Do you have a policy – or a problem?

       A while back I attended a training on HR.  The facilitator made a very interesting statement: If you don’t have a policy you have a problem!

He went on to share a story about a woman who felt she was being discriminated against and brought a complaint against her employer for passing her over for promotions and pay raises, instead giving them to employees who had been with the company less time than she.  On the day of the hearing, she came in and shared this information but had no documentation to back up her complaint.

The employer, on the other hand, brought in the policies used to determine who received promotions and pay raises.  They also had the complaining employee’s job description, evaluations, time records and corrective actions plans relating to her failure to do the work assigned – either in total or correctly. There was even documentation on the company’s policies about the process to handle situations when the employee didn’t perform adequately, missed excessive days at work, etc. and showed how they had followed these policies.

It didn’t take long for the hearing examiner to find in favor of the employer because they  had policies.  Does your nonprofit have all its necessary policies?  When was the last time they were reviewed and updated?

If you are not sure about what you have or need, South Florida Philanthropic Consulting Services is here to help.  Contact us at ddkorge@icloud.com to set up your appointment today.