You will get access to the formats, design, layout and key components your need to write effective policies. Click Here To Download It. The ultimate dream of every entrepreneur is to expand his or her business. However, the larger your company grows, the more difficult it becomes to ensure that employees carry out their duties effectively and in line with the goals of the organization. They also, in turn, need constant reassurance that the company has their best interests at heart. This is where the need to create policies comes in.
Every organization needs policies to guide its affairs. However, developing a policy is not as simple as it might seem. There are a lot of things you need to do when creating one.
Here you have an article to simplify the process of writing a policy. When you reach the end, you will not only know how to write an effective policy to aid your business management, but you will be all set to implement it.
To properly develop or write an effective policy, familiarize yourself with some basic concepts and vocabulary. You need to know what a policy is, why you should create one, the pros and cons of having a policy, what good policy looks like, and your responsibility as a policy owner.
This knowledge gives you a clear picture of what developing a policy entails and prepares you for the task ahead. A policy is simply a document that contains instructions that determine how things are done in your organization.
It serves as a guide to influence the decisions you make. It is important to note that policies differ from one organization to the next. The content of a policy depends on the mission and objectives of your organization. You now have some background on how important it is to create a policy for your business. Just like just about everything one can think of, a policy has its advantages and disadvantages.
A policy presents a uniformed way of doing things. Without a policy, employees might conduct themselves in whatever manner they find pleasing. With the wrong attitude and approach towards work, a lot of errors might occur — which could affect the organization negatively.
A policy sets the standard for the way things should be done and what the organization expects from its employees. This makes it easier to hold employees accountable for their actions. Therefore, when employees flout the rules, they cannot give ignorance as an excuse.
The best an employer can do when they get a new employee is to spend hours with the newbie, making sure they get acquainted with the working environment and get properly onboarded.
After this period, the policy manual becomes a reminder of what the new employee has learned. The employee can refer to the necessary details as needed. With a well-defined policy in place, employees are empowered to do what is right.
It gives employees room to carry out their activities freely as long as it is within the boundaries already put in place through policies. This also limits the number of managerial checkups.
Creating a set of rules which employees must follow strictly might hamper their creativity. Employees who do not see the need for change can have a negative effect on business growth.
It is always advised to write a policy in clear and simple terms. This is because employees might give individual interpretations of the policy, which might be different from what you intended to pass along. This could lead to misguided actions that may affect the organization adversely.
To keep up with changes within the organization, policies have to be updated regularly. Imagine spending hours on the not-so-fun task of writing a policy. Now imagine having to do that regularly — seemingly valuable time you could spend on other things. Notwithstanding the cons of creating a policy, it still has to be written for the effective management of your business. The benefits of having policies in place definitely outweigh the cons.
These are the qualities of a good policy, and you must always keep them in mind when writing one. However, a policy should not be confused with other related terms or concepts. It is important to know what differentiates a policy from these other concepts. However, they are two entirely different things. A policy clearly states what the management of your organization expects from its employees, while a procedure is a detailed description of how the instructions in your policy should be carried out.
So, while your policy states what should be done, the procedure describes how it should be done. The mission statement is the first thing you start with when developing your policy.
When your mission statement is well-written, it becomes easy to set objectives to achieve the mission. It is from these objectives that you develop your policy. Having a clear and concise mission statement is just one responsibility of policy owners.
There are a few others. Now you know what a policy is, why your organization needs it, its pros and cons, what good policy should look like, and the roles you have to play as a policy owner. At this point, you are probably very psyched to dive deep into how to write a policy. So how exactly do you get started? The fact that you want to write a policy does not mean that you just pick up your pen and begin scribbling away.
There are a lot of things to do before that. There is research to be carried out, consultations to be made, and several other things to put in place to ensure that the process of writing goes smoothly. When writing a policy, knowing exactly what to do and what not to do is very important to avoid unnecessary mistakes. Below are things you should and should not do:. An important feature that every policy should have is that it must be easily read and understood.
A standard writing format and writing style makes it easy for your employees to search the policy — its sections and subsections — and get whatever they need without difficulty. The expert should also be familiar with the goals of your organization , how it is run, and its processes at the time the policy is written.
Representatives of the staff should be present during the policy development process, especially at the beginning stage. Your employees will be much more receptive of the policy if they feel they played a role in the decision-making process.
This creates a positive attitude throughout the organization. Just as writing a policy is important, so too is reviewing it. With these basic rules in mind, it is time to consider the first steps to take after you decide your organization needs a policy.
Before you even start creating a policy at all, you need the full support of the staff and management. Make the management aware of the reasons a policy is necessary and why it should be drafted as soon as possible.
Writing a policy is not an easy job. You need to pull together a team to help you through the process of developing a policy. You need experts as members of your team. They should not only know how to write a policy but should also be experts on the proposed topic your policy will center on.
If your aim is to write a policy document that is organized, effortlessly understandable, and easy to navigate, then you need a policy structure that is standardized. There are various policy management software programs that are easily accessible online. Strategies to improve the quality of services in program and event management include:.
Strategies to improve the quality of services through the better management of resources through:. Need a Policy Template that will save you hours of work? Contact Us Privacy Policy Home. Excel Video Tutorials. Writing a Policy: Structure and Components The following information is provided as a template to assist learners draft a policy. Satisfied members are more likely to continue participation, contribute to the organisation and renew the memberships each year. There is no substitute for research and consultation in the development of effective policies.
These hypothetical examples are for illustration. The review process should include an examination of the performance indicators, consultation with members of the association, and a discussion forum involving the management committee and risk management professionals. It shouldn't contain a whole bunch of do this, it's not an SOP, or a procedure. I'm going to start with what it shouldn't contain, and that's War and Peace.
I've seen some so-called policy documents that are huge, and to me, that's not just setting the top-level framework. I tend to think of a policy document being a much more short, succinct document.
But also, I think it's important that it should be tailored and relevant to the organisation. Some companies when they're setting up management systems get this wrong, because they try and start with the policy document without having understood the context of the organisation, and other things that will really help them. It should feed in with who they are, what they do, which in turn will help understand what legislation may drop out of it.
It should contain some key short messages about high level direction in terms of where the continuous improvement of the business is going, where we're trying to get to, but not in a marketing speak, in a business language that is short and to the point. The content of the policy is actually vital to getting a document that's able to be understood, monitored and reinforced within the business. I'd recommend you start with determining what the technical requirements are.
The management system standards provide guidance on what broad terms or broad requirements must be contained within, for example, a safety policy, quality policy or environment policy.
There are also regulators that provide useful guidance in that regard as well. Once you determine the minimum technical requirements, it really is important that the policy is then developed with the input of a broader group of stakeholders - they would be representatives from various levels within the business - and they actually contribute towards developing a policy that is actually appropriate to the needs of the business, taking into account those technical requirements determined earlier.
One of the issues I see all the time in what we do, is you have policies for a business at 20 or 30 people that has clearly come from a multinational business. It's largely irrelevant to that business and becomes meaningless for the people that actually have to adhere to that policy. Overly complex, overly wordy policies tend to be not very effective, and importantly, they're very difficult to be understood throughout the organisation. Effective policies are usually shorter in length, they're evolved by a group of stakeholders, and they're easily understood and enforced throughout the business.
Policies should information as to what the company believes in, and what the company is going to do from a broad level. You don't want to get too detailed and otherwise, it gets too complicated, and people will struggle to actually follow it.
It shouldn't contain the detail as to we're going to fill out form a or we're going to fill out form B or we're going to meet every Tuesday. That is too much information for a policy which is purely a philosophical document as to who we are.
Policies are going to have things like visions and objectives and general targets and those sorts of things. Some of the things that I don't think should be in a policy is too much detail, I think most policies should try and limit themselves to around about a page.
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