Need Help Reviewing HR Policy: What Steps Should I Take?

Dear HR friends,

I have been asked to review the HR policy in my company. Could you give some ideas on how to review the HR policy?

Regards,
Adel

Dear Adel,

I have just finished reviewing the HR Policy of my organization, which I joined only 3 months ago. The first task assigned to me was to review the HR Policy and suggest suitable changes.

Initially, I was not comfortable with the thought of how a new joiner could review the policy when not completely aware. However, I did not ask for such luxury, given my role in the Human Resource profession.

The approach I adopted was to first read through the entire policy word by word, including various implementation guidelines. I then compared it with our existing practices and identified many gaps between what is written in the HR Policy and what is being performed. I have prepared a detailed report outlining the necessary changes. Where I found practices needing alignment with the policy, I suggested changes, and where I found practices more beneficial for employees, I recommended policy adjustments.

Surprisingly, my report proved to be very valuable, and I subsequently redrafted the policy document, ensuring alignment between policy and practice.

In the HR profession, what you need to follow is your understanding of your circumstances, as practices that work for some may not be universally applicable.

"Every new question requires new answers!"

All the best,

Gaurang Joshi.

Dear All,

What Joshi has suggested is really helpful. Now I will give you some more tips.

1. Talk to all your HR colleagues and find out what problems they or employees are facing in relation to a policy (take one rule/policy) at a time. Also ask for their suggestions.

2. Do a similar exercise with the Accounts Department (because wherever money transactions are involved, the Accounts Dept. comes into the picture) and HODs of various functions.

3. Talk to senior management to get their views.

4. Find out what is happening around you or in the industry. What good companies are doing regarding that policy.

5. Now you have all the data you need. Your job is to match the aspirations of employees as well as top management. Ensure that the policy should be simple to implement and understand. Make a draft.

6. Call a meeting (participants should be predetermined and should represent top management, HODs, Accounts, and HR People) and discuss the draft in detail. It is preferable to circulate it in advance. Finalize, implement for six months, and after six months review it again to freeze it.

Policy making is not an easy exercise (it is time-consuming too if you really want to do a good job).

KKT

Dear KKT,

Wonderful insights on the topic. Well, it is indeed a perfect approach to take all concerns into the loop, especially when dealing with policy matters. In fact, I would say that being in the HR profession, we should have an approach to involve everyone in all major functions that we carry out. After all, our actions are going to affect every corner of the organization. Many times, I have seen that minor negligence leads to unnecessary conflicts.

These are my personal views.

Thanks.

Best Regards,
Gaurang Joshi

Dear Gaurang,

Thank you for the encouragement.

Framing HR policies is a very sensitive subject, as you have rightly said, even minor negligence can lead to major conflicts.

Every company has its own distinct history and culture that must be kept in mind while framing a policy. We cannot simply collect policies from a few related companies and copy them.

Policies should first and foremost be specific and comprehensive. There should be no vagueness in the rules that could lead to interpretations or discretion. It is essential to consider all kinds of situations related to a particular policy and address them within the policy itself.

All delegations and procedures should be clearly outlined in the policy.

When framing policies, it is advisable to be lenient in providing benefits to employees as it does not cost much to the company. However, strict implementation is crucial. Once a policy is in place, any violations should not be tolerated; otherwise, employees may lose respect for the rules, leading to widespread violations and chaos. Fair balance must be struck between the interests of employees and the employer when crafting policies.

It is evident that faulty policies are a significant source of dissatisfaction among employees and a key reason for higher attrition rates. Flawed policies can consume a lot of top management's time in resolving issues.

It is important to ensure that our policies comply with all applicable laws.

KKT

Dear KKT,

I must admire your thoughts, mainly how wonderfully you represent them in words. Well, my issue has already been disclosed to CiteHR; unfortunately, I have never been contacted or assisted by anyone.

So, let me re-explain what is going on with me.

As I have hardly 2 years of experience in the field of HR, I find it quite confusing to establish a whole new HR department in an Ad Agency. I work for a local agency, more than a decade old. The end of 2008 was the launching year of HR. And yes, I am the only person who is taking care of 118 people. Though my work has been shared with the Finance department for a few reasons (e.g., giving appointment letters, recommendation letters, and so on).

The focal point is, people here are used to working in a different way. Many of them come late on a regular basis. To address this scenario, I made them sign a late sheet on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the scenario remains the same.

I am currently writing a Leave policy; however, they have decided not to follow our country's labor law. I have agreed with them and am rewriting the leave policy according to top management's decision. I need suggestions on this scenario.

Performance appraisal forms have been developed by an HR consultant, which I did not like at all. However, the top management and other authorized individuals preferred to apply that form. When I explained the procedure to complete the form for their appraisees to the supervisors, they were confused and did not like the form at all. If they complain about this, they will complain about me, being the only HR person. Anyway, what's your opinion about this scenario?

Now, I am working on the employee database and creating files for each individual. The Finance department will not provide me with all the employees' salaries as I need them for inputting into the database. What's your opinion about this?

Moreover, as a new person taking on all these responsibilities, I think I need proper guidance from someone who works in an Ad Agency and can help me with everything.

I know it's a lot, but I don't know with whom I should share all these to get ideas from.

From,

HRGirl

Can you tell me how long we can use an HR policy and when is the right moment to make changes to it?

Thank you.