C’mon you’re almost there: 10 simple strategies for getting your handbook across the finish line

The end is in sight: You’ve taken our consultants’ advice and worked diligently to avoid the most common employee handbook mistakes, you’ve chosen practical policies that align with your business needs, and you’ve kept in mind those critical policy writing do’s and don’ts. The result: a legally sound and valuable communication tool known as the employee handbook.If you’re like many of our clients, at this point you’re probably thinking, “I’m finally home-free!” Well, not so fast: Remember the company we told you about who spent all that time and money creating an employee handbook, just to let it sit on the shelf and collect dust? Failing to implement your handbook after exerting so much time and energy creating it would be like quitting a marathon with only a mile left to go. Surprisingly, this is one of the most common employee handbook mistakes.

Your last hurdle, handbook implementation, is one of the most important steps in the process. But that doesn’t mean it has to be difficult. To ensure your handbook gets the mileage it deserves, follow these 10 simple strategies for implementing it:

1. Decide on a medium. The most traditional means for distributing an employee handbook is through print. While it may look pretty, the major disadvantage of having a paper copy occurs when changes to the handbook need to be made. One change can affect the pagination of the entire document, resulting in increased administrative time as titles, tables and page numbers need to be updated and multiple copies of handbooks reprinted. To simplify handbook maintenance, many employers are now making their handbook available electronically, on the company’s intranet or internal server. Depending on the size of your company, electronic handbooks have the potential to save you hundreds on printing costs. 

Cost-saving tip: Why not save some extra cash by hosting your handbook online? With the Employee Handbook Wizard™, you can create a secure handbook portal customized with your company logo, colors and welcome message and give your employees 24/7 access. Plus, any time you edit your policies, it’s automatically updated and posted to your online portal, saving you reprinting costs.

2. Train your managers. Prior to distributing the handbook to your employees, meet with company supervisors and educate them on the policies included within the handbook, the purpose behind each policy, and how the policies are to be enforced. After you are confident that supervisors understand the ins and outs of each of the policies, you can then meet with employees to go over the handbook.

3. Introduce to your employees. Never assume that your employees will become familiar with your company’s handbook on their own. You should demonstrate the handbook’s importance as a communication tool by setting aside time to discuss its contents and to answer any questions they may have. Employees may have some apprehension with regards to the sudden implementation of a handbook. Inform them that the handbook is intended to protect staff as well as the company. But more importantly, it is designed to ensure everyone is aware of company procedures and that employees behave in a manner consistent with company rules and regulations.

4. Require acknowledgment. After reviewing the handbook, all employees should be required to sign an acknowledgment form, verifying that they have read and understand the handbook’s contents. By signing this form, employees agree that they are subject to the guidelines of the handbook and that the handbook is not intended to be a contract of employment. And of course, be sure to retain signed acknowledgments in employee personnel files.

Time-saving tip: You can streamline the process with paperless employee acknowledgments, included with the Employee Handbook Wizard™. This allows you to quickly send mass acknowledgment requests from your own email program, track who’s completed their e-signatures, and store completed acknowledgments online in downloadable PDF format.

5. Don’t forget about new employees. Not only is the initial introduction of an employee handbook important, but so is the on-going introduction of the document to new employees. A review of the handbook should be incorporated into your company’s orientation process. This will serve to establish company expectations from the get-go while providing new hires with a sense of the company’s culture.

6. Integrate within your culture. Refer to your company’s employee handbook regularly and make it a living document within your organization. Utilize it as a constant resource when employees, including supervisors, ask questions. By visibly using the handbook as a means for answering questions and interpreting company rules and regulations, employees will also begin to use the handbook as a reference when they have questions. Scheduling an annual employee handbook meeting may be another way to integrate the handbook into your company’s culture. This will allow you to reinforce company policies and provides an additional forum for your employees to ask questions.

7. Consistently apply polices. Employers need to ensure that managers and other employees with supervisory responsibilities not only understand the policies and procedures set forth in the handbook, but that they use the handbook to guide their actions and decisions. In doing so, all managers need to be sure that they consistently apply the policies within the handbook. Inconsistently applying policies will be viewed as discriminatory and biased, leaving you susceptible to legal liability.

8. Gauge employee reactions. An employee handbook is expected to grow with the company. After implementing the handbook, pay particular attention to how employees react to specific policies, whether the procedures within the handbook are effective in resolving employee concerns and whether there are issues that have arisen not covered by the handbook. This type of analysis will be powerful for determining your revision needs.

9. Review & update your handbook. Periodically reviewing your handbook will allow you to ensure that it remains compliant with applicable laws and that it is still meeting your needs. To ensure your revisions go smoothly, it’s important to first establish an approval process for edits. Determine who is authorized to make changes to the employee handbook and who must approve such changes. You will also need to think about how you will communicate any handbook changes to your employees. Try to provide as much notice as possible before a policy change goes into effect in order to ensure employees have adequate time to adjust to the change.

Make it easier: When all policy changes can be made online, as can be done with the Employee Handbook Wizard™, your policies become much simpler to maintain – not to mention more cost-effective.

10. Require acknowledgment of policy revisions. When a change to your handbook does occur, you should take all necessary steps in communicating those changes to your workforce: send memos, post notices in common areas, and discuss the changes at staff meetings. After any changes have been introduced it is necessary to again require employees to sign an acknowledgement form verifying they have read and understand the policy change. Doing so will ensure all employees are aware of the most current policies.

C’mon, go that extra mile; make sure the hard work you put into developing your handbook pays off by having a successful implementation plan. Spend the time necessary to train managers on company policy, educate employees on the contents of your handbook, and review and update your handbook regularly.