This HR policy template will take you from risk to results
Key takeaways:
Even if you aren’t using an HR policy template, you’re making HR decisions on a regular basis (you just might not realize it).
There are some simple steps you can take to reduce risk and improve HR effectiveness.
An HR policy template is a great tool to help you get started.
There are hidden costs to not using an HR policy template: inconsistency, slow response, increased risk, and mental fatigue.
Using an HR policy template protects your resources and reduces risk.
Download our HR policy template to get started.
You’re already making HR decisions (even without an HR policy template)
If you’ve ever thought, “We’re not big enough to need HR policies yet,” you’re not alone. But the reality is even if you don’t think you’re making HR decisions, you almost certainly are.
Does your company hire or fire employees?
Do your employees take vacation?
Do you offer paid holidays?
Do your employees or their families get sick?
Unless there’s only one employee at your company, the odds are you answered yes to all of these. And, if you answered yes to any of them, you’re making HR decisions. If you don’t have an HR policy, you’re just making them without any sort of system to keep you consistent and legally compliant.
That sounds scary, but don’t worry. You don’t need to go out and hire an army of HR staff right away. The best thing you can do is to create a simple HR policy that you can build on as your needs become more complex.
PRO TIP >> Make it easy with our HR policy template!
The hidden cost of not having an HR policy template
Especially when your company is still relatively small, or has stayed the same size for a while, it can seem perfectly fine to make decisions as they arise. Someone gets sick? Figure out how to cover while they’re gone. Want to give the team an extra day off during the holidays? Write an email and let them know.
But there are hidden costs to not having standard ways to handle common situations.
Inconsistent decisions across managers
If there’s no company-wide HR policy, then work circumstances could vary drastically for employees across different teams. One manager might be fine with her employees working from home one day a week, while another might want every one of his team members at the office every day from 8am to 5pm. And, because colleagues talk, these discrepancies may be far more visible than leadership realizes.
Slower resolution of employee issues
Life happens fast. When an employee gets sick, is injured, or has a dispute with a colleague, action is needed immediately. But that can’t happen if there’s not an HR policy in place to turn to. At best, leadership has to take the time to consider the issue and make a decision about how to handle it, at worst, outside support, like lawyers or mediators, need to be brought on, which takes time and is expensive. In the end, your team has spent more resources than necessary on one situation, and the employee has been left waiting when they needed a quick answer.
Increased compliance and documentation risk
Worker protections are many and varied, and it can be difficult to know exactly what your legal obligations as an employer are in any given situation without a guiding HR policy. If an employee decides you’ve failed to meet your obligations and reports you or takes legal action, you can be caught out without proper documentation in place.
PRO TIP >> Employer laws and regulations vary widely from state to state. Make sure to address all states where you do business and where employees are located.
Mental fatigue from repeat decision making
Making decisions (particularly those that affect others’ lives) is exhausting. Without an HR policy in place, managers and company leadership must make continuous decisions on a case-by-case basis. The result is a constant time and energy suck on leaders’ time that should be spent on big-picture business questions.
How an HR policy template can help
If you’re starting to think that you actually do need to start thinking about making an HR policy, your next question might be, “But how much is this going to cost me?” and then “How many HR people am I going to need to hire?”
It may or may not be time for you to start thinking about bringing on some HR expertise (more on that below), but an easy and affordable first step you can take is to use a robust HR policy template to create a basic HR policy.
Support fairness and transparency
When you use an HR policy template, you ensure that everyone is treated the same across the company. Regardless of who an employee’s manager is, they can count on receiving the same benefits, working expectations, and consequences.
Speed decision makinG
Quick decision making benefits both employees and the company. When you adapt an HR policy template, fewer resources are used in each individual situation. And, decisions can be made much more quickly because common situations have already been thought through and guidelines put in place.
Create clarity and reduce risk
Paperwork can feel complicated. But an HR policy template is a tool for simplification. Once adapted to your company’s needs, it reduces confusion among both employees and managers, defines the company’s stance on important issues, and guides employees on who to turn to for certain kinds of issues. It also ensures you have the right documentation on hand should a conflict arise.
Reduce cognitive load
A strong HR policy template, even if simple, can help reduce the cognitive load on company leadership and managers. Once you’ve adapted the template for your company, they no longer have to think through every single scenario. They can simply refer to the policy (or maybe skip the conversation altogether because the employee went to the policy themselves).
Get started with our HR policy templatE
Nothing is more intimidating than a blank page. That’s why an HR policy template is such a helpful tool. Below you’ll find the link to ours, but first here’s a quick run down on the best way to use it.
What this HR policy template helps you accomplish
We’ve kept this template simple and to the point, perfect for smaller growing companies. It will help you
Separate intent from process: Each section explicitly defines purpose, anchoring HR action to company intent instead of personal preference. And, it allows you to update your process while maintaining a consistent message on your underlying goals.
Define eligibility and expectations before enforcement: When expectations and consequences are documented from the beginning, there are fewer surprises. Enforcement is consistent and fair.
Document how decisions are made: Transparency builds trust. The process sections of this template give employees full insight into how decisions are made.
Formal escalation path: By documenting graduated responses, you avoid all-or-nothing reactions on the fly.
How to customize our HR policy template for your company
The best way to approach customizing our template for your company is to take three distinct passes.
Reality check: How are you handling each of the listed issues today? Is it how you want to continue handling it? Are there issues that need to be addressed that haven’t come up yet?
Tone: Adjust wording so it reflects your company culture, leadership style, and level of formality. The goal is clarity, not formality for formality’s sake.
Legal and compliance review: Before putting your customized HR policy into use, you’ll want to run it by a legal advisor and/or HR professional to ensure you’re meeting all obligations under applicable federal, state, and local laws.
DOWNLOAD >> Ready to get started? Download our HR policy template here!
Putting your HR policy template into action
Once your HR policy is ready to go, you’ll want to distribute it to employees with appropriate messaging from leadership. You’ll also need to train managers on how to implement it with their teams. And, you’ll want to prepare to use it in future onboarding processes as you hire new employees.
If you’re wondering how you can manage all that without an HR staff, but you’re also not ready to commit to a full-time HR team, then Aerial may be exactly the right fit for you.
Our team of experienced HR professionals embeds with your company, providing all of the benefits of an in-house team without the burden of benefits or added management structure. And we do it for less than the cost of one traditional HR hire.
Want to learn more about how we can make HR policy creation and implementation easy? Schedule a conversation with one of our HR experts today.
