As a leader, it is essential to take the time to create structures that drive the behavior of your team. Written and accessible policies and procedures provide the necessary guardrails for meeting operational objectives. Policies and procedures define employees' methods to deliver a service or create a product. Policies also communicate appropriate standards of behavior and actions for all employees. Clearly communicating documented systems is critical to obtain consistent adherence to desired behaviors.

 

Structure drives behavior

A policy sets expectations for employee behavior.

A procedure outlines the steps to accomplish tasks.

 

Culture

Organizational culture is the collection of values, language, customs, and behaviors that guide the actions of all team members. Policies and procedures are the structures that provide the parameters to create organizational and team culture. Once expectations are in place, staff can understand their role and where they fit on the team. Employees are more productive and motivated if they understand their purpose and are provided a clear vision, so they know their work objectives and how they fit into the grand scheme. Leaders may know their expectations, but if they are not communicated consistently across their team, staff will become frustrated and feel as though they are treated differently. With written guidelines in place, employees do not have to guess leadership's expectations or wonder if they are being singled out. Without standardized guides, teams will begin to compete for resources, form fiefdoms, and the culture will become toxic. Make sure your internal structures reflect the organizational culture you wish to achieve. 

 

• Do you have programs to measure employee engagement? 

• How often are you reviewing your policies and procedures? 

• When you update policies and procedures, are you including the staff they affect? 

 

Accountability

Written guidelines provide leadership oversight, produce consistent results across projects and teams, and create team cohesion. Staff must have easy access to written policies and procedures and understand the consequences of not following them, and consequences must be uniform across all employees. Formal standards outline what happens when conflict arises between teams or individuals and when handling HR issues. Your team must know the consequences of breaking the rules and even bucking organizational culture. Policies and procedures must contain information about the disciplinary process and levels of corrective action. Consistent and predictable accountability will generate trust and respect and will increase clarity on expected behaviors, job functions, and individual roles. That trust and understanding create the space for employees to focus on doing their job confidently and with excellence.

 

• As a leader of teams, do you have a good relationship with your HR team?

• Do you have a process to “clear the decks” with your team members and colleagues?

• Are you applying stated policies consistently across all team members?

 

Creating and Maintaining

While policy development needs to happen in consultation with those doing the work, policy implementation needs to occur from the top down. Employees will more likely abide by a policy if they have input and understand the "why" behind its intention. Further, staff will likely accept and follow policies if they see their managers consistently following organizational policies and procedures.

 

An accessible policy and procedures manual is an effective management tool to retain and transfer valuable knowledge about business operations and expectations. People learn in different ways; having both printed physical copies and a searchable digital manual is best, but make sure everything gets revised when changes are made. Leadership should meet regularly to review and update policies and procedures taking, technology and structural changes into account. Written guidelines are a critical part of culture and management; however, they are not the only method for creating adherence to structures. Regular training, project tracking tools, strategic planning, employee engagement surveys, benchmarking, and balanced scorecards are also good tools to provide systems that drive behavior.

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• Do you have a policy for creating and updating policies and procedures?

• Do you have multiple ways for your team to access written policies and procedures?

• What are the other tools you are using to provide structure that drives behaivor? 

 

Policies and Procedures Today

2020 reminded us that change is constant. Organizations across the nation are writing and rewriting remote work policies, sick leave policies, and procedures on working from home with new technologies. Remember that change is hard. Staff may have emotional reactions to new rules. It is important to provide plenty of notice about transitions and offer both psychological and logistical support. As staff become more comfortable within the organizational structure, they will have increased clarity about how they may best contribute to the organization and your team.

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