Best reason(s) for having policies?

I wondered if any of the forumites had encountered aversion/resistance to introducing policies and procedures and, if so, what arguments you used to overcome this resistance?  What were the killer arguments in favour that won people over?    

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  • Hi Anka

    There seems to be a predisposition / assumption here that policies and procedures are always 'a good thing' - IMHO they are not necessarily anything like a good thing: of course they're necessary for such as disciplinary or grievance or capability or absence but personally abhor the approach that procedures are necessary for just about every HR event - IMHO they can be totally inappropriate and unhelpful.
  • (Perhaps what is needed is a policy for writing policies, David?) :-)

    Joking aside, I agree.

    Policies are a statement of what you intend to happen: e.g. "We will maintain a healthy and safe workplace", or "The Company will not tolerate discrimination"

    Procedures are a statement how you will make that happen, compliant with law and in context with the specific workplace.

    A confused conglomeration of the two is a disaster waiting for someone to perpetrate it.

    If you don't need to state either, and have enough disasters to cope with, you don't need a policy.

  • I had never thought of the difference between policy and procedure this way and find this genuinely useful - thank you very much.
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