HR Policies: Meaning, Factors, Types, Steps, Guidelines, Procedures, Advantages

Policies are broad guidelines as to how the objectives of a business are to be achieved. Human resource policies lay down the decision making criteria in line with the overall purpose of the organisation in the area of Human Resource Management.

They are developed by the HR Manager in consultation with the top management to assist the managers at various levels to deal with the people at work. HR Policies are continuing guidelines of the organization which are intended for adoption in managing its people.

It represents specific guidelines to HR managers various matters concerning employments. It states the intent of the organization about different aspects of Human Resource management such as recruitment, promotion, compensation, training, selections etc.

HR Policies define the conception and value of the organization on how people and things should be treated. Therefore, it serves as a reference point when human resources management practices are being developed or when decisions are being made about people.

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Learn about: 1. Introduction and Meaning of HR Policy 2. Characteristics of HR Policy 3. Need 4. Types 5. Significance 6. Steps 7. Factors 8. Options 9. Responsibilities 10. Guidelines 11. Advantages.

HR Policies: Meaning, Characteristics, Need, Types, Significance, Steps, Factors, Options, Procedures and Guidelines

Contents:

Introduction and Meaning of HR Policy
Characteristics of HR Policy
Need of HR Policy
Types of HR Policy
Significance of HR Policy
Steps of HR Policy
Factors of HR Policy
Options of HR Policy
Responsibilities of HR Policy
Guidelines of HR Policy
Advantages of HR Policy

HR Policies – Meaning

Policies are broad guidelines as to how the objectives of a business are to be achieved. While objectives provide the ends which a manager should try to achieve, policies provide the guidelines which he should keep in view while achieving the ends.

Human resource policies lay down the decision making criteria in line with the overall purpose of the organisation in the area of Human Resource Management. They are developed by the HR Manager in consultation with the top management to assist the managers at various levels to deal with the people at work.

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Thus, personnel policies can be interpreted as the recognised intentions of top management with respect to efficient management of workforce.

Some examples of personnel policies are given below:

(1) The employees will not accept any gift from any supplier except for token gifts of purely nominal or advertising value.

(2) Each employee will proceed on atleast one week vacation each year.

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(3) The employees will not accept any outside assignment.

HR policies cover the principles and rules of conduct governing the dealings of the organisation with its employees, and set the tone for the administration of personnel programs in a manner conducive to the attainment of the objectives of the organisation.

The need for sound personnel policies stems from the fact that in order to achieve the overall objectives of the enterprise, an atmosphere has to be created in which optimum and spontaneous co-operation of the employees can be achieved.

HR Policies are continuing guidelines of the organization which are intended for adoption in managing its people. It represents specific guidelines to HR managers various matters concerning employments. It states the intent of the organization about different aspects of Human Resource management such as recruitment, promotion, compensation, training, selections etc.

A good HR policy could provide generalized guidance on the approach adopted by the organization, and therefore its employees, concerning various aspects of employments. However, each company has a different set of circumstances, and so each develops an individual set of human resource policies.

HR Policies – Need

The formulation of HR policies can help an organization demonstrate, both internally and externally, that it meets requirements for diversity, ethics and training as well as its commitments in relation to regulation and corporate governance of its employees.

For example, in order to dismiss an employee in accordance with employment law requirements, amongst other considerations, it will normally be necessary to meet provisions within employment contracts and collective bargaining agreements. The establishment of an HR Policy which sets out obligations, standards of behavior and document disciplinary procedures, is now the standard approach to meeting these obligations.

They provide frameworks within which consistent decisions are made and promote equity in the way in which people are treated. HR policies can also be very effective at supporting and building the desired organizational culture.

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The need can be highlighted by way of following points:

1. They provide clear communication between the organization and their employees regarding their condition of employment.

2. They form a basis for treating all employees fairly and equally.

3. Policies are a set of guidelines for supervisors and managers.

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4. They create a basis for developing the employee’s handbook.

5. They establish a basis for regularly reviewing possible changes affecting employees.

6. Policies form a context for supervisor training programs and employee orientation program.

HR Policies – 6 Important Types: Originated, Appealed, Imposed, General, Specific and Written Policies and Implied Policies

The HR policies are discussed below:

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1. Originated Policies – These are set-up by top management intentionally with a view to guiding executive pondering over various levels.

2. Appealed Policies – These policies are formulated to fulfill the requirements of certain unusual situations which are riot found covered by the earlier policies. Usually, such requests came from subordinates who fail to handle the cases on the basis of the guidance offered by the existing policies.

3. Imposed Policies – As it is evident from the name of these policies these are formed under imposition or pressure from external agencies like government, trade associations, and unions.

4. General Policies – These policies manifests the philosophies and priorities of the top management in formulating the broad plan for mapping out the organisation’s growth chart.

5. Specific Policies – As it is evident from their name, these policies cover specific issues such as hiring, rewarding and bargaining. Such policies, however, should be in line with the basic framework which is offered by the general policies.

6. Written Policies and Implied Policies – Implied policies as evident from the behaviour of members like dress code, gentle tone while interacting with to customers, not getting angry while at work, etc. On the other hand written policies, spell out managerial thinking on paper so that there is very little room for loose interpretation.

HR Policies – Top 10 Qualities

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An HR policy should clearly define the attitude, outlook and trend of future behaviour of the management towards employees. However, it should be very simple, precise and clear. There should not be any ambiguity about it. It should aim at improving industrial relations and contribute towards the accomplishment of the organisational goals.

It should also specify the place of the workers in the organisation so that they may feel proud of it and feel involved in the affairs of the organisation. It should make adequate provision for the development of employees. It should also create consciousness and generate confidence and cooperation among employees.

It should be capable of taking full advantage of the capabilities of the employees. HR policies should be in writing. They should also be flexible. They should be distinguished from rules and procedures.

Policies should be taught. They should be controlled. Above all, the policies should be practicable.

Thus, an ideal HR policy should have the following qualities:

i. HR policy should contribute to organisational objectives:

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An ideal HR policy should be such that its implementation may help in the accomplishment of the desired objectives of the organisation.

ii. HR policy should make the employees conscious of their importance and place in the organisation:

This makes the employees feel proud that they also have got a place in the organisation and that the organisation realises their importance.

iii. HR policy should be in writing:

An ideal policy should be in writing. Putting policies in writing is the best way of putting them to work. Management should not feel that written policies lead to rigidity. Written policies eliminate vagueness and inconsistency. By more precise communication in writing, the difficulty of communicating intentions and desires is reduced considerably. A major management consulting firm has summarised the importance of a written policy as follows –

It builds on proved decisions of the past, conserving executive energy for new decisions, it creates an atmosphere in which individual actions may be taken with confidence, it speeds administration by reducing repetition to routine, it supports consistency of endeavour across a large group through the years. It stabilises the enterprise. It frees top management so that more creative consideration can be given to the problems of today and the new programmes of tomorrow.

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iv. HR Policy should create a sense of security:

An ideal HR policy should create a sense of security among the employees. They should feel that the management has got a policy whereby it ensures the security for employees.

v. HR policy should encourage cooperation between the management and the employees:

An ideal HR policy should aim at fostering the spirit of cooperation between employees and the management. It should create an environment in which there is no place for suspicion or doubt against each other.

vi. HR policy should be flexible:

Although policies should not change frequently, an ideal HR policy is one which has the element of flexibility, that is, if the objectives of major plans of the organisation change, then policies should also be reconsidered to meet the changed circumstances. However, if an HR policy is disregarded quite often, then it shows that the policy is not sound and it must be re-framed.

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vii. HR policy should aim at creating opportunities for the development of employees:

An ideal HR policy should aim at creating opportunities for the development of employees. Such a policy would win the heart of the employees, and they would work very sincerely.

viii. HR policy should be consistent:

An ideal HR policy should be consistent, otherwise it is unlikely to help in the accomplishment of the desired objectives of the organisation. Although everybody agrees with this contention, in practice, it is violated quite often. An HR policy should be clear on all matters and may be suitable even in unusual situations. An ideal HR policy should have the quality of clarity, leaving nothing to chance. It should be able to withstand unusual situations.

ix. HR policy should be controlled:

As HR policies are likely to be misinterpreted or getting obsolete, it is necessary that they may be controlled. The job of controlling the HR policies can best be done by the top management. It should be controlled by a top executive who is well versed in writing, teaching, familiar with the history and operations of the organisation and has a lot of experience of administrative work. Harold Koontz and Cyril O’Donnell have also favoured the control of policies.

x. HR policy should be taught:

Simply issuing a policy or statement is not enough. A policy is likely to be misunderstood or misinterpreted, and we know the consequences of a misunderstood policy. Hence, a policy must be explained and taught. Wherever and whenever needed, it should be interpreted.

Thus, an ideal HR policy should have the aforesaid features to serve its desired purpose.

HR Policies – Significance

Having understood the meaning and nature of HR policies, it is natural to put a question, ‘Whether it is necessary to have HR policies’. Raising of doubt about the utility of HR policies may not be totally irrelevant as there are some enterprises which are working successfully, though they have never framed policies.

The answer to this question is that it is not always necessary to have policies in writing. The mere fact that a policy has not been written down in an enterprise does not mean that none exists. Informally or subconsciously, if not openly, policies exist in every enterprise.

There are some authors who contend that once HR policies are framed, the management is handcuffed. The management cannot take any liberty. As such, they consider policies as obstacles in the freedom of their functioning and decision-making. They think that it is sheer wastage of money to reduce HR policies in writing.

Their contention is that every HR manager knows how he/she has to behave with his/her employees. Then why to become bound by declaring the HR policy? These and such other statements declare HR policies as totally useless and unnecessary.

However, a close observation of facts will reveal that these statements are simply misleading and confusing and have got no relevance in the modern context of management. Instead of limiting freedom in the decision-making process, the HR policies bring uniformity and rationality in the decision-making of managers.

The significance of HR policies can be highlighted with the help of the following points:

i. Sound basis for decisions – HR policies offer a sound basis for taking decisions with regard to HR problems. Once a policy has been laid down, any executive can take a decision easily on the basis of that policy.

ii. Facilitate meaningful and effective HRM – Once HR policies are framed and declared, everybody knows the course of action with regard to different HR problems. Hence, there will be least confusion and HRM will be more effective.

iii. Restrain discrimination and undesirable behaviour towards employees – With the declaration of HR policies, the management cannot discriminate with the employees. It has to maintain a standard behaviour towards all.

iv. Restrain injustice – After the declaration of HR policies, practically no scope is left for the management to exercise its discretion or sweet will. Hence, even biased management cannot take undesirable decisions.

v. Help in decentralisation of authority – HR policies ultimately lead to decentralisation of power and authority. As a policy matter, the middle-level or lower-level HR staff may be delegated authority in certain spheres. This eases the job of senior or top-level management.

vi. Distinguish policy from procedure – Although some HR executives know how to tackle the employees, they often confuse a policy with a procedure. A policy is meant for general guidance, whereas a procedure is the implementation of the policy on a particular problem.

A manager should know the distinction between policies, rules and procedures. Many of the companies’ policy manuals are often a mishmash of policies, rules and procedures. According to Harold Koontz and Cyril O’Donnell, some policies are rules and recognised as such; other so-called policies are really procedures designed to channel action, not thinking.

Therefore, for good planning, good human and industrial relations; and also for workable delegation of authority, it is necessary that these three types of guidelines, namely policies, rules and procedures, must be carefully and correctly separated.

vii. Save time – As the HR policies serve as guidelines, there is no need of analysing and discussing all problems separately and individually. The problems can be grouped together and solved according to guidelines contained in the HR policies.

viii. Bring continuity and uniformity – Once the policies are formed, whether these are in the field of finance, or human resources, or sales, or distribution and so on, there will be no difficulty if the manager is replaced by a newcomer. Thus, the policies bring continuity and uniformity which, in turn, encourage the morale and faithfulness of the workers.

ix. Help in accomplishing the organisational goals – As the formation and declaration of HR policies lead to the contentment among workers, they offer their willing and effective cooperation in accomplishing the desired objectives of the organisation.

HR Policies – 7 Main Steps for Formulation: Identifying the Need, Accumulating Information, Examining Policy Alternatives and a Few Others

Specifically, the development of HR policies depends upon the day to on the other hand day problems arising in an organisation and their proper solutions. The prime aim of formulating the HR policy is to provide assistance to the top executives in reaching the decision in a given situation.

1. Identifying the Need:

In case, an organisation has no appropriate HR policy, the HR manager should convince the Chief Executive of the need of a HR policy. Policies are required in various areas of human resource management since areas are hiring, training, compensation, industrial relations, etc. A staff expert, a union leader, a first-line supervisor, or a rank-and-file employee may voice the need for revision of an existing policy.

2. Accumulating Information:

After the need for a policy has been accepted, the ensuring step is to collect requisite facts for its formulation. A committee or a specialist may be assigned the task of collecting the required information from inside and outside the organisation.

Facts may be gathered from any of the following sources:

(i) Earlier practice in the organisation.

(ii) Current practice among the companies in the community and throughout the nation in the same industry.

(iii) The attitudes and philosophy of the role management.

(iv) The attitudes and philosophy of middle and lower management.

(v) The knowledge and experience gained from handling countless problems on a day-to-day basis.

The HR department is expected to make study of the existing documents, survey industry and community practices and interview the people within the organisation to gather appropriate information.

Special attention should be paid to attitudes and philosophy of top management, social customs and values, aspirations of employees, labour legislation, etc. Extensive consultations and discussions at this stage prove to be great help later on, when it is required to Use the policies.

3. Examining Policy Alternatives:

On the basis of data collected, alternatives are evaluated in view of their contributions to organisational objectives. It is important to secure active participation of those who are to use and live with the policies.

4. Putting the Policy in Writing:

After the requisite information has been gathered and the alternatives examined, the HR department begins with the priority of formulating the written expressions of the company’s HR policy. While writing the policy it is worthwhile to avoid emotional phrases.

5. Getting Approval:

To seek approval the HR department should send the policy draft to the top management. The reason is the top management is authorised to take the final decision whether a policy is adequately represented the organisation’s objectives or not.

6. Communicating the Policy:

Once the policy has got the final approval from the top management, it should be communicated throughout the organisation. To teach people how to handle various personnel problems a real education programme should be set-up in the light of this newly formulated policy.

7. Evaluating the Policy:

Evaluation of the policy is needed by the passage of time, on the basis practical experience of those who use it and of those who are affected by it. There may be situations when an organisation is not getting the expected output. This requires the needed modifications in die policies.

For serious difficulty or hindrance with policy along with suggestions should be reported to the top management. Such knowledge will help the management to decide whether there is a need to re-state or re-formulate the policy.

HR Policies – 6 Major Factors: Company Business Policy, Social Forces, Regulatory Forces, Technological Forces, Competition and Competitor Behaviour and a Few Others

A company makes its business policies after assessing five critical factors, namely technological forces, competitive forces, regulatory forces, social farces, and company internal resource positions. Among these five factors, a company may consider only the first four forces when it feels it has considerable control over its own internal resources of both physical and human kinds whose quantity and quality it can change as and when needed.

This corresponding strategy is called market driven strategy. On the other hand, in situations where a company is handicapped or constrained by its limited capacity to change quality or quantity of certain important physical capital and/or human resources at will, the company may have to go slow and adopt those strategies that are doable within the limitations posed by low variability and mobility of the above resources. This is what we call resource driven strategy.

A company frames business policies because it wants to maintain its position in the market and with its customers over a certain period. Human resource management is a business of services where the employees are the customers. The perceptions of these customers are affected by the greater human resource environment and the internal environment where they are working.

Just as a business policy is framed by considering various environmental and internal processes, the human resources policies are also formulated taking into account a company’s external human resource environment, its business goals as decided by the strategic planners, and its existing internal human resource environment including the human resource expertise, managerial philosophy, and value.

Thus, we find six categories of factors which may affect the shape of an organization’s human resource policies after it has decided its business policies.

These main factors and their effects on the HR policies are described below:

Factor # 1. Company Business Policy:

After having designed a business policy, a company would want to ensure that it has the right number of employees with the right type of skills and commitments to carry out the policy. It would also like to close the gap between the required number and the qualities of employees and the available number and qualities at the shortest possible time.

In other words, a company’s human resource policy is designed with the objective to execute its business policy irrespective of whether it is market driven or resource driven. It should be kept in mind that the execution of a business policy becomes easy when at the first place it is formulated taking into account the company’s internal human resource environment, its strengths and weaknesses adequately.

In the absence of such integration of human resource assessment with the business policy design, an organization may find that despite a very well-designed business policy the business outcome of the organization is far from satisfactory.

The problem with such business policies is that because the company did not consider the internal organizational structure, employee competencies, their culture and beliefs adequately, the post-facto alignment of human organization with its business goals becomes very difficult if not impossible. The more is the number and variety of employees in an organization, the more would be the level of difficulties that the organization is likely to face in shaping its human organization to meet its strategic requirements.

Example – Let us take the case of a manufacturing company that uses lots of purchased items in its production and assembly shops. Over a period of time, it finds that its economic space is shrinking due to the entry of new players. To stay alive, the company decides to cut its operating cost substantially. It finds that most of the new players in the industry are already using SAP (Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte or System Application and Products) technology to manage their supply chain and are reaping good benefits of reduced operating cost and more effective stores management.

However, the company took a lot of time in deciding to adopt the SAP technology because it was worried over the lack of managerial expertise to use SAP technology. It checked with a vendor who was willing to supply the SAP package and as a part of the contract was willing to provide the required training to all its managers. The company went ahead and signed a contract with the vendor for a year to impart SAP training to all of its managers who comprised more than 1000.

What happened was that even after the training was successfully completed by the vendor and all the trained managers went back to their respective positions, no more than 50% of the managers were using the SAP technology. The question is what went wrong?

In organizations where business policies are driven by employee strengths in terms of their understanding of business opportunities and their confidence to cope with the challenges of creating a niche for themselves, the task of executing a business policy becomes much easier. It becomes easy because the business policy has already factored the areas of organizational issues that could pose a challenge and made adequate resource provisions including the time to achieve the business goal.

Factor # 2. Social Forces:

Social forces and their effects on the supply of educated and experienced manpower in the economy are important considerations that a company has to take care while formulating HR policies and strategies. A policy which may appear very appropriate from the business point of view may be non-executable because the manpower supply position of the market is quite inadequate.

Similarly, certain types of rewards and incentive policies which may appear very attractive because they have been tested in organizations in other countries may turn out to be quite inappropriate in one’s organization because they are not well aligned with the cultural beliefs and values of the employees. A workforce with varied ethnic background poses another challenge and obstacle in implementing a very individual- oriented performance management system.

Factor # 3. Regulatory Forces:

The HR managers when designing HR policies should be fully conversant with the existing labour regulations. A good number of regulations aim at protecting the workers from undue hardship and strain.

It is important that the strategic design of a HR policy takes the extant of labour regulations into account lest unwarranted labour query and interventions from labour commissioner and/or judiciary come in the way which may not only delay the implementation of certain HR policies but in a worst case scenario damage a company’s reputation very severely.

Factor # 4. Technological Forces:

Due to availability of information technology and communication system, new types of HR policies, and practices are emerging. When others are already using a new technology and are executing employment contracts with the new technology, its non-use in a company is likely to make the operating cost higher than those of its competitors.

As such when strategically designing the HR policy, the company should consider the emerging technological scenario and opportunities that such change may provide in all important areas of HR functions.

Factor # 5. Competition and Competitor Behaviour:

While designing HR policies, labour market conditions and employment practices of competitors are important considerations to be taken care of. Under conditions of tight labour market, a company may have to adopt a very flexible approach. It must be willing to spend more for maintaining a stable workforce and motivating the employees for higher work effort.

On the other hand, workers of an organization may show higher receptivity to tough employment condition when overall labour demand is low and not much new business investments and opportunities are coming in the neighbourhood.

The presence of a good number of strong competitors for manpower could be a threat to one’s own policy as well as opportunity to experiment with new types of employment practices. A company could learn from the successes and failures of new HR initiatives and experiences of others. It could even use others’ practices as a justification and selling point for a new policy.

Example – A few decades back temporary employment practice as an HR policy was totally unacceptable to labour unions in India. Many of them went on strike and resorted to other forms of disruptive activities. But now we see temporary employment practice has become the standard business practice with little resistance from the labour unions.

Factor # 6. Internal HR Environment:

The external human resource environment is an important factor that helps in shaping the human resource policies of a company. However, an HR policy shaped entirely by considering the characteristics of the present external human resource environment and company business goals may not yield much worthwhile business result for a company that has been working for a good many years with a completely different HR system.

When designing any new HR policy an assessment should be done of the internal HR environment of the company including the expectations, beliefs, and values of the employees who got used to certain kind of HR services from their managers.

The areas of internal HR environment critical to the success of any new HR policy are – employee number and their competencies, organizational structure and power relations between different groups, employee belief, value and organizational culture, managerial experience, expertise and philosophy on the use and role of HR.

HR Policies – 6 Popular Options

The HR strategy or HR policy of an organization emerges after considering six factors – (i) Company business strategy, (ii) Labour market competition, (iii) Labour market regulation, (iv) Social forces, (v) Technological forces, and (vi) Company internal HR environment. Then what are the possible HR policy options that an organization can pursue to achieve its long-term business goals.

Some of these policy options are as follows:

1. Strategy on employment contract – Short-term employment, contract employment, long-term employment.

2. Strategy on employee number – Manpower expansion, manpower contraction, selective area specific expansion and contraction.

3. Strategy on manpower variety – Diversity of age, gender, ethnic background, learning background.

4. Strategy on HR system – Selective expansion along specific areas of HR systems.

5. Strategy on work system – Functional separation to integrated system, mixed system of functional separation and integration.

6. HR strategy to meet generic business strategy – Cost leadership, differentiation, and focus.

The design, delivery, and goal of HR services under each of these strategies are different.

HR Policies – 11 Important Responsibilities

HR policies should be developed for key HR management functions covering eight commonly accepted responsibilities which are as follows:

1. Recruitment policy – Proper guidelines are formulated with respect to recruitment to ensure uniformity in all recruitments.

2. Induction policy – Being important aspects, policies have to be formulated, clearly indicating the length & kind of induction for all levels in the hierarchy.

3. Compensation and Benefits policy – It is important to indicate to the employees as to the grade/scale etc., in the pay package to keep them motivated in job and maintain uniformity.

4. Employee and Labor Relations policy – The relations of management with employees and the union must be cordial and this has to be ensured by the HR team.

5. Employment Practices & Placement policy – All rules relating to employment must be made in writing and the mode and basis for placement must be clearly stated.

6. Workplace Diversity policy – Employees from different backgrounds, sex, religion work in the organization, therefore, policy must be laid down for dealing with workforce diversity.

7. Health, Safety and Security policy – Health, safety and security are very significant aspects of a job. HR Manager must state policies with respect to heath measures, safety measures and security measures for employees.

8. Human Resources Information Systems policy – Policies must be designed so that the information on human resource is readily available.

9. Human Resource Research policy – It is necessary to carry out continuous research with respect to human resource recruitment, job description, maintenance and motivation etc.

10. Training, grooming and Development – With training, grooming and development, the employees grow and become better assets for the organization. Policies in this regard are very significant.

11. Employee exit policy – All progressive companies keep good exit policies, so that feedback can be obtained and improvement can be brought about.

HR Policies – Top 10 Guidelines

If policies are to achieve their objectives, due regard should be given to the following guidelines:

(i) A policy must be preceded by a brief description of the situation that has necessitated formulation of policy. This will help in understanding the policy in its proper context.

(ii) A policy should be consistent with the overall philosophy and objectives of the organisation as well as with labour laws and public policy.

(iii) A policy should give due regard to interests of all the parties—the employers, the employees and the general public.

(iv) A policy must be broad, general and flexible. To be a guide to actions or decisions, generality is necessary.

(v) A policy must be put in writing. Two reasons may be advanced for this. Firstly, a policy will be vague unless it is written down. Secondly, if a policy is in writing, it will reveal the intentions of the top management clearly. Special skill is required to select and adhere to policy language which will state and synthesize the general principles and scope of discretion.

(vi) A policy should be flexible so as to take care of individual differences and situational realities. Therefore, a policy should be stated in broad terms and it should be reviewed and revised periodically.

(vii) A policy should be just, fair and equitable to internal as well as external groups. It should be based on consistency in treatment to all employees without any favouritism or discrimination. However, a good human resource policy should recognise individual differences and respect human dignity.

(viii) A policy should be reasonable and capable of being executed. It should also recognise individual differences among people.

(ix) Participation in policy formulation leads to sound policy. It helps in communication and ensures its acceptance by the members.

(x) It is necessary to appraise the policy after a certain period of time to know its effectiveness. If the circumstances change, the policy may become obsolete. This may require the formulation of a new policy.

HR Policies – 10 Important Advantages

Policies are standing plans and are a “guidepost to managerial action”

The following advantages could be achieved by the set-up of HR policies:

1. Policies help the managers at various levels of decision making to take decisions without the consulting their superiors.

2. Subordinates are more willing to accept responsibility because policies indicate what is expected of them and they can quote a written policy to justify their action.

3. They ensure long term welfare of employees and makes for good employee relationship as favoritism and discrimination are reduced.

4. Well-established policies ensure uniform and consistent treatment of all employees throughout the organization.

5. They lay down the guidelines pursued in the organization and thereby minimize the personal bias of managers.

6. They ensure prompt action for taking decisions because the policies serve as standards to be followed.

7. They prevent the wastage of time and energy involved in repeated analyses for solving problems of a similar nature.

8. They establish consistency in the application of the policies over a period of time so that each one in the organization gets a fair and just treatment.

9. Employees know what action to expect in circumstances covered by the policies.

10. Policies set patterns of behavior and permit employees to work more confidently.