How to Save Time Updating Corporate Policies
As we approach fall, I look forward to a little crispness in the air, leaves changing colors, pumpkin-spiced lattes, kids trick-or-treating, and having the family together for Thanksgiving. But for HR professionals, let’s add a couple more seasonal events to the list like open enrollment and policy updates. Not that they hold the same level of pleasure as the rest of the scents, sounds, and sights of the fall, of course, but they are a very critical part that HR plays in the lives of our associates and team members.
For far too many businesses, small businesses especially, updating policies is a grueling manual process. Typically, these companies don’t have adequate policies to begin with, making the task more difficult. Smaller HR teams have a full plate operationally – between onboarding, offboarding, payroll, and benefits management, where will they find the time to author the new policies they desperately need and update the existing ones to conform to changing legislation and reflect cultural norms?
SAVING TIME
Let’s break things down into a couple of thoughts to consider to hopefully give you back some time to sip that pumpkin spice latte or take a drive on a country road to see the changing leaves!
Can the simple administrative burden of authoring, updating, approving, and completing employee attestations be simplified without the budget necessary to build an aircraft carrier?
Yes, it can, and it might not be as hard as you think. In fact, there are some fantastic tools in the policy management family to help. Systems vary greatly in many ways, so consider questions like how heavy is the lift to implement the system, and how much does it cost?
But I don’t even have all the policies I need or time to write them!
Very fair concern for so many businesses. Expertise in authoring policies or providing policy templates is key in choosing a partner to assist you, especially as a small HR team. So be sure to ask potential partners what policies come with the system that you can easily “edit and make your own” and if the vendor has resources that can author state-specific policies for you.
Can this help me now? The clock is ticking on getting my policies done!
Depending on the system, it might not be too late. In fact, modern systems no longer rely on old-school underlying document management systems that often. With data-driven, cloud-based policy management solutions, you can be up and live in days, ready to just move your existing policies over and do the edits in the system, facilitating easy updates for years to come.
Is there an easy way to determine what policies need to be updated?
For some, yes! Modern policy management systems are typically fully integrated with your case management system, so it becomes easy to determine what policies are the most frequently violated. Let’s start with those because they may not be worded well or have become dated compared to accepted norms or new regulations. Having the system identify which quiz questions during attestations are most frequently missed, for example, helps point out policies that can be made clearer.
The net-net is that there are modern policy management solutions that are priced to meet the budgets of small and mid-sized businesses that include policy templates and can be implemented in days. At ETHIX360, we work every day around the globe with companies to help them create great programs to serve their employees well. If you’d like to pick our brains and see what’s possible, just reach out!
The ETHIX360 blog brings you weekly updates on all things human resources and compliance.
MEET THE AUTHOR
J Rollins is the co-founder and CEO of ETHIX360. J is a well known leader and innovator who has served on senior leadership teams ranging in responsibility from Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, SVP of Product Strategy and Chief Operating Officer.
ABOUT ETHIX360
At ETHIX360, our goal is simple: to provide an affordable, flexible, and comprehensive answer to employee communication, policy management, corporate training and case management on issues related to corporate ethics, code of conduct, fraud, bribery, and workplace violence.
