Why and how you should develop an employee handbook
Your internal staff guide is more than just dress codes and PTO policies. It should augment your culture by conveying the company’s history and mission. Here are six examples to borrow from.
If you haven’t spent time developing an employee handbook yet, you’re not alone.
An employee handbook can be incredibly useful in building a positive workplace culture and employee loyalty, but they’re not easy to craft.
Most businesses don’t think about it until it’s a pressing need. Whether you’re attempting to address an office culture issue or interested in building one as a foundational element, crafting an employee handbook requires preparation and thoughtfulness.
To get started, it’s helpful to understand why an employee handbook is crucial to business success. Before starting your own from scratch, it’s useful to get tips by looking at examples.
What is an employee handbook?
It can go by different names, such as an employee field guide or staff manual. Whatever you call it, every employee should receive one, on or before their first day. (You might even include a copy in a welcome email sent to all new hires.)
It can also be a long-form document available as a handy reference guide.
What do most employee handbooks include?
Given that companies’ requirements, core values and goals can differ, each handbook should be unique and reflect those elements. Most include information on:
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