i selected to discuss about policy document in this assignment which is one of types of documents...

7/28/2019 I Selected to Discuss About Policy Document in This Assignment Which is One of Types of Documents Which We Le

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Communication skills

I selected to discuss about the policy document in this assignment which

is one of types of documents which we learnt in module of communication

skills.

The importance of policy document

A Policy is a principle or a guide line or directives supposed to be adhered

which gives a rational repercussion. Most policies develop from past

practices good or bad, fair or unfair. Policy statement is a document

stating an organization's views, aims and aspirations. An organization's

policy document guides employees in performing their duties and inform

customers and clients of how various issues related to products and services

are addressed. In the drafted policy document of induction and orientation is

guidance for employees how to perform their duty in the event of new

arrivals of employees. The policy document will be the source of instructionsand definite guidelines and help in the interpretation of policies and

procedures. This will render quick settlement of misunderstandings. These

policy documents help to keep management and operation flexible and

transparent. Because when anything happens it can be referred to policy

document. In case of recurring situation this will assist the management to

take decisions and this reduces the range of individual decisions. Policy

documents demarcate the scope within which they should function and each

employee knows in advance what response he or she will get from others

when taking actions, making decisions, and giving responses. Therefore

Predictability about the cause and effect is a remarkable importance givento employees in an organization by the policy document. This is a shield in

the event of an audit or lawsuit. Policies and procedures are important for

any business with more than 10 employees. The advantages of having

formal policies and procedures cannot be underestimated. Many small

businesses don't feel that such policies help their operations and prefer to

keep management flexible. Even though this argument does have some

legitimacy for micro organizations it does create problems for businesses

that are moving into a larger state of existence. Therefore it is advisable to

form formal policies and procedures in spite of the size of organization.Actions contained within policy statements must conform to national, state

and local laws

In the attached draft policy document is an example how the Rolex company

orientates its newcomers.

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Uses of Policy document

A policy document conveys the policy of a given website, business or

organization. It's used to communicate the organization's policy on a given

topic .it would address the internal and external views of an organization.

Policy document guide involved parties to go through some accepted

sequence or steps to achieve the goal of policy. In my draft of policy

documents it is said The utmost result must be the employee satisfaction

while achieving organizational goals is the paramount initiation of this

policy. Therefore this policy document is used to navigate the organization

to achieve goals. Policy document is a tool used to assure compliance with

policy objectives and to establish the accountability of operating units and

individuals affected by each policy. In a nutshell this is used as basic

communication tool among the member of the organization. Since the

policy document reflects the managers, supervisors and employees viewson each subject or policy area.

As Per the American College of Preventive Medicine, according to their

usage there are two categories of policy statements: proactive and reactive.

Proactive category policies will address the issue before emerge of that

issue and the outcome of the issue. According to that my drafted policy also

put in to this category. The other category is called reactive category and it

supposed to address after the issue. As an example there is a policy to not

drink whilst the employee is on duty. But any employee is found to drunk

those reactive policies will come to deal with. Then the employee will beinterdicted or sacked according policies of conduct.There are two types of

criteria for policy statements within each category of policy statements per

American College of Preventive Medicine: internal and external. Basically,

the internal criteria relate to the advancement and goals of an organization.

External criteria relate to the economic impact of the organization on the

public sector.

A policy document is used as written documentation of the organizations

commitment to its employees safety and health. Because the safety and

heal also a very important policy adopted by the organization.

A policy document is an excellent training resource. Policy documents such

as drafted policy document can be used both in training newly hired or

promoted supervisors and in conducting refresher courses for experienced

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supervisors. Some organizations have actually structured their supervisory

training programs to correspond with the manuals table of contents.

A policy document is an instrument in some cases for litigations. Since policy

document constitutes legal implications and they have legal validity.

This will show the role and responsibilities of involved parties and they can

perform their duty without conflict or confusion. Therefore this document

can be used as conflict resolution.

Advantages

Policy document is a written document and this can be accessed by the

relevant people at any moment and this is transparent. Therefore everyone

can challenge and asked to revise whenever it is reasonably needed.

Policy documents will enhance the flexibility of the management. Employee

can predict the repercussion of the any issue in relation to policy document.

Policy document bring the uniformity of organizational process. As an

example when someone is supposed to go to Colombo from Kandy .Thereare many ways to approach Kandy. If there is a policy there may be agreed

way to approach Kandy and it would be imposed to everyone abides by.

When someone is lost in the way how to do it they can refer to policy

document and this will act as conflict resolution document.

Policy document acts against discrimination. Policies are formed to address

everyone equally according to their role and their responsibility.

By implementing policy documents management can enhance the

productivity and the moral of the workers.

Police document can save resources such as time, money and assets. It has

predetermined the process and schedule.

Disadvantages

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So many policies make employees confused and bored. Additionally facts

will seem vague.

The creativity of mangers will be curbed by this document because they are

confined stipulated frame. In the draft policy document of mine we can

observe how management has addressed the issue of induction and

orientation in the professional way but the may be some managers who

have their own optimized and creative method to address the issue.

It takes some considerable time to prepare policy document and it is a result

of a huge effort of various people.

There are some instances some issues are not addressed at all or addressed

indistinctly by the policy document and in the process of implementing

workers are confused. There are two policy documents for various fields in

same organization will be sometimes overlapped and employees will beindifferent or at their wits end.

Format

There is not a standard format for policy document and there will be

elements must be included in the document.

But here I adopted some format I believe that can be used as I did in my

drafted policy document

Headline banner

The policy title, issuing date, and identification block which includes: Policy

number, Page Number, Effective Date, notification, Office of Origin, and

Policy Approval Authority. The Policy Number and Page Number would

appear on all subsequent pages; the footer of each page should repeat the

Issuing Date and the Policy Title.

Note: The policy title should be carefully selected so that it is simple and

clearly conveys the policys content.

Preamble

A concise statement of the rationale for the policy, including if appropriate,

Reference to external regulations, further policy discussion, etc. Summary

(one paragraph) clearly stating the important policy content.

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Scope and purpose

A small paragraph on which areas this policy is supposed to address and the

immediate purpose to establish this policy of document. This describes why

the organization needs a policy on this topic or subject, the intended result

and why it's important . Exactly who the policy applies to and the

consequences for non-compliance, if applicable.

Objectives

This reflects what will be the out by implementing policy and how it affects

the company and in which way.

Financial incentives

This will denote how they allocate budget for expenditures which have to

incurred while the implementation process

Law implications

In this subtopic Statues and regulation which are supposed be obliged bythe company, employees and customers are briefly considered. Theconsequences of violating a company policy should be consistent with thedegree of severity. For minor infractions, this could be something as simpleas a letter of reprimand placed in the worker's personnel file, a dock in payor the withdrawal of a privilege. For acts more serious such as substanceabuse, theft or compromising the integrity of the company, the result wouldbe termination and, in some cases, the filing of criminal charges

Responsibilities and Roles

Explain the policies which relate to the roles and responsibilities pertainingto the main affecting body and the people

Guide lines

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Reference to detailed procedures that are recommended in order to carryout the intent of the policy.

Document control information

Define to whom this should be directed and limitation.

Definition

Definitions of terms (as needed).

Special language features

Clauses of policy document should be precise and address to the point.

Words mustnt be ambiguous. Clauses should be numbered according to

sequence in case of extraction it is easy to definite. Simple words should be

used for policy document in order to exact comprehension

Referencehttp://www.victoria.ac.nz/home/about/policy/publications/PolicyDocumentDevelop

mentInformation_v1.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policy

http://www.mml.org/pdf/glv/chapter13.pdf

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policy