Is your business updating existing policies or implementing new ones? If so, your continued compliance with government regulations depends on all departments being fully aware of and applying policy changes.
Ensuring a smooth company-wide transition between policies is possible – we’ll show you how.
Don’t be paper-bound
Quite often, when companies incur regulatory penalties, it’s because someone failed to follow prescribed procedures. No doubt, those procedures are clearly and carefully outlined in an employee handbook – somewhere. Probably tucked into the back of a drawer or on a shelf gathering dust.
Management teams need to accept that employees today are much more likely to access information electronically, instead of leafing through the pages of a thick, heavy manual.
Think policy management software
On the surface, policy management or policy tracking software serves the same basic functions as the outdated paper employee handbooks and operational manuals. The service goes further, however, by providing a framework in which you can first create then distribute policy and procedure outlines. It also gives you the ability to track individual and team compliance.
Moreover, by using policy management tools you can ensure that particular policies and procedures are available specifically to the employees whose roles they govern. Also, your employees can quickly do keyword searches for policies and procedures and so are much more likely to comply with them.
Here’s how policy management software supports the transition process:
They are easy to update
Many examples of policy management software are designed with templates. Therefore, at the beginning of the transition process, it is easy for you to go in and input new information or adjust what is already there as it relates to each department and individual.
They create an organized central hub of information
During the transition, the software serves as a library for all of your policies and procedures. It allows administrators to sort the policies and procedures based on different criteria, including type, priority and affected department. Employees can readily access the library to continually familiarize themselves with the exact changes being made.
They facilitate testing
A successful transition is about more than creating, storing and accessing new policies and procedures. It also hinges on how well employees grasp them. Policy management software allows you to test employees’ understanding at different stages before collecting employees signatures as having read through the changes. By tracking how your employees perform on the tests, you can learn which policies or procedures require further clarification.
They allow you to issue reminders
Managers and supervisors can use the service to send out personal and group reminders of the policies and procedures to be followed. This simple proactive measure is a useful feature to have even after the transition is deemed to be complete. It can contribute greatly to your employees continued adherence to the policies and procedures, consequently lowering the risk of your company incurring non-compliance penalties.
Policies and their related procedures guide your company’s day-to-day operations. Transitioning between policies while maintaining efficiency and compliance is possible if you use the right policy management software.