Policy Power Plays
Imagine logging in on a Monday morning only to find that three of your team members have taken days off in the middle of a big project. One member submitted their work before jet-setting, however, it’s clearly AI generated text (and includes some topics that make you a little uncomfy). You happen to login to your LinkedIn and realize that your colleague is sharing those uncomfortable opinions in response to a comment on a company post. The chaos!!
Luckily, you’re less likely to experience this kind of HR nightmare when policies and procedures are put in place. Whether a solopreneur or a team of 1,000, businesses are working to cover everything from equality and diversity, to online etiquette and attendance, to help businesses run smoothly, consistently, and within their company standards.
Being a marketing agency, we need to make sure that our internal operations are in a good place in order to give our Clients the best possible experience. Like any good plan, our policies evolve as the business and the environment evolves, and we are continually reviewing to ensure they are the most accurate and relevant for our workplace. As all workplaces are different, depending on your circumstances, different policies may work better. Consider the ones listed below as a good place to start.
Why Are Policies So Important?
Having policies in place for all members of the team, do more than help to avoid sticky situations like the one above. Here are some more reasons why your company needs them:
Consistency - team members need to know what to expect when a certain situation arises, and it should be the same every time.
Clear outline of processes - this can help eliminate confusion.
Compliance - want your team members to comply with the office rules? That’s a lot easier if they know what they are!
Navigate incidents and crises - as much as we hope to avoid these, of course they happen from time to time. Knowing what to do in these types of situations will make it much easier to deal with when they inevitably come up.
Clear documentation of company standards and values - it’s important that team members know what’s expected of them in order to thrive and create an environment that both management and employees are happy with. Activities
Where Should Companies Store Their Policies?
From robust policy management software like DocTract, to using cloud based platforms and/or intranets to store manuals (such as ClickUp), the main goals are to ensure:
Every member of the team can easily access them
That they are secure
That they can be updated in real-time when necessary changes are made
Here at RCM, we keep an electronic copy in our company workspace (for our policy advisor to access and make edits to), as well as a PDF version available to the team in our project management software that does double-duty as our head office HR and Operations Department. For example, our team uses ClickUp as project management software and it contains an area to store documents related to HR and operations.
There are various reasons as to why companies update their policies and it’s important to ensure that company policies are continuously reflective of said changes and improvements. For example, with the rise of generative AI led by platforms such as ChatGPT, these types of tools are more common in the workplace now than ever before. Although generative AI tools are incredibly cool, it’s important that they’re being used responsibly. As such, with this new AI wave, it’s absolutely essential for HR teams to add an AI section to their company policies, and ensure that the directive is clear to employees
Some Important Policies to Implement
1. Social Media Policy
Used to outline online etiquette when posting as the company and when team members post about the company.
Includes a list of “do’s” and “don'ts” in regards to what's considered appropriate and inline with the company’s values and standards, and what's not. This should be clear and concise as to not leave room for differing personal interpretations.
Helps to maintain a consistent brand identity online and minimize potential issues such as legal actions against the company.
2. AI Policy
Used as a set of guidelines and regulations to ensure both the ethical and responsible use of AI technology.
Should include a list of appropriate vs. not appropriate uses as well as an outline on how AI generated items should be reviewed, fact-checked and edited accordingly.
Helps to steer clear of the various potential risks associated with the AI landscape, including those associated with mis-information and plagiarism.
3. Diversity and Inclusion Policy
Used to ensure all members of the team feel welcome and included in the workplace.
Should include a clear statement outlining the company’s ethical values and standards as well as the procedure a team member should take if they feel they have witnessed words, treatment, or actions that are not inline with the policy.
Helps to avoid legal action against the company, but more importantly, helps to build team participation, employee morale, loyalty, and overall productivity.
4. Vacation/Attendance Policy
Used to ensure adequate staffing when requesting vacation times in order to keep projects flowing efficiently.
Should include information regarding when time can be requested off, a clear procedure as to how to request time off, as well as verbiage surrounding allocated vacation, sick leave or PTO days.
Helps to maintain efficiency by ensuring enough team members are available to work on projects and/or to allow time to plan alternative actions to complete the tasks at hand.
Keep in mind that no matter what policy your company creates, it's important to always include the process for confidential reporting of those who do not abide by them, consequences for not adhering to them and information on occasional updates.
…And Those Are Our Power Plays!
So there you have it! Our tried and true policy strategy that helps keep us organized to ensure we give our Clients the best experience possible. Remember, it’s so important that your team knows what’s expected of them, and it's equally important that these policies allow for change and growth over time. The world is constantly changing and with it, so should policies!
Looking to work with an agency that has the back-end all figured out? Book a call with a member of our team.