Company Handbooks - Why every business must have one.
Updated: Jul 26, 2021
A company handbook is one of the most critical (and often overlooked) pieces of corporate literature you could develop for your business. Many businesses that start small fail to consider the development of a handbook as the business scales.
The handbook introduces employees to the organisation, its mission, vision, values, and culture which sets the foundation for how the employees fit in. It communicates to the employees what is expected of them; the benchmarks, sets the tone for employees on safety, timekeeping, reporting, and so on.
A good handbook should contain an organised compilation of all the company’s policies, procedures and instructions as well as information pertaining to employee/legal rights and obligations. Having a handbook for existing and new staff that are onboarded makes it simple for you to communicate rules and responsibilities to employees. There is no question about what's expected from each employee — or for that matter from you, as the business owner.
* A handbook also helps ensure that key company policies are clearly and consistently communicated to all staff. Typically during the induction process an employee will review the content. Always ask them to revisit this after a month or two into the role.
* handbooks are particularly useful when it comes to managing a remote workforce. * It showcases the benefits of working at your organisation. It makes sure the employees know about what's available such as leave entitlements, what to do if they are unwell etc.
* Handbooks ensure compliance with Australian federal and state legislation. No matter how big or small your company is everybody is subject to legislation.
* Helps to protect business owners from potential lawsuits. Handbooks are useful documents to have in place for employers to help you defend yourselves from any wrongful termination or claims. * The last thing is that a handbook lets employees know where to turn for help in a time of trouble or uncertainty. They know who to turn to and what to do.
