TOPIC THREE:

HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES

MS CHONGO NAMUSAMBA
 TOPIC THREE: HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES

A policy is a statement of intended conduct, or a rule of behaviour,

which is intended to apply across the organisation. It is an
expression of the organisation’s values and beliefs concerning all
the major functions of the enterprise. Ideally policies tell us how
the organisation intends to go about achieving its objectives.
WHY SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS ADOPT
DEFINITE POLICIES?
 Organisations should have clearly established policies because of
the following reasons:-

 The work involved in formulating human resource policies requires

that the managers give deep thought to the basic needs of both the
organisation and the employees.
 Established policies ensure consistent treatment of all
employees throughout the organisation. Favouritism and
discrimination are minimised.
 Continuity of action is assured even though top
management employees change. The tenure of office of
any manager is limited to a certain time period but the
organisation continues. Policies promote stability of an
organization in a changing environment.
 Policies serve as a standard of performance. Actual results
can be compared with policy to determine how well the
members of the organisation are living up to professed
intentions. 
 Sound policies help to build employee enthusiasm and
loyalty. This is especially true where the policies reflect
established principles of fair play and justice and where
they help people to grow within the organisation.

 Policies protect the employees from unfair practices in

the organisation and vice versa.
IMPORTANCE OF WRITING DOWN
POLICIES

 Written policies let everyone know just what kind of

treatment they can expect to receive from management.
It lets them know where they stand in relation to any
circumstance that occurs. Only when policies are reduced
to writing can they be communicated to all employees.
 
 In large organisations containing many dispersed plants,
written policies are almost a necessity. They ensure
reasonably consistent treatment throughout the company
on matters such as pay, promotion, transfer, lay off,
pension rights, insurance benefits, training opportunities,
and grievance handling.
SOURCES OF FORMULATING HUMAN RESOURCE
POLICIES

 There are five principal sources for determining the content

and meaning of policies.

 Past practices in the organisation

 Prevailing practices among other companies in the community

and throughout the nation in the same industry

 The attitudes and philosophy of middle and lower management

 The attitudes and philosophy of the board of directors and
top management

 The knowledge and experience gained from handling

countless personnel problems on a day-to-day basis.

 The law of the country is a major consideration when

formulating policies.
PROCEDURE FOR FORMULATING
POLICIES IN ORGANIZATIONS

Understanding of the corporate culture of the organisation and how it

affects work patterns is very important. Nevertheless the steps below
can be an appropriate guide for establishing policies (Armstrong, 2006).

 Analyse existing policies existing in the organization whether they

are written or unwritten

 Analyse external influences such as employment laws, health and

safety laws etc.
 Assess any areas where new policies are needed or
existing policies are inadequate

 Seek the views of employees, managers and trade union

representatives.

 Analyse the information obtained in the steps above and

prepare draft policies
 Consult, discuss, and agree policies with the concerned
parties.

 Communicate the policies to the stakeholders and

supplement the communication with training.
COMMUNICATING POLICIES

 Human resource policies must be communicated to

everyone within the organisation. A real education
program should be set up to teach all management
personnel how to handle various human resource problems
in the light of the newly created policy.
 The most common way of informing non-supervisory
employees is by means of the employee handbook. But to
achieve real understanding this should be followed up with
an oral explanation and interpretation generally by first-
line supervision.
HUMAN RESOURCE POLICY AREAS

Policies are normally laid out in all areas of the organization. The human
resource department should have policies relating to the following areas
of its operations.

 Human Resource Planning – this is a commitment by the company to

planning ahead in order to maximise the opportunities for employees to
develop their careers within the organisation and to minimise the
possibility of compulsory redundancy.
 Quality of Employees - an organisation may deliberately
set out in its policy statement that, as a company
dedicated to the pursuit of excellence and
professionalism, it believes in recruiting people who have
the ability or potential to meet the high standards of
performance that will be expected of them.
 Promotion - The policy should state the company's wish to promote
from within whenever this is appropriate as a means of satisfying its
requirements for high quality staff. The policy should, however,
recognise that there will be occasions when the organisation’s present
and future human resource needs can only be met by recruitment from
outside. A firm can have a policy such as:

 “All vacancies will be first advertised within the organisation before

being made public”
HUMAN RESOURCE POLICY AREAS

 Equal Opportunity - A reference should be made in the

general employment policy statement to the effect that
the firm is an equal opportunity company. The Equal
Employment Opportunity policy should spell out the
company's determination to give equal opportunities to all,
irrespective of gender, race, creed, disability, age, or
marital status.
 Managing diversity policy – this is concerned with how the
organisation manages the diverse people it employs. Managing
diversity policy will acknowledge cultural and individual differences
in the work place, state that the organisation values the different
qualities which people bring to their jobs, emphasise the need to
eliminate bias in all areas related to human resource, and focus
attention on individual differences rather than group differences.
 Ethnic Monitoring – this policy states how the company
deals with monitoring the employment of ethnic
minorities.

 Age and Employment - The policy would define the

approach the company adopts to engage, train and
promote all employees especially the older employees.
HUMAN RESOURCE POLICY AREAS

 Redundancy - The redundancy policy, could state the

organization will do its best to avoid declaring employees
redundant. However, if redundancy is unavoidable then it
will be done in the best way possible.
 
 Discipline - The disciplinary policy should state that employees have the
right to know the rules of the organization and what would happen when
a certain rule is disobeyed. A good example of a policy in this area is:

 “Every employee will have the right to fair treatment in matters of

discipline”.

  Grievances - the policy should state how employees can go about

solving their grievances.
 Sexual harassment - the policy would express the firm’s
strong disapproval of sexual harassment and the measures
taken to eliminate it. These policies can:

 Define sexual harassment

  State unequivocally that sexual harassment at work is not

tolerated and is regarded as a matter of gross misconduct
 Define the role of managers in preventing harassment,
and dealing with complaints · Provide for counselling
services for those concerned about harassment

 Set out the procedure for dealing with harassment

 Smoking - the policy would define no-smoking rules. Smoking
policies will spell out whether or not there is a complete ban
on smoking and, if not, the arrangements for restricting
smoking to designated smoking areas.

 Substance Abuse – policies here concerned how the company

treats employees with drinking or drug abuse problems.
 Health and Safety Policy – it is concerned with how the
company approaches the employment of people who have
health problems including those who are HIV positive or
actually suffering from AIDS. Such policies cover how the
company intends to provide health and safe places and
systems of work.
 Pay Policy - a pay policy could cover matters such as paying market rates;

 Paying for performance; Gain sharing - sharing in the gains (added value)

or profits of the company; providing an equitable pay system; equal pay

for work of equal value, subject to overriding market considerations. An

example of a policy here would be:

 “Pay levels will be maintained so as to compete with the best in the

industry”
HUMAN RESOURCE POLICY AREAS

 Employee Development Policy - This policy should express the

firm’s commitment to the continuous development of the skills and
abilities of employees in order to maximise their contribution and
give them the opportunity to enhance their skills, realise their full
potential and advance their careers. A development policy includes:

 “Employees will be expected to participate in training and

development activities in order to develop their skills”
 Involvement and Participation Policy - this policy should spell out the
firm’s belief in involvement and participation as a means of generating
the commitment of all employees to the success of the enterprise. The
policy could also refer to the basis upon which the company intends to
communicate information to employees. An example of a policy here
is:

 “No organisational changes will be implemented without thorough

consultation with all those directly affected by the changes”
HUMAN RESOURCE POLICY AREAS

Employee Relations Policy - this policy will state the company's commitment to
allowing employees to represent their interests to management through trade
unions, staff associations or some other form of representative system. It will
also state the terms under which the company works with trade unions. The
policy may emphasise that the organisation perceives trade unions as partners.
The policy may be stated as follows:

“The firm will always negotiate in good faith with trade union representatives”
 New Technology Policy - such a statement would refer to
consultation about the introduction of new technology and
to the steps that would be taken by the company to
minimise the risks of compulsory redundancy.

THE END