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Policies are a bane to the existence of most employees. While they aren’t generally set to be a stumbling block, too often that is what they become. Let’s look at the problems with policies and what you can do to overcome those problems.
Here is a short list about what your team members don’t like about policies. How many of these have you experienced or heard?
- Too Bureaucratic or Complicated. People often feel that workplace policies are overly complex, filled with unnecessary red tape, or hard to understand. This can lead to frustration, especially when policies seem to slow down work processes or require excessive approvals for simple tasks.?
- Inconsistent Application. People often express concern when policies are not applied consistently across the organization. Some feel that favoritism or individual discretion leads to uneven enforcement of rules, creating frustration and a sense of unfairness. Or..
- Rigid and Inflexible. Chances are you have felt this way about at least some working policies since and in the aftermath of pandemic lockdowns and return to work initiatives.?
- Outdated or Irrelevant. Have you ever experienced a policy that hasn’t or doesn’t adapt to changes in technology, work culture, or modern business practices?
- Not understood or communicated. If a policy isn’t clear, can’t be found or isn’t understood, it likely creates barriers beyond the policy itself.
- Too Focused on Control, Not on Trust. Policies that are perceived as micromanaging or controlling tend to frustrate people. When people feel controlled or are left with little personal agency, trust will be stunted or not exist.??
- Unnecessary or Difficult. Have you ever seen a policy as unnecessary or not adding any value? Have you wondered how a policy could be created without consulting those who do the real work every day???
I recognize that some of the negativity expressed here isn’t completely balanced and might tend to give policies a bad name, yet in your own experience, I’m betting you have experienced many of these. And if so, then the process we use in creating policies should be reconsidered.
People don’t create a new policy with the hope that these problems arise. People generally have good intentions when they create a policy. They are trying to address a problem or a potential one, and make things better, easier or more consistent. But as we have seen and experienced, policies don’t always have the expected or intended impact (or there are additional unintended consequences).?
I offer four suggestions to help address the concerns we have all experienced with policies in general, and specifically any new policy.
- Consider the employee and customer perspective not just the “business” perspective. Too many policies are put in place to manage, control or standardize things in ways that don’t serve the customer or employee experience enough. Remember that the “business” includes the team and the customers! Before finalizing a new policy, include input from the team and understand their perspective on the situation.
- Less is more. The more policies you have, the more likely you are adding costs to enforce them and creating additional untended consequences from the weight of these policies. Before you add a new policy, consider how many you already have.
- Pilot them first. When you look at the list of concerns above, it is clear that many policies don’t achieve the outcomes intended. Since we know organizational life is complex, why not pilot or test a policy before formalizing it? It is almost a guarantee that you will find ways to adjust it for the better as a result.
- Give them expiration dates. Many policies serve a purpose for a while. But the impetus for the policy might go away, the context of the policy might change, or the world might just be changing too quickly for your policy to maintain value. Consider an expiration date (or at least a renewal date) for any new policy.
There can be value in setting a new policy, but too often they cause unintended problems too. Applying these suggestions will help you reduce the negativity, cynicism, and problems that policies often create.?
A version of this article was first posted on our blog
Share your thoughts in the comments – How effective are the policies in your organization??
Insurance Director , National Guard Association of Kansas
1 个月Just had a similar situation happen today we punted because no need for the policy.
Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer | Business Leader | Communications Specialist | Pricing Professional
1 个月Kevin - This is one of your best posts. Richard Reed, the shoe bomber, forced the creation of a TSA policy from one incident in December of 2001, that resulted in me having to wake up my infant daughter in 2012 to take her little booties off when going through security to board a flight.
Acoustical Ceilings Department Manager at Daley's Drywall & Taping Inc.
1 个月Great stuff! My personality does not suit SOPs or policies. I find most to be rigid and too long. I tend to go from A-B to Z removing most steps with the same or similar outcomes. However, I am wise enough to understand and support the need for them in business. I am sure it comes across as errogance, "rules for thee but not for me." It truly isn't that way; they are simply painful for me to trudge through. I am sharing this article with leadership ??
Transform Your Culture with Compassionate Accountability?
1 个月Love this article, Kevin. Such a great list of principles to apply when making new policies. I often tell clients they can assess the level of drama in their culture by looking at how thick their policy manual is. With your guidelines, we can slim things down and write policies that uplift our people's value, capability and responsibility. And, congrats on the new book!