This Policy Must Be Reviewed Once a Year

Outdated policies tin go out your organisation at take chances. Old policies may fail to comply with new laws and regulations. They may not address new systems or engineering science, which can result in inconsistent practices. Can yous imagine a policy that still addresses whether y'all can bring in floppy disks from home or discusses the proper use of fax machines? Yet at that place are probably policy manuals out there that still have this data in them.

If y'all're not sure whether yous need to review your policies and procedures, consider these statistics:

• 69% of exec u tives are not confident that their current policies are plenty to run across future needs.
• Only 27% of CCOs believe the compliance office has a change management process in identify to place changes in laws and regulations and to incorporate those changes into their policies.
• 63% of organizations say their policy management program helps reduce legal costs and resolution time of regulatory issues and fines.

Bottom line, regularly reviewing your policies and procedures keeps your system up to date with the latest regulations and technology, as well as consequent with the industry'southward best practices. Your policies are more consistent and effective, and they help protect the organization, the employees, and the people you lot serve.

And if you're in a loftier-risk or highly-regulated industry, such every bit healthcare, public safety, banking, or financial technology, you should exist conducting regular policy reviews anyway. However, it'south a smart thought for every system, regardless of how regulated y'all are.

When to review policies and procedures

With everything you have to practise in the normal course of the workday, it's piece of cake for the policy review process to fall through the cracks. Even your executives and administrators know it's important to review policies and procedures, simply everything else all the same manages to steal their attending and energy.

Only policy review is most effective when information technology's done regularly and proactively, not in reaction to an event (more on that in a minute). Don't look for a trouble or violation to decide to review your company policies. If yous had an ongoing review process, you could confidently address any issues or events that you confront, and head off a lot of potential problems.

Regular policy and procedure review

The best way to proactively review your policies and procedures is only to schedule time into the corporate calendar.

As a general rule, you should review every policy between i and three years. But near policy management experts recommend that you lot review all your policies every year.

That's also more than easily managed with policy management software than a 3-ring folder. Good policy direction software volition let yous gear up up workflows in order to collaborate with your policy review committee, gather feedback, and rail approvals. Information technology can even automatically remind people to read and review policies, transport out signature reminders, and integrate with your training management program.

Here are a few times you should conduct an additional policy and procedure review.

Organizational changes

When your organization undergoes large-scale changes, such as change in ownership or executive leadership, it's a skilful idea to review your relevant policies. Your policies should align with your organization's mission, vision, and values, as well equally those of your senior leadership.

So any fourth dimension you have a change in strategic direction, new leadership, a merger, or your visitor is purchased by another, you lot should review your policies and procedures.

Of course, these kinds of changes won't affect every policy. For example, a new strategic direction probably shouldn't impact your vacation policy. Simply it may change other day-to-day policies and procedures.

Changes to laws or regulations

On the other hand, laws and governmental regulations change constantly, which volition impact certain procedures. Your compliance team needs to be enlightened of these changes and know which policies they bear upon.

If in that location is a big regulatory alter on the horizon, you should assemble your policy review committee for a special meeting, rather than waiting until your annual review menstruation.

Incorporate these pending changes into your policies every bit soon as possible to help your organization adjust to the new regulations and follow them right away. If you build the regulations into your policies early on, the transition will be much smoother in one case the new laws become into upshot.

An incident or policy violation

As we said before, yous shouldn't look until an incident occurs to starting time reviewing policies and procedures. But things happen even when yous don't expect them or want them to. An incident of policy violation tin can nevertheless indicate the need for a change.

Subsequently any kind of incident, information technology's a good idea to debrief and make sure the policy had the intended effect, even if the violation nonetheless occurred. Examine the details of the incident to see if employees followed procedures properly, and whether in that location were any gaps in grooming or bug with employee understanding of the policy.

This will help you make up one's mind whether you should revise the policy in question, make small changes and updates, or just permit it stand.

Of course, non every violation should result in sweeping changes. Sometimes, it's an isolated incident that calls for boosted training or remediation for the employees involved. Sometimes, an employee just fabricated a bad decision, even though the policy is sound, and they should exist dealt with accordingly.

But if you lot find repeated violations, especially in the same expanse or of the aforementioned type, then the issue may be that the policy is outdated, confusing, or requires more training.

Identifying Policies and Procedures That Need to Exist Updated

Policy review doesn't always accept to result in policy revision. Sometimes, you may demand major changes and revisions, other times, you may just need to brand a few pocket-size tweaks. And sometimes, the policy is just fine every bit it is, and no revisions are needed at all.

You're not going to actually change or rewrite your policy manual every year, because that would exist overkill. So how do yous know which policies need to be updated?

Here are a few questions to ask during your policy review process.

Is the policy being implemented every bit intended?

You don't need a major incident or loftier-profile issue to know whether employees are complying with a particular policy or procedure. If they're non, you need to determine why.

Is the policy outdated? Are the procedures difficult to follow? Have you introduced a new technology or process that your policy doesn't address? Or is it a grooming effect?

Get feedback from your front-line employees, or anyone else affected by the policy, for some ideas on how you can improve information technology.

Is the policy having the desired effect?

Every policy should take a clear goal or objective. Over fourth dimension, this will help you measure whether the policy is effective. Just at that place tin can exist times where employees are following your policies and procedures perfectly, but they're non having the desired consequence.

For example, you implemented a policy to improve employee safety. The employees are following it just accidents are still happening at the same charge per unit. Clearly, the policy is non doing what it's supposed to and it'southward non having the desired result.

That means yous need to expect at where the policy is declining, enquire the people who are covered by the policy nigh what they would practise differently, and brand sure you have procedures and tools in place to allow you to measure everything. Peradventure it'southward a preparation issue, or it'due south disruptive and incomplete, or possibly it's a completely unlike problem.

Are the policies and procedures current and relevant?

You desire to brand sure your policies and procedures align with the way your current systems and structures actually operate. If your policies and procedures refer back to old structures or engineering — remember what we said almost floppy disks and fax machines? — employees are more likely to ignore them because they think they don't matter.

For example, let'due south say your company has adopted flexible remote and work-from-home arrangements, or flex scheduling. Merely your attendance and tardiness policies withal revolve around the old standard schedule. Yous need to update that policy to reflect your new work organisation, and make those new expectations articulate.

How to Update Policies

Yous've established a regular schedule for reviewing policies and procedures, and y'all've identified the policies that need to exist updated. How practice you actually update them? Are there any best practices?

Of form in that location are!

Hither are a few of them for you to consider.

Determine who is involved with this policy

Your policy review and writing team will be unlike, depending on the policy. You lot don't need the same people dealing with every policy for every department. For example, you don't want the sales section dictating accounting policy, or the finance section creating IT policies.

And then pick squad members based on the work they do and the policies you're reviewing. Your team could (and should) include supervisors who oversee the procedures, managers, Hr directors, or executives. Only don't count out the frontline employees who actually practise the work the policies encompass.

For example, an executive is non the ideal person to create safety policies in a manufacturing operation; the people who are working on the floor and operating the machines are the all-time ones for that. An HR manager is non the best person to decide on the cybersecurity policy for the organisation, you need a network administrator treatment that.

Once y'all've decided on your team, explain why the changes are needed, and what needs to happen.

If you're making small changes, it may be every bit unproblematic as simply making some edits and rewrites to the policy language. In other cases, especially as it relates to laws and governmental regulations, it's going to be a more than involved process. You'll need subject area matter experts and fifty-fifty your arrangement's legal counsel to go involved.

And if your organization is accredited or licensed, exist sure to include the accreditation director so they can brand sure your policy language meets the accreditation standards the arrangement has to follow.

Document all comments and changes to the policy

As the policy writing team does their work, make certain to document all comments, notes, and input from every team fellow member. This kind of data is important if there are ever legal issues surrounding a later policy violation or its enforcement.

It's frequently helpful to engage i policy owner to assemble all the feedback and information (likewise equally the comments, notes, and input) and make the last edits.

But you don't want any essential feedback to sideslip through the cracks.

This is where policy direction software like PowerDMS gives you total version command and a full audit trail for each document. You can go along all the information, comments, notes, and any other input in a centralized location. You can create workflows, see who has made changes, and what they are, and even track whether all appropriate managers have signed off, and whether all employees take reviewed the policies.

If you would like to learn more than almost PowerDMS policy direction software, yous can contact us to schedule a demo. Or if you're wondering what is a policy versus a process, you can read well-nigh information technology on our blog.

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Source: https://www.powerdms.com/policy-learning-center/why-it-is-important-to-review-policies-and-procedures#:~:text=As%20a%20general%20rule%2C%20you,all%20your%20policies%20every%20year.

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