Creating effective employee manuals

I want to update my office policy manual, but I'm afraid of overlooking something. What items should I definitely include?

"It's like baking a cake," says Dr. Joel Parker, president of Professional Business Solutions in Vancouver, British Columbia. "Including just the right amount of each ingredient is what's required to get a good result." He recommends the following tips:

Dr. Joel Parker

Define the purpose of the employee manual. Get this well worked out and written down.

Realize that your staff needs to use the manual as a reference. "It needs to contain the policies and procedures that make your practice tick," Dr. Parker says. "Most policy manuals come from outside sources and don't represent exactly what goes on in the practice. Rather than being a training and correction reference tool, they collect dust."

Create one binder with duties and policies that apply to all employees as general staff members. "This binder includes what to wear, hours of operation, when paychecks are distributed, overtime guidelines, and holiday guidelines," Dr. Parker says.

Next, create a second binder for each staff member that contains policies and procedures applying specifically to the position. "This binder should also define how the services and products resulting from this position contribute to the overall success of the practice," Dr. Parker says.

Dr. Parker recommends looking for areas of frustration in your practice by soliciting input from your team. "You'll find overlooked policies and procedures," he says. "Get these written up and your staff trained and drilled on them ASAP."