00:00

last week on hr party of one we covered

00:02

how to create a culture guide including

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what it is as well as what to include

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and how to write part one if you haven't

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watched last week's episode i strongly

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recommend you do before watching this

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episode where i'll cover parts 2 and 3

00:16

of culture guides

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by the end you'll be better equipped to

00:20

write your own culture guide i'll also

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share some actionable next steps for

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getting the most use out of it and

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improving the culture in your

00:28

organization

00:30

last week we covered what is a culture

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guide

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and part one essentials

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today we'll cover

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part two expectations

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part three every day and how to use your

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culture guide

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let's get to it

00:48

part two expectations

00:51

part two covers the expectations of your

00:54

organization by outlining organizational

00:57

structure

00:58

establishing communication norms

01:01

describing compensation practices

01:04

addressing technology needs

01:06

and modeling how to leave the

01:08

organization since part two focuses on

01:10

employee expectations

01:12

it may evolve over time but still needs

01:15

to go through leadership to approve

01:16

updates

01:18

although part 2 may change as you add

01:20

new products services or update to

01:23

industry trends there should be a

01:25

through line connecting parts ii

01:27

expectations to part one essentials

01:30

similarly part two deals directly with

01:33

many factors affecting organization

01:35

culture

01:37

structure

01:38

this section should outline your

01:40

organizational structure and

01:41

expectations

01:43

list your organization's brands and the

01:46

different teams that fall under each

01:48

address employee titles email signatures

01:51

and business cards for consistency

01:52

across the organization

01:54

you might consider including any

01:55

required reading for your team members

01:58

for example at bernie portal all new

02:00

hires are required to read seven habits

02:02

of highly effective people by stephen

02:04

covey and all managers are required to

02:06

read coaching for improved work

02:08

performance by ferdinand forneys

02:11

communication norms

02:13

you should document expectations for how

02:15

teammates interact with one another

02:17

across different communication channels

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again don't force new hires to figure it

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out on their own explain what the

02:24

preferred method of communication is for

02:26

particular circumstances

02:29

for example breeportal lists its

02:31

communication channels in a hierarchy of

02:33

when teammates should use them zoho

02:36

connect our team collaboration software

02:39

email

02:41

g-chat

02:42

phone

02:43

and in-person interruption

02:45

specifically in-person interruption

02:48

should be a last resort here's what our

02:50

culture guide says when you do it you

02:52

should literally say can i interrupt you

02:54

for a minute

02:55

why because that's what you'll be doing

02:57

and it should feel a little awkward it

03:00

should generally only be done when

03:01

you've been asked for something by the

03:03

person you are interrupting that is most

03:07

quickly resolved with a quick

03:08

conversation and or requires looking at

03:11

a computer screen or other document

03:13

together if it can wait until you're

03:15

one-on-one without slowing down the

03:17

other person too much then let it wait

03:19

and have it on the one-on-one agenda

03:21

this is also a good place to mention

03:23

that if an employee asks hr a question

03:25

already answered in the culture guide

03:27

they will be referred back to the

03:29

culture guide

03:30

after all you're writing this document

03:33

as a reference for the sake of culture

03:35

consistency and time the more specific

03:38

you are in writing this section the more

03:40

successful you'll be at achieving those

03:42

ends

03:44

compensation practices at first it may

03:47

seem odd to include compensation

03:49

practices in part two which covers

03:51

expectations for some it may seem odd to

03:54

include compensation practices in a

03:56

culture guide at all but compensation

03:58

transparency actually helps your

04:00

organization build culture stay

04:02

consistent and save time by setting

04:04

expectations for how roles are

04:06

compensated and how raises are awarded

04:09

consider the target compensation

04:11

approach

04:12

target comp describes the total pay an

04:14

employee can earn in a given role it

04:16

includes the base salary for the

04:18

position as well as additional forms of

04:20

compensation including variable or

04:22

incentive-based pay such as bonuses

04:24

success shares commissions and more

04:28

target comp can improve recruiting

04:30

retention rates and financial planning

04:32

and hr can lead the way

04:35

it takes time to document these

04:37

practices and policies so why should hr

04:39

go to all this trouble

04:41

managers are responsible for coaching

04:43

and developing their employees skills in

04:45

principle this makes sense but if no one

04:48

within your organization has written

04:50

down what skill development looks like

04:52

it's really hard for managers to foster

04:54

employee growth compensation and benefit

04:57

practices certainly belong in your

04:58

culture guide and part two is a good

05:00

place to describe them include how

05:02

salaries are calculated how paid time

05:04

off policies work and how remote work

05:07

requests will be handled be sure to

05:09

address how compensation and benefit

05:11

policies differ between exempt and

05:14

non-exempt teammates

05:16

you might consider including a more

05:18

detailed appendix at the end of part two

05:20

that outlines target compensation levels

05:22

based on experience scope and skill for

05:24

each team

05:26

for a detailed look at what this looks

05:27

like check out an earlier episode of hr

05:30

party of one which is dedicated to

05:32

target compensation i'll link to it in

05:34

the description

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in fact i've covered transparent

05:37

compensation practices in depth in a

05:40

more recent episode of hr party 1 and an

05:42

episode of hr faq i'll link to both of

05:45

those in the description as well

05:47

technology needs

05:49

again

05:50

the purpose of part two is setting

05:52

expectations that include addressing

05:54

which roles or teams will receive what

05:56

technology to succeed in their position

05:59

you should answer questions like do

06:01

different roles get different hardware

06:02

technology

06:04

what about software what tools can

06:07

employees expect to receive or purchase

06:09

and what tools are employees expected to

06:12

provide

06:13

for example

06:14

your organization may provide everyone

06:16

with a desktop computer but not a laptop

06:18

unless their position requires it

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a sales person who meets with clients

06:23

out of office often may need a laptop

06:25

for sales presentations whereas a

06:28

marketing or customer service team

06:29

member may not need a mobile device

06:32

writing this down avoids having to deal

06:34

with a lot of one-off requests and

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further fosters an environment of

06:38

fairness and consistency

06:41

how to lead the organization if you're

06:44

using your culture guide for onboarding

06:46

and you should

06:47

modeling on day one how to leave may

06:49

seem counterproductive

06:51

but actually there's no better time

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addressing this delicate topic any later

06:56

could be interpreted as seriously

06:58

negative feedback on performance

07:00

so why address that at all

07:03

employee turnover is part of life for

07:05

all employers and how workers leave is

07:08

vital to this process

07:10

it's best practice to not burn bridges

07:12

and it also leaves the door open for top

07:14

talent to come back in the future if

07:16

it's a good fit for both parties

07:18

these so-called boomerang hires already

07:21

have experience at your organization and

07:23

can hit the ground running more quickly

07:25

how someone leaves always impacts their

07:27

remaining team leaving with grace also

07:29

means respecting those who are left to

07:31

pick up the responsibilities of the

07:33

departing employee of course it's a

07:35

matter of productivity too

07:38

in this section of the culture guide

07:39

address what's expected of teammates who

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are moving on including how to share the

07:43

news with their manager and how much

07:45

notice they should give

07:46

be as thorough as possible here you can

07:49

even include templates for departing

07:51

employees to use when communicating with

07:53

their current manager at your

07:54

organization and their future manager at

07:56

their next employer for example bernie

07:59

portal suggests employees use this

08:01

language to notify their manager

08:03

i've decided it's time to move to start

08:05

my next professional chapter and i

08:08

recently accepted a job at employer name

08:10

they've asked me to start on this date

08:13

and i told the hiring manager i would

08:15

confirm with them after talking to you

08:18

i'd like my last day at bernie portal to

08:20

be this date

08:21

i've made a list of all my current tasks

08:23

and projects and i want to make sure you

08:25

have everything you need from me to make

08:28

this a smooth transition

08:30

if you want employees to leave with

08:31

grace you must show them what that looks

08:34

like consider sharing some anecdotes

08:36

about former employees who left with

08:38

grace and emphasize what these workers

08:41

did well on their way out

08:44

part three every day

08:47

whereas parts one and two maybe ten

08:49

pages part three will likely be much

08:52

longer covering the everyday details of

08:54

your organization part three should

08:56

include how employees get paid and can

08:59

take advantage of their benefits

09:01

daily operations and logistics

09:04

required tech skills and where to get

09:06

support

09:07

and industry compliance

09:09

part three deals with the nitty-gritty

09:11

of the daily grind so it should be

09:13

subject to changes as needed

09:16

it's unlikely leadership will want to be

09:17

involved too much in reviewing part

09:19

three so hr should own this part

09:21

entirely part three is the section that

09:24

most resembles a typical employee

09:26

handbook documenting organization

09:28

policies housekeeping issues and

09:30

compliance procedures

09:33

what to include in part three in fact

09:36

much of part three can probably come

09:38

from your current employee handbook use

09:40

this opportunity to make sure what you

09:42

have is up to date as such

09:44

part three won't require as much

09:46

explanation

09:47

instead it may be more helpful here to

09:50

provide a checklist of what to include

09:52

which is basically whatever employees

09:54

need to know to be successful in

09:55

day-to-day operations

09:57

contact list and common abbreviations

09:59

defined

10:00

compensation and benefits which includes

10:03

paycheck deductions compensation changes

10:06

pto policy

10:08

sick leave hsa contributions 401k

10:12

parental leave and how to view paychecks

10:15

and then there's business expenses

10:17

anti-discrimination policy data security

10:20

policy social media guidelines logistics

10:23

including fax

10:25

phone how to connect to the printer how

10:27

to host a webinar ordering office

10:29

supplies processing payments and then

10:32

there are things like tech skills and

10:34

tech support and specifics to your

10:36

industry such as licensing certification

10:38

etc

10:40

writing part three is an opportunity to

10:41

update any policies or procedures that

10:43

have changed since your last employee

10:45

handbook revision

10:46

this section will require the most

10:48

upkeep from hr so you should keep it in

10:51

a digital format to update as often as

10:53

logistics change

10:56

how to use your culture guide

10:58

to make the most of your culture guide

11:00

you cannot just set it and forget it

11:02

your culture guide needs to be

11:04

communicated updated and referenced on a

11:07

regular basis

11:08

here are the five next steps

11:10

number one get buy-in from leadership

11:14

number two communicate to employees

11:17

number three use for onboarding coaching

11:20

and training

11:21

number four reference on a regular basis

11:24

and number five review and update

11:27

annually

11:28

all of these actionable next steps are

11:30

important but i cannot emphasize enough

11:32

the importance of reviewing and updating

11:35

for clarity here are examples of some

11:37

recent changes i've made to bernie

11:39

portal's culture guide

11:41

for part two i've updated contingent

11:43

compensation for managers this usually

11:46

gets updated every year also there are

11:48

some teams that don't have a

11:50

compensation levels document and we've

11:52

had a few teams that introduced them for

11:54

2022

11:56

for part three i added a portion

11:58

outlining how bernie portal handles a

11:59

parent's room for employees who need to

12:02

express breast milk after returning from

12:04

parental leave

12:05

we currently have a team member who is

12:07

expecting and i want to make sure we

12:09

were prepared if they needed these

12:11

accommodations

12:13

also for part three i added a section

12:15

describing how bernie portal handles

12:17

compensation changes compensation

12:19

changes should always go into effect in

12:22

conjunction with the upcoming period we

12:24

do this so that you aren't splitting a

12:26

paycheck between two compensations which

12:29

could cause a lot of errors if we did

12:32

if your employee handbook isn't working

12:34

for you it's time to get to work

12:36

creating something better

12:38

download our comprehensive and practical

12:40

hr guide to culture guides i'll link to

12:43

it in the description a culture guide

12:45

has so much potential to help you

12:47

cultivate your organization's culture

12:49

but it takes your initiative and

12:51

stewardship to realize it

12:53

as always remember your role is as

12:56

strategic as you make it

12:58

[Music]

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that's all the time we have for this

13:05

episode don't forget to subscribe to our

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13:16

bye