How to Write an HR Manual?

Whether you want to stay up-to-date on HR news, read in-depth HR articles, or find new ideas on strategy, innovation, and leadership, The HR Digest Magazine is here to suit your needs and help you stay more informed.

The HR manual is a document that explains the policies of a company, and the relation of employees with the managers, the kind of relationship that should be maintained as described in the manual.

The HR manual is like an employee policy handbook and aims at describing workplace practices and compliances. The book has a brief about the legal proceedings of the company for employees and is an internal document of the organization. Like every document, an HR manual requires a careful tally of legal procedures, rules, and compliances of a company to be formed in a proper manual. Some of the tips to be followed while creating an HR manual include:

Define the Audience

If the audience is specified, it becomes easier to create the HR manual. Knowing your audience lets you write exact and to the point guidelines without beating about the bush.

Organizational Policies and Procedures

The person assigned to create the HR manual should know the policies and procedures of the organization. It is better to learn and read about the company’s rules first and then start writing the manual. Go through them and then step ahead with the writing of the manual.

Related Policies

In addition to the organization policies, other systems, and essential things of the company like dress code, sick day’s procedure, promotions, and vacations should also be mentioned in the manual. The information should be mentioned so that no wrong message goes to the employees.

Procedure in Detail

The processes, along with complaints and grievances, should be written in detail. While creating the procedure, the person should find out the aspect of every single rule so that consequences are known to the employees.

Include a Section detailing Emergencies and Deaths

Policies relating to circumstances like emergencies and death should be mentioned in the manual. This will be easier for the employees and outsiders as they would know what to do during that time.

Include Crisp and Relevant Stuff

It’s no use beating around a bush in an HR manual. Include the important stuff in a specific manner. The information should be accurate and crisp. Even if the information requires a little harsh tone, use it. But be clear on the policy information.  Don’t make it lengthy and tedious.

Include Positivism

The HR manual should include positivism of the company, and policies shouldn’t reflect anything negative about the organization. To prevent any negativity, list down the systems and the rules beforehand and go through to avoid any doubt.

Never Repeat

Don’t fill up the company policy manual for the sake of doing it. Include all the relevant points without repeating any of them. Inform about the company’s policies and the kind of relation employees need to maintain with the managers and review before submitting the manual.

No Grammatical Mistakes

Grammatical mistakes in an HR manual leave a wrong impression. Before finalizing on the points on the HR manual, make sure they are checked, and no grammatical or silly mistakes are there. A wrongly put HR manual with errors will leave a wrong impression not only on the employees but also on the outside market.

Proper Format

Write the HR manual in the correct format, and it will help you in being in order and make the manual look appealing. If a company is looking to attract more employees, it should professionally prepare the HR manual in a proper format.

Simple Language

Use simple or layman English when writing the HR manual. Never use complicated words, which may lead to the employee scrambling for a dictionary. Using complicated words will only leave the reader on an awkward footing.

Proofread Multiple Times

Before finalizing the manual, go through it yourself many times and proofread so that there are no mistakes.

Long Sentences

Keep sentences short and crisp. It is easier to understand. Also, long sentences confuse the reader; as such, it is better to use clear and straightforward language.

Never Lie

An HR manual is meant to inform the employee about the policies and organization. As such, if the manual contains false information, the HR department and the organization too would be in a problem, and the credibility of the company will be lost. So, never lie in the HR manual.

The post How to Write an HR Manual? appeared first on The HR Digest.

Source: New feed