Writing company policy is similar to writing a business procedure, but there are a few differences between a policy and a procedure.  Business policies consist of either company rules, typically about ethics or relationships, or process outcomes defining expected results, kind of like a mission statement.

Company rules are found in your Employee Handbook.  One example would be sexual harassment.  It is illegal in the United States to subject others to unwelcome sexual conduct in a work situation.  If you are going to write a company policy, you would start with the law or regulation issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  The EEOC provides definitions and additional information that will allow us to describe a company policy.

Every company should have a sexual harassment policy in their company manual that reads something like this:

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Customers and readers alike tell us how difficult it can be to keep their policies and procedures up to date. Due to the ever-increasing rate of change, your policies and procedures can get “stale” (ineffective) very fast.

One reason for this might be that your procedures are too long. If you have 35-page-long procedures — especially if that’s all text — it’s probably not fair to expect your employees to understand, let alone use, them. At that length, there’s the very real risk that your procedures are unclear, overly complicated, and just plain boring.

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Policies are most often rooted in undesired consequences.  Something happens that shouldn’t — a door isn’t secure from the outside and someone gets in your building who doesn’t belong — and a policy (i.e., “That door is for exiting the building ONLY in case of emergencies.  It is NEVER to be used as an entry.”) is enacted.

A few — such as high-level, or corporation-wide — policies are designed to promote desirable consequences for an organization, as well as prevent undesired ones.  In this article, we’re going to stick with the first kind.  In any case, the best policies give everyone in the organization a sense of purpose and direction.  So…how do you write a good policy?

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Not all processes require procedure writing.  There’s a lot of overhead associated with every business procedure you write.  Therefore, the more business procedures you write, the more procedures you have to edit, implement, train, audit, and

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We always start our Well-Defined Processes Class by asking the participants “what’s wrong with your policies and procedures where you work?” and we always get the same answers.  Students come to the class from different industries, companies, and geographies and yet we still get the same answers every time.

People tell us how hard it is to keep their procedures up-to-date.  Information gets stale fast and it is difficult keeping procedures current and relevant without becoming outdated.  One reason for this is that the procedures are too long in the first place.  If you have a 35-page procedure then, yes, it is difficult to keep all 35 pages up-to-date.  Especially, if the procedure is unclear, overly complicated or just too difficult to understand in the first place.

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In one of his routines, comedian Dimitri Martin repeats the old adage, “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”  Then he adds, “My policy is: No stone throwing, regardless of housing situation.”

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Does your company need a Spanish-language employee handbook? Have you considered translating – or have you tried to translate – your own handbook? Did you find it an expensive, time-consuming task? Now, it is easier than ever with the Spanish-language version of the popular Bizmanualz Employee Handbook. With all your important

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¿Su compañía necesita un Manual para el Empleado en Español? ¿Ha considerado traducir o ha tratado de traducir su propio manual? ¿Lo encontró muy caro, o como una tarea que consume mucho tiempo? Ahora, es más fácil que nunca con la versión en español del Manual popular del Empleado de Bizmanualz, Inc. con todas sus políticas

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The translation of the popular English version addresses growing demand for a
Spanish Language Employee Handbook Template.

St. Louis , MO – September 18, 2006. Bizmanualz, Inc, a business publications and consulting company based in Clayton, Missouri, today announced the release of the Spanish language version of its highly successful Employee Handbook Policy Manual. An Employee Handbook is vital for effectively communicating company policies, motivating employees and avoiding legal problems. With a growing Spanish speaking workforce, many companies need to communicate their policies in their employees’ primary language.

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Last week, we talked about standards governing Information Technology (IT) management and IT security. Information defines your business, representing not only your organization’s past experience, but also

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