COMMUNICATING THE POLICY AND PROCEDURES

COMMUNICATING THE POLICY AND PROCEDURES

The Ways in which the policies/procedures can be communicated to employees in the organization are as follows:

• Through circulation of copies of the policy to them
• Through circulation of copies of the policy to them through the heads of their respective departments (line managers)
• Inclusion of the policies in the employee handbook which are disseminated through the union or employee associations
• To individual employees during the process of signing the engagement/appointment letters
• Through administrative circulars sent to employees or posted on notice boards
• Through the formal process of induction and orientation
• Through inclusion in the companies local area network (LAN)
• Through meetings that can be held between the management and the workers from time to time to brief them on policy content
• A copy can be placed in the organizations resource center/library for reference
• A copy can be sent to employees by e-mail
• HR department as custodian of the document can be used to explain policy content to employees.
• The policy can be published in the organizations, in house magazines or newsletters
• The grapevine or the organizations informal channel of communication can be used to arouse interest amongst the various casual groupings and gauge their level of acceptance the grape vine is however not an official channel of communication.

FEATURES OF AN EFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK

The main policies of an organization are disseminated to employees in a guidebook called the employees handbook.

A good employee handbook contains the following features:

• A brief introductory history of the company– viz when company was founded, vision, mission, its directors, objectives and products.
• A brief on the top managers of the organization and the senior most officers preferably up to supervisory level.
• An organization chart showing reporting relationships and span of control of officers.
• The policies of the company enumerated in brief:

Emphasis should be on the most important policies e.g. disciplinary, training; promotion, medical; terms and conditions of service-e.g. leave procedures, loans and benefits, insurance for staff. The handbook should seek to answer the frequently asked questions by employees in the areas of policies.

• Procedure for performance evaluation or review
  • Enumerate the purpose and frequency of assessment
  • Describe the evaluation process
• Sample forms in use in the organization should be annexed to the handbook to make it easier for employees to know which documents to use for different purposes e.g. leave forms, loan application forms, appraisal forms etc.