How Do You Share Your Code of Conduct Policy? Seeking Mailer Formats and Ideas

Hi all, how do you communicate the code of conduct policy in your organization? One way is to upload the policy on the intranet, where employees can access and review it. Another method is through sending mailers. Can you please share with me the format of the mailers that are sent?

Thanks,
Ruchika

Hi Ruchika, when you say "policy," that comes through certain layers of authorities and approvals. Hence, it should be circulated in an official form. Posting on the intranet does help in case you are making additional changes to an existing policy or revisiting certain clauses.

Email distribution may not help all people to access it. Many people in certain departments learn about such changes or implementations through word of mouth unless you plan for an official meeting. The best way to put it into practice is an official meeting followed by an email notice. Communicate to department heads to fix a meeting with their people in batches to address the policy and its expectations.

What do you say?

There are many ways you can communicate the Code of Conduct:

• Distribute mini CDs containing the document.
• Distribute flash drives containing this document. Both methods allow you to give each employee their own disk and sign for it.
• Distribute it to the head of the department, and their responsibility is to create awareness.
• Host an open forum in the organization or a tea party with a presentation introducing the code of conduct/ethics to employees. This allows you to have discussion sessions and then give them gift bags with the document/CD/flash drive containing this document.
• Upload the document to the organization's intranet and then send a public announcement to all employees.
• For new joiners, it can be given to them in a gift bag as a CD/flash drive with a handbook/folder.

You can use all the above methods so that no one will have an excuse for not being aware of its existence.

Dear Anayaat,

All of your mentioned points seem odd to me. At each and every point, there are hidden budgetary facts linked, and it's not a suggested way unless your corporate allows you with exceptional budget allocation. Always note, you are a good manager when you can lead an organization by saving time and money, and gaining numbers towards revenue.

It's not about attracting people with gifts or making awareness only in newcomers. Here, the deal is you are going to implement a certain method where the corporate has some expectations out of it.

Remember, enforcement always differs from implementation. There's a strategic method of implementation for every such policy/process.

Many organizations have certain opinions towards budgetary factors and IT policies... all of your points except one are resulting in these two attributes.

The ideal method is rolling out the information through intranet/email/notice boards and then presentations to department-wise or hierarchy-wise.

This is in addition to what learned members have said.

Creating and uploading a policy on the company's intranet or sending mailers to this effect is one thing, and actual implementation is another. In many organizations, policies remain in the policy folder. Now these remain on the company's internal website. So your real challenge is adherence or implementation.

For strict implementation or adherence, you need to train your staff per force.

Implementation of the Code of Conduct

For the implementation of the code of conduct, your top management plays an important role. In the code of conduct, you need to include:

- Communication within the organization from subordinate to senior
- Communication within the organization from senior to subordinate
- Communication between/among peers
- Communication out of the company but to some different SBU that comes under your company's umbrella
- Communication with external parties like suppliers, service providers, customers, etc.
- Standardization of various forms like leave application, gate pass, etc.

Your challenge is uniformity across the organization. Whoever works wherever in whatever capacity, he/she should follow the same pattern.

Let me quote an example from my former employment in the Indian Air Force. The code of communication is defined to the last extent, and officers do not allow even minor variation. Senior officers are quite strict about this. This strictness has helped in adherence by one and all.

In addition to this, you need to introduce a new clause, i.e., gender-neutral communication. Earlier, it was acceptable to have a masculine tilt, but nowadays, we are moving towards neutrality.

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar

Hi there, @klarsfa - thank you very much for your note. You made a very valuable point. However, the main query was on how to communicate the information and provide options. The budgetary issues involved are up to the discretion of the manager on how to implement. We are here to help to the best of our knowledge. Keep the ideas coming.

Regards

Your query is limited to the Communication of Policy only, but you haven't raised any query about its Implementation at Various Levels. Do you feel that the Code of Conduct will be implemented strictly as per the policy norms if you communicate the policy via various communication channels? Mr. Dinesh had submitted the best procedure for implementation for effective results at various levels. Kindly ensure that the Code of Conduct Policy is stored in individuals' (employees) brains with an alert system indicating post-consequences (stringent) for failing to adhere to the policy/organizational standards.

With profound regards,