Your employee handbook is obsolete. You know that, right?

I don’t care if you updated it last week, or last month, or yesterday. The moment that you click “turn this into a PDF,” it becomes obsolete and gets more and more obsolete over time. This is because things change within companies on a second-by-second basis -- companies are amorphous, living, breathing organisms. So why wouldn’t the employee handbook -- the document that outlines all the policies and procedures.

Here at Holistic, we are dedicated to helping organizations create a path for success for their employees. We believe that communication between employees and employers is crucial. Part of fostering excellent communication amongst teams is to have clear, written policies and procedures to avoid confusion and distrust in the organization. One great example of how employees can be clear and communicative with their employees is through employee handbooks.

Through an employee handbook, companies are able to document expectations from employees and what your employees can expect from a company. Essentially, an employee handbook states your legal obligations as an employer and your employees’ rights. It contains important information on your company’s policies and procedures with thorough details that employees would need to know about their workplace.

An employee handbook is important as it provides standardization of personnel and benefit policies, preventing misunderstandings, complaints and job dissatisfaction out of a misinterpretation of personnel and benefit policies by employees.

Holistic works with companies to develop the appropriate handbook for said company based on other data we collect throughout other analyses. Here’s how it actually works with Holistic.

First, we gather data by conducting an employee survey, wherein we get all sorts of information such as the current state of the organization on diversity and inclusion matters, how employees feel about the organization, and more.

At roughly the same time, we conduct a company DNA analysis. In it, we ask about the organizations current landscape of policies and procedures including if the company has a domestic violence prevention policy in place. Most times, the company says no. Having a domestic violence prevention policy is actually very important and every organization should have one in place. If you don’t have one, we can help. This will be something that we will include in your employee handbook.

Through our extensive partner network, we are able to not only find areas of missed opportunity but also pair companies with solutions that will provide tangible results. For example, in the case that an organization doesn’t have a domestic violence prevention policy, we pair companies with our partner Chicago Says No More to learn more about the policies and why they are important. Companies are then encouraged to take action on these matters. (CSNM has a pledge that companies can take, which is a non-binding declaration that they are opposed to domestic violence.)

Companies that have employee handbooks have spent quite a good amount of money on these; however, most times, these handbooks are outdated and don’t necessarily align with the organization's benefits. Holistic not only provides an updated and dynamic employee handbook, but we also pair companies to solutions to some of the policies addressed within the handbooks. This makes all the difference!

To learn more about how Holistic can help your company have a dynamic employee handbook with clear solutions, please reach out to us here.