Why write a new employee handbook

Golf · March 2004

I have suggested re-writing our employee handbook. My boss has asked me to do this as a team charter where you provide:
Problem statement: Why do we feel a need for this initiative? Are customers frustrated with?
Objective/deliverables: expected end results of this activity
Customer benefit: why do they care if we re-write the handbook.
Metric: how are we going to measure the impact of this activity?

How would you answer these questions?

marc · March 2004

Since you suggested a rewrite, you must have analyzed the various policies or lack thereof and found some deficiencies. I would start with those. One of the things I would do is spin the team charter to suggest that the overriding "customer" in this case is the company. One of the big reasons to revise the manual must be to plug the holes that expose the company to liability and to tighten up policies that are to open to interpretation or that cause additional costs that you might otherwise avoid. An example of the latter is to run FML concurrent with vacation and sick pay.

The objectives would be a combination of enhancing your protection from liability exposure, to streamline your policies and make them more in tune with current employment law and to make the policies more understandable and employee friendly.

How you measure these types of things is a challenge. In my opinion, you are looking at indirect types of results, such as improved employee retention measured by turnover rates and perhaps fewer labor attorney phone calls, maybe a better handle on leave policies that control absenteeism and tardiness, etc.

The biggest result is impossible to prove and that is the litigation that did not occur. How can you measure that?

Gillian3 · March 2004

Call the labor attorney and find out how much a typical case will cost in terms of legal fees and time spent away from work by those involved. You can calculate the cost of that part. Avoiding even one case would be a benefit and the cost of the employee handbook rewrite will be less that the cost of the case.

Golf · March 2004

The original handbook was publishing in 1991 and some of the policies were revised in 1995.

Cinderella · March 2004

Problem statement: Laws change fast. Our handbook hasn't been updated in 9 years. If we hire and fire per the policies and procedures within the handbook, we are putting ourselves at legal risk if it is outdated. If we expect our employees to abide by the policies and procedures written in the employee handbook, we need to invest time and effort into its upkeep.

Objective/Deliverables: An updated handbook containing policies and procedures that are in alignment with current employment law. Streamlining processes. Decreasing confusion and arguements over interpretation. Increasing defendability in lawsuits.

Customer Benefit: This will guide human resources, the legal department, managers, and supervisors in managing employees per the company's policies, strategy, and culture. A workforce that is more informed about company expectations knows their company cares about how it is run. Employees who know what is expected of them are happier and more productive than those who do not or those who assume the company no longer cares.

Metric: If the only thing you're doing is rewriting the handbook, you won't get much. If you're going to couple this with management training (re-training) and have them trickle that down into their teams, then you have something.

Why write a new employee handbook

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