Why is Developing An Employee Handbook Important to Your Business?

Many businesses develop an employee handbook to communicate policies, procedures and general company information. For employees, a handbook is a guide to what the business believes is important. For business owners, it is a method of producing a guide book on, and for, your business; it will help you document directions for your employees. Managing a small business requires understanding that your people are your most important resource.

Some small business owners may think it's not as important to develop a handbook for a small number of employees.

However, it is necessary for the success of all businesses with employees; for businesses without employees but with contract workers, it is still important to provide reference and details in terms of your expectations and how you want your business to be operated.

If you don't develop a handbook, it is highly likely that you will be challenged to resolve human resources issues that arise; because you will not have laid a foundation or structure to deal with those issues.

A sample outline of one of the best of all the employee handbooks that I've seen:

• Table of Contents
• A welcoming message from the business owner and the management
• Organization Charts (one chart for each level of supervision)
• Store, warehouse and/or manufacturing plant map and layout (if a physical business, versus an online business): this would include fire extinguishers, emergency exits, first aid stations, as well as main traffic areas and departments.
• Description of what the business does: its reason for existence (e.g. it's in the automotive industry and is a business-to-business supplier of automotive parts)
• Description of the business' value to its customers - this is really a belief statement
• A statement of the Business' Values (e.g. honesty, integrity, ethical behavior)
• The Vision Statement
• The Mission Statement
• A statement on the importance of employees to the business
• A statement on the importance of customers to the business
• General Comments and Expectations
• Polices, Procedures, Guidelines and Practices
• Attendance and Punctuality Policy: The Importance of Reliability
• Bereavement Policy
• Communications Policy
• Conflict of Interest Policy
• Corrective Action Policy
• Discrimination and Harassment Policy
• Drug and Alcohol Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Promotions Policy
• Statutory Holidays
• Vacation Policy
• Safe Work Policy
• Employee Training Development
• Procedures
• Handling of Equipment, Tools and Facilities
• Hours of Work, Rest Breaks, Overtime
• Job Descriptions
• Managing Customer Orders (including your definition of good customer service)
• New Employee Orientation
• Pay periods
• Performance Evaluations
• Quality
• Standard Operating Procedures
• Guidelines
• Benefits Programs
• Social Events
• Termination Process, including common grounds or reasons for firing employees

Employee handbooks need to be customized to the specific business and industry. You can use the above outline as an employee handbook template for drafting your handbook, but make sure that you develop it to be consistent with the specific needs and direction of your own business and build it in alignment with your strategy and with your small business plan.

If you have developed a strong business network , you may be able to ask for, and share, a sample employee handbook to help you frame what you need to do for your business. Contact your industry association to see if they have a copy of a handbook that you can reference.

Once you have written your handbook, have your lawyer review it to ensure that you are following the labor laws of your country and region. Depending on the laws in your country or region, you may wish to add one or more disclaimers (a disclaimer might be along the lines of "this handbook is a guide only and is not a complete list of expectations, practices, policies, etc.") - take the advice of your lawyer on these details.

Build your handbook to be a positive influence on morale, and to promote a positive culture; therefore write this book in a positive tone. Your employee handbook needs to be reliable, consistent, and provide fair guidelines for employees, as well as performance and expectations standards. Your handbook will be one of the retention strategies you can employ; keeping high performing employees by communicating clearly is a successful employee retention tip.

Review the handbook on an annual basis to ensure that it is up-to-date and to add new or changing policies (some employee policies or practices will evolve over time as your business evolves).

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