Make your company policies a strategic asset

Do your policies change your team's behaviours?

Or are they written only with regulators and lawyers in mind?

Part 1

You probably have a clear understanding of your purpose and strategy, beyond making a profit. But aligning everyone's behaviours with that purpose and strategy objectives is challenging.

In today’s dynamic landscape, we believe effective company policies can play a pivotal role in driving desired behaviours and establishing your culture.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) defines Corporate Governance as “the system of rules, practices and processes that are put in place to manage and control a company.”

Company policies, addressing only material risks and objectives, are the backbone of that system of rules, practices and processes. Imagine them being secret weapons driving competitive advantage.

Where are you now?

Maybe you are a small company, and you haven’t yet defined many expectations on what matters most for enduring success. You rely on having good people exercising good judgement. That’s not always enough, and it could lead to inconsistencies, especially as you grow. And if good people leave without codifying their knowledge, that knowledge goes with them. You may be left with big risks lurking beneath the surface, with potential to impact your reputation and your bottom line.

Or perhaps you have passionate function leaders who have defined too many requirements. Your most important expectations get lost in the detail.

Your team either can’t understand and follow them, or they try to comply and get bogged down. They stop thinking; stop applying their judgement. You’re stifling innovation, creativity and agility. As one client executive said to us: “we’re in danger here of dying… safely”.

Or possibly your expectations haven’t been fully implemented. Your team takes action to address non-compliance issues or near misses, but those issues keep popping up again. It’s like whack-a-mole.

Root causes of non-compliance are not being addressed. Too much organisational energy is tied up in the nitty-gritty and not enough on delivering strategic objectives.

Where would you like to be?

Imagine going into the office and seeing everyone, from the frontline to executives, fully engaged with your purpose. Everyone demonstrates a shared understanding of what matters most.

It’s Monday morning and your inbox is full. But people aren’t coming to you with problems, they’re keeping you informed about solutions. Everyone acts like they’re an owner. Their discretionary effort is making your business thrive.

Or picture your company being resilient and adaptable, confident you can weather any storm. You have a serious disruption in your supply chain. You immediately trigger well-rehearsed contingency plans. You keep clients and stakeholders informed through great communications. Everyone stays calm and their can-do attitude finds great solutions. Your clients thank you for being so transparent and saving their skin. You become an even more valued partner. Your ability to adapt lets you take advantage of new opportunities.

Or visualise your company being evaluated for a major investment, partnership, or acquisition. The due diligence finds your team exudes quiet confidence; they meet every request with no scrambling about. The due diligence concludes your team is empowered to deliver within clear, enforced boundaries. They see you well-positioned for sustained growth. Your team’s alignment and solid ways of working have helped increase your enterprise value.

So how do you get to this place of clarity and confidence?

We believe it starts with a simple but profound change of mindset. Instead of seeing your company policies only as a defensive requirement imposed by stakeholders, recognise them as a powerful tool for aligning your team behind your goals.

Policies that fit together to address the risks you need or want to take, to address what’s important and only what’s important to you as an owner or leader. Simple, targeted, user-friendly policies that your team believe in and follow. Policies that are upheld, adapted and improved. Policies that define clear boundaries to give your team confidence and space to be innovative and creative.

In this series of articles, we'll guide you through our radically simple but deeply rigorous and proven four pillars – Shape, Scribe, Start, Sustain – so your policies enable your team to quickly understand and follow what’s expected of them.

Join us on a journey to transform your company policies into a strategic asset, positioning your company for sustained success.

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For more immediate information on our BRAVE perspective on company policies, please email [email protected].