are involved in policy development, the buy-in process has been going down all along. But just in case it hasn’t, allow time for managers to precise their concerns and speak about how the policy will probably be implemented every day within the operation. Policies also have to align with other policies. The policy being developed must be reviewed together with existing policies to be certain that it’s not competing with one other policy.

Also, policies must be enforceable. If a company has a policy and nobody follows it, and nothing happens when an worker doesn’t follow it … it’s kinda the identical as not having a policy. So, when the organization develops a policy, there needs to be a conversation about holding people accountable for following it.

Create a communications strategy. When the organization creates a brand new policy OR changes an existing policy, there needs to be a communications plan. It’s only fair to let current employees know concerning the change. There are various other ways to speak policies: in-person / online, all company meeting / department meeting, verbally / in writing. Announcing a brand new / modified policy in a wide range of ways may very well be best. That way employees hear the message multiple times in multiple ways before the effective date.

That is a great time to keep in mind that if the organization is adding or changing a policy which may take something away from employees, this needs to be discussed with legal counsel and with those employees. For instance, an organization may be implementing a brand new policy that at the identical time will sunset a legacy policy. I once worked for a company that paid 100% of an worker’s health care coverage. Then they modified it to where employees paid $10. I’m sure a few of you might be considering … it’s only $10. That’s not the purpose. It was covered completely and now it wasn’t going to be.

This story concerning the health care change also jogs my memory how the corporate decided to speak the change. Yes, they did all of the things we’ve talked about including company meetings, memos, etc. But in addition they brought together groups of employees from around the corporate to learn concerning the latest health care advantages. The worker groups included the corporate’s biggest fans and harshest critics. This was very successful because when employees were chatting concerning the change – often within the breakroom when nobody from HR is around – if someone said something incorrect, the data was corrected by one other worker.

Frequently review and update as crucial. The last step is to maintain the policy current. Recent laws occur on a regular basis. Or possibly a law is repealed, and the corporate needs to make a decision in the event that they’re going to take care of the policy. Corporations might change a policy because it should help them attract, engage, and retain talent. Also, organizations should review policies and procedures after an incident to be certain that something doesn’t go mistaken because a policy was outdated or unclear.

The organization and the HR team must have a schedule and a technique for reviewing policies to make sure they’re up to this point. In actual fact, as I’m typing this, I’m realizing that maintaining policies is a separate conversation to itself.

If you must learn more about maintaining relevant and compliant policies, I hope you’ll join me and the Case IQ team for a webinar on exactly that “5 Steps for Maintaining Relevant – And Compliant – Company Policies”. The webinar will probably be held on Thursday, May 22, 2025, at 2p Eastern. And as at all times, for those who’re already committed, join anyway and get the recording.

Good policies help employees understand the principles and do the suitable thing. Having a consistent procedure for developing and implementing policies is nice for the business. It’s a win for everybody.

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