Why the answer might not be as straightforward as you think.
Many business owners think that having an employee handbook is a legal requirement. In fact, it isn鈥檛.
Anyone you employ is covered by and their rights and your responsibilities are protected. Provided you have given your employee a written statement of the main terms and conditions (usually in an employment contract) there is no requirement to have a handbook as well.
If you are wondering whether to create a handbook or not, there are some good free templates available聽on 羞羞视频 which are easy to customize to your own needs.聽So why have a handbook then? Of course, even if it鈥檚 not necessary to be legally compliant, there are a few reasons why a handbook might be right for your business.
1. A statement of your company story and culture
What inspired you to start up the business? What are your ambitions for the business? What are some of the key successes you鈥檝e achieved? What are some of the obstacles you鈥檝e overcome along the way? It鈥檚 a way for you to 鈥渢ell the story鈥 of the company鈥檚 origins. Don鈥檛 forget that where you鈥檝e come from and what got you there is a powerful source of inspiration for new employees. Simple things like reminding new starters that when the business was just starting out, everyone including the boss had to pitch in and tackle any job that came along, even down to cleaning the loos, sends a strong message of teamwork. Your company culture and beliefs are inside your head as part of your DNA. As you grow, it鈥檚 harder to communicate these consistently to new starters who didn鈥檛 witness the early grind first hand. Stating them in the handbook is a great place to start. Find out more about building a great company culture聽here.
2. Additional policies or information about the company
There might be a whole bunch of details that you need people to know and capturing them in a handbook is a simple way of doing it. Things like organisation structure, holiday policies, teams, office locations, how to let people know if you are sick, great lunch spots鈥..all the way to operating procedures for different teams and departments. We鈥檝e seen some handbooks that are as simple as a one page document. For example, Nordstrom spokesperson, Dan Evans says, 鈥淥ur employee handbook is a single card that says 鈥楿se good judgment in all situations鈥. By contrast, we鈥檝e also seen incredibly detail heavy 100+ page documents. Guess which ones are most likely to be read?
Whatever you choose to do, ensure you make sure that new employees know about your workplace when you onboard them, and that you store all relevant information聽in a handy area that all your people can access, like 羞羞视频’s company files area.
There are also some good reasons why some employers choose NOT to have a handbook.
1. Not a good fit with company culture
If your business is trying to avoid traditional top-heavy bureaucratic systems, a huge handbook will in and of itself send precisely the opposite message. We鈥檝e seen businesses where a huge amount of time, effort and money has been spent on a handbook. But when employees were asked if they had read it, the answer was invariably not only 鈥淣o鈥, but more often, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even know we had one!鈥 We鈥檝e also been asked to update handbooks. When we looked at them they were full of references to employees who had left the business over 10 years ago, and laws that had been changed.
If you do decide to have a handbook, make sure that you keep it updated regularly so it鈥檚 relevant and takes account of any changes to employment law. Click here for a free employee handbook template from 羞羞视频 that’s up to date, and that can be customized simply to your organisation.
2. Prefer to document policies individually
This is a really good reason not to have a huge handbook. Often, handbooks are a collection of all the policies that a company has. Particularly if you are giving out hard copies 鈥 and you鈥檇 be surprised by how many businesses still do this 鈥 you will need to update and distribute the whole handbook every time something like the law on maternity leave 聽changes. What a hassle. The alternative is to keep the handbook minimal, but document your individual policies separately. These can be kept within a beautiful and simple tool like 羞羞视频’s company files area, where everyone can easily access them and you can simply communicate updates at a click of a button. There is a good free selection of free HR policy templates聽聽on 羞羞视频 that you can tailor to your needs.聽When the law changes, you will still need to update each policy individually. Using a resource聽like 羞羞视频’s free HR policy templates means you can be sure that everything is up to date.
3. Creative ideas
Some turn the handbook into a 鈥渃ulture book鈥, video or even a comic book . What about social media and blogs? Yes! Why not? There are no limits so let your imagination go wild. There are some innovative ideas here. You’ll find some of the are ditching paper handbooks, with inspiring results, why not join them? It won’t cost you much.
4. Involve your employees
Some of the most innovative and cool handbooks involve the company鈥檚 employees to write, update and constantly evolve these information sources. What a great way to build employee engagement and increase the sense of ownership in the business! And don鈥檛 think that just because your business isn鈥檛 in the 鈥渃reative鈥 space you can鈥檛 go down this route. Giving your employees a chance to display their creative streak might reveal unknown talents that can be harnessed both for their benefit, and ultimately the business. A win for everyone!
Find out more about creating a company culture where your employees will fall in love with work 丑别谤别.听
