Policy Designing

Policy Designing

Before we attempt understanding Policies of an Organisation, it is essential to understand what an Organisation is. An Organisation is defined as ‘a group of people organized for some end or work’. While we refer to organized working, the guidelines defined are very crucial.

Designing those Guidelines or say Policies of an organisation is similar to defining ‘Law’ to be followed. The Rules and processes laid down drive entire organisation’s functioning. Let us take an insight into what constitutes and contributes to ‘Policy Designing’.

Policies are mandatorily a part of each organisation and almost look similar. However, you would often come across certain organisations with astonishing policies that make you go ‘WOW’. If all the HR professionals study the same academic subjects, work under same Labour Laws applicable, there has to be something more that makes few organisations different from others.

Rather than simply sharing my thoughts, we would observe and discuss few policies of an organisation while we try to identify possible reasons of them being the way they are. This would enable us recognise pattern.

Below are few policies of XYZ Organisation:

∞      Working Hours for Corporate office are 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Mon- Fri and all Saturdays & Sundays of the month are Weekly-Off. Daily 2 short breaks of 15 minutes each and 1 Lunch break of 30 minutes.

Considering the above policy we will try to analyse and understand why isn’t the working hours anything more or less. Why is it the way it is? We know that law says normal Working hours (excluding OT) should not exceed 48 hours a week (it is different for few specific industries), so we understand about upper cap. But the existing hours are much lower than what is allowed by law, the no. of hours can be well extended. Here the factor that acts is additional benefit given to employees. However, the benefit given is also limited and not exceed to half the no. of hours. So what we also understand is this policy is derived by considering three factors; Applicable Law, Business exigencies and Benefit to employees.

∞      Working Hours for Site / Plant office are 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Mon- Sat with all Sundays as Weekly-Off. Daily 2 short breaks of 15 minutes each and 1 Lunch break of 30 minutes.

Considering the same organisation, we have different working hours for different offices. There are 2 factors that contribute to this shift. One we have already established, Business Exigency; Site / Plant is more crucial part of the business that requires additional man-hours for higher Operational activities. Second part when we consider extending benefits to an employee, we need to remember the motive of giving benefits is to Attract / Retain employees. So the benefits are always comparable to what is going on in Industry. Almost all the competitors of XYZ from the same Industry have 6-day working week for their Site / Plant offices. Hence, by not extending further benefit, there is no major loss to competition. However, it can also be looked at a great Attraction factor, but at a cost of loss of productive man-hours. So by this we rephrase our initial statement that these policies are derived considering; Applicable Law, Business Exigencies and Industry practices for giving benefits to employees.

∞      Each employee is eligible for 28 paid leaves in a year and 14 Public holidays.

Giving leave is ‘Mandatory’ as per Law, but the no. of leaves given are much more than minimum required. So what we understand here also, similar to above policies, it is combination of Business Exigency and Industry practice for giving Benefits or say ‘Best Practices’ from the Industry.

∞      Each employee is mandatorily required to take up an additional academic course atleast once every 3 years of their employment. The course is partially funded by the organisation and special additional leaves are granted for exams.

The policy mentioned here is not due to any compulsion under any law; neither is it a standard practice in any Industry to retain employees. The reason for existence of this policy evolves from much deeper ‘Core Values’ driven by Management. This policy comes with intent of contributing to individual lives of employees, empowering growth. This gesture eventually builds loyalty, motivation and overall growth of the organisation.

∞      Rewards and Recognition program is conducted every year where family members of all employees are invited.

This policy is also not corollary to any compulsion under any law, but it is derived by giving additional benefits to employees and also making family members a part of their success celebration reflects a ‘Core Value’ of bringing joy and pride to Family.

∞      There is a Year Long competition constantly going on where employees submit their suggestions & ideas related to anything and everything they think would make a difference to the organisation. The most productive idea is awarded every year.

This policy is also not resultant of any compulsion under any law; neither does it provide large enough benefit to each employee aiming at retention. This policy comes with ambition of promoting Innovation and Creativity. Bringing new ideas at work and creating a feeling of ownership among employees, by implementing their ideas.

We can certainly go on and on inferring meaning out each policy from the Manual. However, I already see a pattern established here. I can conclude saying Policies can be defined keeping three basic points in mind:

1. Applicable Law (Mandatory Practices)
2. Core Values driven by Management (like Integrity, Growth, Freedom, Creativity, Respect, Intelligence, Equality, Justice, Health, Joy, etc.)
3. Balance between Business Exigency and Industry practices for Employee Benefits (Best practices)

They come in order of priority as mentioned.

To design policies of an Organisation an HR Professional (presumably well versed with applicable Labour Laws) should first list down ‘Core Values’ to be driven followed by a survey on Industry Best Practices. Making a list of Heading; General Working Conditions, Compensation & Claims, Working hours & Leave Policy, Project Deployment, RnR, Exit, etc. is all that is needed to draft policies. Ofcourse, always remember to consult Tax expert and IT expert while defining policies related to Taxes / Statutory provisions and IT Policy for the organisation, respectively.

‘Policy Designing’ is as creative and innovative a job as much it is Statutorily Obligatory. Never would policies of two organisations be alike. They need to be highly customised and very subjective to Individuals driving them. The difference we spoke of in the beginning here, that makes few organisations different from others is the Human Values. We are defining Rules and Guidelines for a group of people to come together and work, so it is people we are dealing with. Understanding Human behavior, respecting it and defining policies around it (Core Values) is the formula for success.