Drafting Effective Policies with Example

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Hello friends.

Now that you have collected all the information, you start making a “working draft”.

You take that working draft further to the management for approval.

Along with this, you also discover “what is currently being done to implement or address matters covered in the policy”.

So, you can bring things like what is already going on in the organization which was maybe happening in absence of this policy into the scope of your policy. Okay.

Then you have to make sure that the organizational practices must complement the objectives of the policy statement. It should not happen that the practice of your organization and the policies that are there move in different directions. Okay.

Then, you need to confirm that the “appropriate groups of employees are covered by the policies and procedures”.

So, when you zero down and decide that this policy will be applicable to this particular group, subsequently you also need to plan the communication accordingly.

Apart from this, there are a few other considerations. Like, are the policies and procedures relevant or not? Do they reflect the company’s intent accurately or not? Is there any conflict with the existing policies? Along with it, who is responsible for the accountability of the policies and procedures?

Here, you need to consider a few things.

“What forms or templates are necessary to accomplish this procedure?”

“Have we identified all the steps in the procedures? Are all the steps necessary?” Have we missed out on any steps?

“Who is responsible for the implementation of these policies and procedures?”

“Does the policy or procedure overlap with any other existing policy in the organization?” Can we avoid this overlap?

“How can you address this overlap to minimize conflict or redundancy effort?”

So, these are some of the considerations you need to account for while creating a working draft.

Now, every policy document needs some features.

A good policy should include,

– “A policy name”. It should not be a big name but a small name is more appropriate so that it is easy for the employees to go through which policies exist in the organization and at the same time this name should be self-explanatory about what the policy is all about.

– Then, the “effective date of the policy and date of any revisions” should be mentioned.

– The “purpose of the policy” must be identified.

– The “policy statement” must be very clear.

– If there are any key concepts or terms, you need to mention them in a separate section.

– On which employees are this policy applicable that can be said “eligibility and scope” should be mentioned accurately.

– Then the exceptions and who is responsible to approve the exceptions to the policy need to be mentioned.

– And, the positions responsible for implementing and monitoring the policy in the organization must be identified. (Understood?)

Finally, let’s talk about the “role of senior management”.

So far, we have talked about the roles of senior management indirectly.

Now, let’s have a look at the direct roles of the senior management that they have to play whenever an HR-related policy is developed.

The most important thing is that they should clearly define their role in the organization.

Then, the senior management forms an HR committee to write the policies and procedures, or the board can delegate this duty to the executive director as well. And the entire process is overseen by the executive director.

Finally, the senior management board approves the policies. And the board may set a time frame for reviewing HR policies and delegating this responsibility….

With this, I am sure you must have come to know about how to draft a perfect manual of policy and procedure, and next time, whenever you want to draft a recruitment policy and procedure, whatever inputs I have shared with you, will prove to be very helpful for you. Okay.

Now we have talked about how we can make a recruitment policy, what are the methods of policy and procedures, do they contain integrities, and in what way a manual should be structured. (Clear?)

Now, as you can see on the screen, this is a recruitment policy manual of the University of York.

So, as I said earlier, every policy document must have a title, it should have an index where you can easily refer to all the things. The “purpose” must be properly identified.

The “scope” must be identified, who is this policy applicable for? Then, what are the “core principles” that govern the organization and this policy?

Then, we mention the “recruitment and selection procedure” in the organization. So, every detail is mentioned regarding both recruitment and selection. How will the process operate? What is the process for referrals? What is the process of “application” and “induction”?

Then, here the responsibilities are clearly stated for different positions and roles along with their accountability. For instance, the roles are, “head of the department, recruiting manager, chair of shortlisting or selection panel, human resources” etcetera. So, all the roles are very well defined and called out here.

And lastly, all the related documents are mentioned and hyperlinked here.

You can refer to this sample while making a manual of policies and procedures. Everything is stated very clearly and precisely. This document can serve as a reference to you with the help of which you can easily structure your policy document.

If you look at the format, then it is very legible, easy on the eyes and wherever required they have mentioned the links for you to cross-check everything. (Understood?)

Well, if you have any queries or doubts regarding how do you prepare a manual of policy and procedure, click on the discussion button below and get your questions answered, and discuss with your fellow learners.

Thank you.

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