EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUALS
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUALS: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?? I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked to review, revise or write an Employee Handbook. The requestor will want to include policies that are written in a very formal, comprehensive format. I will then have to explain what an employee handbook is vs. a policy and procedure manual.
Employee Handbook
My experience has been to write the employee handbook, keeping in mind the employee is the intended audience, in a very easy to read format, informative, but not in legalize wording. To quote the Society for Human Resource Management, SHRM, www.shrm.org, “It is most often written using a straightforward layout for easy referencing of company policies and procedures and is a vehicle for familiarizing employees with basic company policies and benefit programs, as well as the general expectations of the company, including acceptable and unacceptable behavior and disciplinary measures”.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL
A policies and procedures manual is specific and detailed wording on “What, How and When” the policy should be utilized. It is intended for a specific audience, Supervisors and Managers. The following is provided by SHRM, “A policies and procedures manual is a comprehensive text that details every aspect of company policy, the procedures for following those polices and the forms needed to complete each process. A policies and procedures manual is a reference tool for managers and should be used for back-up when more information is needed to explain a policy or when a deeper understanding of a process is desired. As a benefit to management, the manual can contain references to federal and state laws that correlate to each policy. Managers and supervisors than have access to the rationale for the policies, thus providing with assistance for enforcement”.
Every Company should charge their HR department to develop, implement (communicate and train employees, supervisors and managers) and maintain its employee handbook and policies and procedures manual. If you do not have such manuals, I recommend you start developing them now!!.
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