Yesterday’s Advisor began to explore BLR’s 2015 Policy Practices Survey. Today’s Advisor explores the rest of the results.
 |
Thanks to all 1,414 individuals who participated in the survey, conducted in July 2015.
Policy Distribution
Employee handbooks continue to be the preferred method of distributing policies to employees for 49.3% of survey participants (49.9% in 2014 and 55.4% in 2013). An internal website (intranet) is utilized by 31.9% (up from 29.3% in 2014 but down from 35.4% in 2013). On the decline, e-mail is the distribution vehicle for 6.4% (6.7% in 2014 and 10.5% in 2013), while 1.8% provide policies to employees via loose-leaf memo, and 1.3% do not distribute handbooks or written policies to employees.
Just an overview of policies is provided to employees for 7.9%, and 20.4% provide an overview and make every policy available to employees who want to see them. For 63.8%, however, everyone receives a complete set of HR policies and procedures. 21.2% of management team members receive a separate policy and procedure manual from those employees receive, but for 74% of survey respondents they are the same.
An employee’s receipt of handbook acknowledgment is required by 87.1% of survey participants (up from 84.7% in 2014 and 81.9% in 2013), with 20.6% acknowledging that they received the handbook and 66.9% acknowledging that they not only received it but read it as well. Surprisingly, only 10.6% require employees to turn in outdated handbooks.
For participants whose handbooks are online and not printed, 31.4% track employee log-on and require a signed acknowledgment. Another 4.1%, though, just track log-on.
Language translation is not provided by 86.2% of participants. Handbooks are translated into Spanish, however, by 6.2%, into other languages by 1%, and translated into Spanish as well as another language by 2%.
Do you know what the future of your HR operations looks like? Join us on Wednesday, September 30, 2015, for a new interactive webinar—Strategic Planning for HR: A Blueprint for Creating Aligned and Adaptable Plans. Learn More
Policy Enforcement
Policies are enforced somewhat effectively for 55.4% and very effectively for 39.9% of survey participants. Another 4%, however, indicate that policies are not effectively enforced within their company. The most difficult policy to enforce for 19.4% is attendance and punctuality, while discipline/termination is a challenge for 13.1%, and dress code/personal appearance is an issue for 10.2%.
Management team members’ tendency to enforce only some policies is a problem for 38.5% of participants. Some team members’ practice of not bothering to enforce any policies, however, is cited by 66.4% of survey participants as the biggest stumbling block to overall policy enforcement. The need to update policies is an obstacle for 36.1%, and having policies that are difficult to understand is an issue for 13.2%. Retaining policies that should be cancelled is a stumbling block for 9.9% and inadequate or lack of distribution is a problem for 8.3%.
Progressive discipline is utilized for some violations of policy for 52.3% and for all policy violations for 40%. It is never utilized, however, for 5.1%.
Survey participants indicated that more successful enforcement of policies could be enhanced by:
- Accountability, 62.3%
- Consistent enforcement, 61.3%
- More/better training for supervisors and employees, 58.4%
- Management support of policies, 42.6%
- Checking with HR before taking action, 39.7%
- Better distribution/communication of policies, 21.9%
- Conducting compliance audits, 20.5%
- Better policies, 13.5%
- Involving employees in development of policies, 12.1%
- Other, 2.8%
When you set out to chart the future of your organization’s HR operations, you need a strategic plan that shows everyone involved where you’re going, how you’ll get there, and how to make sure you’re moving at the right speed. Not sure where to start? Fortunately there’s timely help in the form of BLR’s new webinar—Strategic Planning for HR: A Blueprint for Creating Aligned and Adaptable Plans. In just 90 minutes, on Wednesday, September 30, you’ll learn everything you need to know about creating a successful plan for your future HR operations!
Register today for this interactive webinar.
Want to ensure your strategic planning is up to snuff? Join us Wednesday, September 30, 2015, for a new interactive webinar, Strategic Planning for HR: A Blueprint for Creating Aligned and Adaptable Plans. Earn 1.5 hours in HRCI Recertification Credit and 1.5 hours in SHRM Professional Development Credit. Register Now
By participating in this interactive webinar, you’ll learn:
- What your strategic planning process entails and who should be involved along the way
- Essential steps, such as assessing capacity, forecasting HR needs, gap analysis, and strategy development
- How to get from where your organization is today to where you want it to be the at the end of your strategic plan
- With assessment in hand, how to let the planning begin
- Strategy options to consider, including restructuring, training and development, recruitment, outsourcing and collaboration, with examples of each
- Tips for documenting the plan in a straightforward and easily communicated format
- Tactics for implementation: How to communicate, activate, and evaluate your plan as you go into action
- And much more!
Register now for this event risk-free.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Eastern)
12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Central)
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (Mountain)
10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Pacific)
Approved for Recertification Credit and Professional Development Credit
This program has been approved for 1.5 credit hours toward recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) and 1.5 credit hours towards SHRM-CPSM or SHRM-SCPSM.
Join us on Wednesday, September 30, 2015—you’ll get the in-depth Strategic Planning for HR: A Blueprint for Creating Aligned and Adaptable Plans webinar AND you’ll get all of your particular questions answered by our experts.
Train Your Entire Staff
As with all BLR®/HR Hero® webinars:
- Train all the staff you can fit around a conference phone.
- Get your (and their) specific phoned-in or e-mailed questions answered in Q&A sessions that follow the presentation.