policy

Three P's

The Three P’s – Policy, Process, Procedure

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The Three P’s are kind of a big deal here at Red Barn. However, many people don’t quite understand what the difference is between a Policy, a Process, and a Procedure. In fact, many people use the terms interchangeably, and often incorrectly. Regardless of how you use them, it’s important to know that they are a vital part of your Operations. How can you hold yourself and your team accountable if you don’t have everything outlined, documented, and available?

Everything we do at work is governed by the Three P’s. Having unclear, undefined P’s is not so bad if you are a solopreneur, but if you have employees, vendors or contractors, and clients – you need clearly defined and documented P’s for everyone to follow.

So what do the Three P’s stand for?

The policy is the Rules and Standards that your company adheres to.

The process is the What, Who, and When.

The procedure is How and Where.

The Policy

Policies are at the top level of the Operational System. They state the principles by which your business will operate. You should aim to have a written Policy for every one of your business operations.

The Policy defines the RULES within which everyone involved in the activity will operate. It can also define minimum STANDARDS to be delivered. An example of a policy may be that the time clock is required to be used to document working hours – no handwritten time slips will be accepted.

The Process

The Process sits one level down from the Policy. It outlines how the rules and standards set by the Policy will be achieved by listing the tasks to be done, who does them, and when they do them.

The Process is the WHAT, WHO, and WHEN. An example of this would be that all hourly employees (who) are required to use the time clock to document their working hours (what) by punching in and out at the start and end of their shift and lunch breaks (when). Managers (who) are responsible for checking the timeclock log (what) on a daily basis (when) for missed punches.

This isn’t where all the details live. It’s simply just the tasks involved in the process. The process should make sure it covers all the rules and standards defined by the Policy. Not every Process needs to have a Procedure. The Procedure is where the details live, so if you need more information outlined than listed in the Process, spend a little more time documenting the Procedure for each task.

The Procedure

Procedures support the Process by defining exactly how you want each task to be executed.  It lists the step by steps tasks to complete the process. It captures the HOW the task is done and WHERE to find the resources to do the task.

The level of detail to put into your Procedures depends on your level of comfort, who will be doing the task, and any requirements based on your company’s industry and certifications – like manufacturing and ISO certifications require very detailed procedures.

In our example of using the time clock, for the hourly employees, we would detail how to use the timeclock – do they swipe a card or enter a code, what buttons do they need to push to get their punches to register, what is the process if they miss a punch, are their rules on how early or late they can punch in without discipline, etc. You must also outline the tasks for the Managers – how do they check the log, what do they do if an employee is too early or late, how do they record a missed punch, etc. Who do they contact if there are issues with the timeclock?

A Procedure addresses a single task performed by a single person, so it should be relatively succinct, but complete enough that the person doing the task does not need to ask questions.

You will note that the Procedure is strictly the set of steps, and where to find the resources needed to complete the task. There’s no When and there’s no Who because that information is in the Process. The Procedure is designed to be picked up and carried out by anyone assigned to the task.

Spending time documenting your Three P’s will result in improved efficiency, less confusion, and mistakes, and allow you to delegate tasks or onboard new employees faster. Overall, better operations mean happier customers.

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Calling in Sick – When is enough, enough?

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You get the flu, sprain an ankle, or have a sick child – these all fall under reasons you’d probably call out of work and take a sick day, right? But what happens when Susan calls out of work every other week because she has a hang nail, she has a flat tire – AGAIN, or she has a sniffle? According to CareerBuilder, about 38% of employees have called in sick when they felt perfectly fine. So, what can you do to curb employee sick day abuse? We’ve got a few suggestions.

  •  Create a combined PTO policy. Merging sick and vacation time under one Paid Time Off (PTO) umbrella may not seem like it will make a difference, but when constant sick time abusers realize that their excessive call outs may affect their actual vacation days – they may think twice about blowing through all their time by March.
  • Track the abuse. Is the employee calling out the same day of the week each time, or the same days of the month? If you notice a pattern, it could be traced to a sport schedule or perhaps their child’s school schedule.
  • Is it a medical or disability issue? An employee may have an issue at home that they don’t want to disclose, or an illness that requires a lot of doctor appointments or days when they aren’t capable of working. You’ll want to investigate whether it may be an American with Disabilities Act issue or an FMLA issue and you just aren’t aware.
  • Create a call out policy that requires speaking to someone. Employees are much less likely to call out if they must speak to their boss on the phone vs. leaving a voicemail, email, or text.
  • Talk to the employee! This ones seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how nonconfrontational some managers may be. Open the lines of communication and see if you can find out the root cause behind the behavior[/cs_text][cs_text]This next part may seem counterintuitive, BUT we think it’s pretty darn important at the Red Barn. Don’t discourage employees from taking mental health days if they really need them. Many employees struggle with work life balance and that stress can get overwhelming at times. If employees are starting to get burnt out – encourage them to take a day mental health day. Trust me – everyone will benefit from it, AND it will help prevent employee turnover. I’m not saying it’s OK to take one every week, but if they are working on a particularly tough project or account, taking one day a month won’t kill any.
    Curious what some of the most popular and ridiculous reasons people call out of work? Check out this list – there are a few good ones! CLICK HERE

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The one thing your business MUST have – but many go without…

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You guessed it…Ah, the humble employee handbook — How little it’s appreciated. I’m often surprised when I begin working with a company and I ask to see their employee handbook and I get the “Yea, it’s on our to-do list – we are a small company though so it doesn’t really matter…..does it?”

It does.

Forget the obvious – you don’t have PTO days or holidays structured and in writing, there’s no written policy in case of harassment issues, or what the lay of the land is if an employee should leave or break a rule (that may or may not be written in stone).

Many companies that have an employee handbook, updated by HR every three years, given out in the introduction pack for new starters, and seldom referred to again, it leads a small and solitary life — It doesn’t have to be this way.

Used well, the employee handbook can become a vital resource for the way your business does things. Imagine having a living, breathing document that:

• Lays out reasonable, agreed upon policies in an easy to understand way.
• Shares the best ways to work to keep everyone productive.
• Has hints and tips on best practice.
• Keeps everything clear and consistent across your business.

That sounds pretty great, right?

And….you don’t have one. It’s o.k. we aren’t here to judge (not really) – we’re here to help you get started!

So, how do you go about creating this wondrous thing? Glad you asked…

Involve everyone in creating and rewriting the employee handbook. The best way to get people to care about your employee handbook is to involve them in writing it. Ask your employees about what they want it to cover, get feedback on your policies, put together a focus group. Let your teams know it’s a way to get invested in how they work day to day — They can have a direct impact on doing things better.

Talk through and get feedback on your business policies and procedures. Your policies and procedures impact everyone in your business. Encourage your employees to discuss and suggest improvements. That will encourage them to read through and understand your procedures and policies and help them feel accountable for any changes.

Make your employee handbook easily accessible to everyone. Save the trees! If you print out your handbook, it will just end up in the back of a desk drawer, gathering dust. Put your handbook online, on your intranet or a private website. Make sure it’s properly hyperlinked, has access to other resources and is easily searchable. Include a direct link to it on the front page of your intranet. Make sure that all of the language in the handbook is easy to understand and avoid jargon.

Ensure it’s about more than just policies and procedures. The best way to get people to use the staff handbook is to make it useful. Rather than just being about how you do things, how about having links to online training, best practices, explainer videos, or discussion groups? Make the handbook itself interactive — Get people to share their experiences and successes.

Regularly reference your handbook in communications. When you send out emails and other communications to your teams, reference the staff handbook. Highlight it as the central resource for your employees to source their information. Make people rely on it, and it will become their go to.

Your employee handbook is one of the best ways to influence your employees and encourage them to work better. When you use plain language, involve them in writing it, discuss policies and procedures, and make it truly useful, it’s better for everyone.

Oh, and yes we still believe employees should sign something that says “Hey, I read the handbook”. It might come in handy one day.

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