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Employee Handbooks Make Sense For Small Employers
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Article 4: Handbooks For New Hires
Give every new hire an employee handbook on their first day of work. Invite the individual to ask questions about any workplace policy that may be unclear.
The earlier an employee understands workplace rights and responsibilities, the better. Indeed, you may want to consider issuing handbooks to applicants. That can be a smart way to filter out people who might not fit your workplace culture.
“We are finding that many employers are opting to show candidates their handbook before the people come on board,” says John Rico, director of human resources for National PEO, a professional employer organization with offices in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Boca Raton, Fla.
“In a sense, this lets the candidate interview the company while the company interviews the candidate. Studies have shown that the retention rate is higher for employees who understand the vision of a company before joining.”
The downside is cost. Employee handbooks, after all, represent an investment in printing.
“We used to advise employers to give every applicant a handbook, but that does get expensive,” notes Liz Weber, president of Weber Business Services in Greencastle, Pa. “Also, most applicants will only signify agreement with what is in the handbook because they want the job, and won’t pay attention to what the handbook says until they are actually in the door.”
How can you cut expenses while enhancing communications? Consider this three-layered approach from Weber:
- Layer 1: Before job interviews, invite applicants to visit your Web site where you have posted your mission statement, a description of your company values, and some of the most important topics in your employee handbook.
- Layer 2: During the job interviews, give applicants a paper copy of the information on your Web site and discuss the policies in more detail.
- Layer 3: Give the complete employee handbook to all new hires on their first day of work. Employees should be asked to take the handbook home for review, then bring back the required form that affirms their understanding and acceptance of your policies.
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