12SepSpringtime - time to clean out your policies and processes
Posted on 12/09/2016 by Nine2Three
Yessss – it is spring! You can see the plants starting to send out green shoots, the lawn is beginning to grow faster, I am re-addressing my wardrobe and I feel like cleaning the kitchen cupboards (Ok that last one might be going a bit too far)! September always has a hint of better things to come about it, a feeling of renewal and freshness.
It can be really useful to link the seasons to things you have to do in life. A friend once told me that every January he went to the doctors for a check up – you know get your bloods done, check cholesterol, have your skin checked and your general health. He found that by linking his annual health check to the start of the year, he always remembered to do it. I thought this was a great idea, so borrowed it and used the January trigger for my annual health check as well.
There are certain things that you need to do for the health check of your business as well and these often fall by the wayside too. One of these is the annual check of your workplace policies.
Polices serve three important purposes in your business:
1. They are a training tool – you can use them to get your staff together and have training about policy content such as WHS; Bullying; Sexual Harassment; Conduct and office based procedures;
2. They are a disciplinary tool – you can use them to discipline your workers for breach of policy;
3. They are a protection mechanism – there is nothing quite so strong as submitting to Fair Work evidence of your employees continual breach of policy and then a copy of the actual policy and a copy of your worker’s signature that they had read and understood the policy.
So you can see that Polices are highly important in todays workplace. Additionally it is important to schedule a time once a year, when the policies will be reviewed and any changes made.
There are two types of main changes:
1. Content changes about the way you do things in your workplace, perhaps you have a new environmental issue you want to communicate or some WHS issues you have identified;
2. Legal changes - clauses that need to be added because there have been case law that has highlighted new issues which should be included in the policies.
However if each year the polices never get looked at and both legal and content changes are ignored the ability of the polices to work in a proactive way for the business is mitigated. But, how to remember to renew them?
Why don’t you link reviewing your policies to your September spring clean state of mind?
So when thinking about renewing your wardrobe, cleaning your kitchen cupboards or getting the summer bikini body back, think what spring cleaning your business needs and think about your policies.
Don’t have any policies? Then let’s do a Spring Cleaning Special! - call the office and mention my blog to receive 10% off the cost of all policies – that brings a policy down to only $211.50 plus GST for a legally written and up-to-date document! Enjoy Spring!
Important Note: These articles have been prepared for general circulation and are circulated for general informational purposes only; these articles should not be regarded as business or investment advice. The articles represent the views of the writers and are subject to change without notice. Additionally, while every care has been taken in the preparation of the articles no representation or warranty as to accuracy or completeness of any statement is given. An individual or organisation should, before any business or investment decision is made, consider the appropriateness of the information in this document, and seek professional advice, having regard to objectives, situation and needs. This document is solely for the use of the party to whom it is provided.
Posted in Building Business | I Need HR Help
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