Module 7 - HR Policies and Practices

Module-7: HR Policies and Practices
HR Policies can be defined as the strategy for developing, communicating and

enforcing a set of practices that reflect your standards of acceptable behavior.
Successful policies and practices strategy do more than drawing boundaries; they
also recognize and address peoples needs. The focus in any successfully run
business is not just about meeting specific goals but also about how you achieve
them.
To ensure that the employees have clear expectations and are treated fairly as they
work to help build your company depends largely on the manner in which an
organization addresses the four key elements related to the development and
deployment of its policies and practices: policies, consequences and tools.
Policies
Managers and employees need to share a clear understanding of what is and what
is not acceptable behavior what can be said and what cant be said within the
company etc. Setting clear and specific standards, procedures and guidelines in
the form of policies establishes a framework for spotting and addressing
violations of those standards. If an organization relies on loosely defined general
standards, procedures and organization that arent properly documented, then
violations become subjective and open to interpretation. The result of such
ambiguity is often litigation, which could ultimately lead to dissatisfaction and the
exit of the employee.
Consequences
Its important that an organization clearly states consequences for violations of the
standards, guidelines and procedures so that employees know what to expect and
have early warning of those expectations. In addition, clear consequences help to
ensure that the company is not limited in the options for dealing with violations.
Tools
Tools address the question of how the organization supports the people in the
company who manage other employees. When faced with a specific personnel
issue, what resources are available to them? For instance: the employee guide or
the handbook on HR policies. Tools like these are vital not just to help avoid
litigation, but also to minimize the time it takes for you to deal with productivitydraining people issues instead of core business matters.
HR Policies and Procedures

HR policies and procedures are written guidelines on a wide range of issues
handled within the organization. There is no set list of what policies and
procedures an organization should have, as this will vary based on the industry
you are working in, the number of employees, the workplace location /s etc. For
example, a basic HR suite of policies and procedures would include:
Induction/Orientation
Uniform & dress standards
Confidentiality
Privacy
Social Media
Company Property & Resources
Intellectual Property
Workplace Bullying & Harassment
Grievances
Leave Management
Performance Management
Disciplinary Matters
Termination
Developing the HR Policies

The reasons for developing the HR policies are:
To help the employees and management teams run the organization in an
efficient manner.
To help take major human resource decisions, develop company guidelines
and procedures that can make the organization a better run entity.
To help in documenting and communicating to all the employees the

managements plans, rules, intents and business procedures.
To help in comparing the policy alternatives understanding their importance
and evaluating the companys current practices.
To save countless hours of management time.
To prevent mere legal issues from becoming serious legal problems.
To organize and announce the managements plans for the growth of the
organization and also explain employee benefits and workplace issues.
To define management standards for making decisions on various personal and
organizational issues.
To help an organization run at its most cost-effective and efficient level
thereby bringing about additional revenue.
To protect the legal interest of the company as well as define the rights and
obligation of the employees and the company.
Providing Guidance of HR Policies
HR Policies also provide guidance in the following highlighted areas:
Ensures that the employees dedicate themselves to total quality and constant,
never ending improvement of the organization.
Hiring people on the basic of skill, training, attitude, ability and character,
being oblivious to other discriminatory factors like age, color, sex, race, creed,
national origin, religion, political belief or disability that does not prohibit
performance of essential job functions.
Pay all the employees according to their effort and contribution to the success
of the business.
Operating an economically successful business so that a consistent level of
steady work is available.
Review, wages, employee benefits and working conditions constantly with
objectives of providing maximum benefits in these areas, consistent with
sound business practice.
Provide paid vacations and holidays to all eligible employees. Provide eligible
employees with medical and other benefits.
Develop competent people who understand and meet organizations objectives
and who accept ideas, suggestions and constructive criticism of fellow
employees with an open mind.
Address complaints which may arise in everyday conduct of the business,
promptly in a practical way.
Respect individual rights and treat all employees with courtesy and
consideration and help in maintaining mutual respect in the workplace leading
to an amicable ambience.
Introduction of HR Policies to Employees
Organizational policies and procedures should not just be a written document
sitting on the shelf that is never referred to, having documented policies and
procedures in place is not enough. Employers need to ensure that employees
clearly understand these and they are ingrained into the daily operation of the
business to ensure their effectiveness. Suggestions of how this can be done
include:
Induction At an employees induction you can provide them with a copy of the
organizations policies and procedures, provide training on them and have them
sign-off to demonstrate they have read and fully understand them.
Throughout employment Revisiting existing policies that are in place and also
providing new training for new, changed or updated policies. Providing polices at
the induction stage of their employment and not referring to them again through
the employment is not adequate, nor is simply sending an email to employees
with the policy changes or new polices. The employer needs to ensure that staff
clearly understands the policy and the expectation surrounding it.
End of employment Having employees leaving complete an exit interview
providing information as to why they are leaving the business. If information
provided includes feedback relating to a lack of clarity around expectations,
feeling unfairly treated, issues with management, then this will assist you in
tailoring future polices to current issues that are occurring specific to you
business.

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Module-7: HR Policies and Practices

HR Policies can be defined as the strategy for developing, communicating and

HR Policies and Procedures

Developing the HR Policies

To help in documenting and communicating to all the employees the

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