upstartHR

Tag: Policy

  • An Open Letter to HR on Policies, Regulating, and Training (10 years later)

    Ten years ago I started this blog. One of my earliest posts was about the critical importance of treating people like adults and training for the attitudes and behaviors we want, not just those we don’t want. Is it still true today? You decide.  AKA An open letter to HR professionals who think it’s a…

  • Newsflash: HR Creates a Policy

    Breaking news Anywhere, USA – This morning we got word that someone in HR created a policy. We’re not sure what the policy was as of the time of this report; however, we were assured by our sources that it was “highly necessary” for the business to continue functioning. Our resident HR expert, Stu Pidhead, had…

  • Using Culture to Drive Policy Decisions

    Decision making isn’t always a process of identifying and communicating facts. There’s often an underlying foundation of history, preferences, and other elements that add a layer to the decision making process. Recently I talked about how even something as seemingly simple as a policy decision can be affected by the organization’s culture. The corporate culture…

  • The Tipping Point: When do Coaching Sessions Stop and Policies Start?

    If you’ve hung around here for very long, you know I’m not a big fan of policies. We don’t have a massive handbook for new hires that they have to sign on the first day claiming that they’ve read and understood the entire thing. I don’t look for opportunities to create new policies. I don’t…

  • 4 reasons you don’t need a social media policy

    Every once in a while I hear someone talking about needing a “social media policy” at work. Ugh. If you know me at all you’ll instantly guess that I’m against such things. I would rather offer training instead of more regulation. Here are four reasons you probably don’t need a social media policy at all:…

  • Lunch policy-can I work through lunch?

    I enjoy talking about policies and whether or not policies are necessary. Recently someone asked me what I thought about a policy on working through lunch. The phrasing led me to believe that their employees were working from their desks while eating (and by working I mean surfing the web). So, with that in mind, did I recommend a…

  • Policies, startups, and small HR departments

    Two great comments stood out to me when I attended the session on running a small HR department recently, but they prompted a related question I need a little help with. Don’t create a policy just for the sake of having one. Fantastic. We have too many policies as it is. Totally agree. Don’t create…