Good communication between employer and staff is the bedrock of any successful business, but “communication” is a huge subject and covers everything from the written word (Policies, Standard Operating Procedures, Contracts, Handbook, even notices and memos) to verbal (and non-verbal) communications between individuals.
You might think policies are boring and a tick box to make sure you comply with employment law requirements. But if you get your internal communications with your staff right, you will be well on your way to building trust and loyalty and increasing productivity. Communications really are a critical business skill.
In this article, I am talking mostly about written communications – things like policies and procedures, contracts of employment and your staff handbook but the principles we cover apply to all kinds of communication (and not just in business!)
What documents does my business need?
If you want people to abide by your policies, rules and contracts of employment, then those documents need to be clear, easy to read and understand. They need to be written in plain English, not in “legalese”. If people cannot understand your policies, then how can they be expected to abide by them?
A well-written policy (or other document) can illustrate your company culture (“the way we do things round here”) and can help people to understand what is expected of them, what they will get from you in return, and why it is all important.
There is (literally) no end to the number and variety of policies you can have in your company, but do you really need them all? My advice would be to only have policies which are relevant to your industry and business, or to your particular culture. Don’t feel obliged to have a policy as a “tick-box exercise” just because you think you ought to have one. Only introduce something if there is a real need for it within your business.
Of course there are some policies which you are legally obliged to have in place (and equally some clauses which must legally be in your contracts of employment) but actually there are not very many which are a “must have”. But, of course, there are many, many more which can help you to establish your culture and support your workforce – and these will change as your business grows.
How often do we need to review our documentation?
No matter what size your business is, it is always worth reviewing your policies (and other documents) on a regular basis. Do we still need this? Is this still supporting our business, or our workforce, or is it actually standing in the way of progress? Most importantly as well: “has the legal framework changed since this document was written? “ (ie, does it still cover the legalities, or is it too lax or too strict?) I would recommend an annual or two-yearly review.
Refresh the document (and the training) regularly and make sure people understand it and know why it exists and how it can help them or why the business needs it in place.
How do we start to produce good documentation?
I like to write policies (and contracts) as if it was a conversation between the employer and employee. Use the first person – ie. we expect you to do x, y, z and in return the support we will give you is a, b,c. If the document feels more personal, then the employee is more likely to understand how it affects them and what is expected of them. The temptation is to think that an anonymous “the employee must ….” does not apply to us, but to some other person.
The document should also explain why it is in place, what the expectations (and available support) are and what are the consequences of not following it. Once the policy is written, then share it with everyone and make sure they know where to find it in future if they need to refer to it. Provide training, if necessary, in what the process or procedure actually means in day to day working life.
You can, of course, do some of your documents in pictorial form, which might be easier for some staff to digest. I would suggest, though, that Policies and employment contracts should be in writing, to ensure that the legalities are covered adequately. But a good graphic designer might be able to help you to turn a “boring” document into an infographic or pictorial record.
If you produce your own policies and documents, it might be tempting to use AI to produce them. That is fine for the basic information and as a starting point. But a word of caution with this – AI does not always reflect the most up to date legal practices and processes, so make sure you check out the legalities.
Making policies work for us
Setting up employee focus groups can also help with producing documents which work for your company and culture and the people working with you. If employees have had some input to the documents, then they will be more inclined to use them and follow them.
Whether or not you have used focus groups to help you to produce the document, you definitely need to provide training in at least some of the policies and how they are implemented – for managers and staff alike. You may also want to have an employee led working group to bring the policy alive within the workplace. For example, you might have produced a policy about environmental issues, but an employee working group can help to put your green issues into practice and make them work for your business.
If you need some help with all of this, we can review your policies (and other documents); help you produce new ones (where necessary); update them as the law changes; help you to set up training plans based on the policies; set up employee working groups on particular areas of interest. A good place to start might be an HR audit to review what you already have in place, what works and doesn’t work and what else (if anything) you might need or want to put in place.
