Every company needs policies and procedures in order to operate efficiently, to avoid employee confusion and to adhere to legal and regulatory guidelines. The following may be specific needs to be addressed by HR policies and procedures:

• to align people management with the business strategic objectives
• to align HR policies, practices and procedures with legal requirements
• to eliminate discrimination in the workplace and differences in management ethics between managers
• to follow the best practices and latest developments in effective people management
• to keep up with competitors, for example policies may be reviewed in order to attract or retain employees, particularly in a tight labour market
• to develop a more formal and consistent approach to meet employees’ needs as they grow and develop
• to deal with internal change
• to define the required culture for business improvement
• to define a standard of performance and conduct
• to comply with head office/parent company rules
• to give management the opportunity to thoroughly evaluate the basic needs of the individual employee
• to build employee enthusiasm and loyalty.

It is important for policies to be:

• linked to business strategy, with a definite purpose for their creation
• flexible – able to adapt to changes in strategy and direction
• open and transparent
• suited in tone to the culture of the organisation
• developed through the involvement of employees and interested stakeholders
• communicated to all employees easily understood, written in plain language and containing no jargon
• accessible – in a format employees will understand and use
• practical and enforceable with logical implementation