A company is able to grow faster than the internal organization is able to process sales volumes. But how to get an optimal internal organization? Well, you have to adjust your internal organization and over again. It's a never ending story. However a company / employee manual to help you achieve the best organization of internal affairs.
This raises the question of what is included in the Company / Employee Handbook? All you have to affect your business. First, is described in which areas the company / employee handbook covers. As for the internal operation, here is a list of items which should include:
- General Information Society (Name-Development, date and place of the Foundation, History Milestones, Vision)
- The owner and / or Manager Bios / Profiles
- List of Officers and Board of Directors
- Roles of employment (job roles, job descriptions)
- Description of principal products and services (only used in promotional material)
- FAQ (about internal subjects)
Chronology of the company (what, when, where) -
- Office procedures (information workflow, work processes)
- List of persons to know (Bank Contact, Tax Advisor, Attorney, contractors, etc.)
- Overview of agreements (leases, lease, etc.)
- Internal policies (dress code, use the telephone and answering machines, voice mail procedures, parking,
Cards, drug policy, etc.).
The above list shows the information to be included. The following list shows the departments should include:
- Distribution
- Inventory / Warehouse
- Marketing (How are monitoring, lead generation, etc.)
Customer Support -
- Research and Development
- Accounting
- Human Resources
- Purchasing / Procurement.
The two lists above show how complex it can be to create a company / Employee Handbook. But it must be complex, just start partial. Only the information already available and its use with their employees. The benefits of having a manual of the company are numerous, their employees save time, it is easier to improve procedures, since the procedures are divided into small sections of precodures together. Everything is clearly described, so no need to ask over and over again. In case of vacation or illness of an employee, others could jump into the job, as could be formed quickly.
As an employer, you can hire workers with low education. And the employees love it because they know where to look when they have questions and they could improve their work environment as well. But the owner is most advantageous, that the organization can function properly, when the company grows, and when the owner can sell the company may one day be sold easier, because the appropriate organization.
When installing a manual of the company, are the procedures you could automate. Automating the operation as much as possible also be a great advantage, as employees and employers are able to concentrate their workforce on more important matters, such as improved sales volume. On the other hand, automation reduces operating costs as well.
A Company / Employee Handbook is like a business plan, but much more detailed because it will contain information on all procedures. Only the financial part of the business plan will not be included, but if you can include financial information you share with your employees. As you describe your procedures just do it as a dial or a list. The description should not be very well trained, it is just important that all who read it, is able to understand what to do.
Remember, a handbook of the business is a living system, if you and your employees do not need to update regularly, it will be dead one day because it contains only old stuff. So keep everyone in your company deals with improving the Company Handbook, because it will improve the internal organization of your business as well. While starting to write the contents of your manual for the company to focus on job roles at first, then write job descriptions, in the event of a job role was given to employees twice (Accounting Staff, etc.). Job Roles need to include tasks and responsebilities of the task described.
Professional roles, job descriptions and Workflow-Descriptions of sepcial procedures should not be the same, but be careful that the data are consistent, meaning that it is written in a stream. This manual is useful for whole enterprise. After re-reading something about Company Handbook and you still have questions, such as the subscription is not complete.
Last but not least, your company / employee handbook to be available every time. To do this, think of an Internet or intranet solution, depending on the size of your business. Keep it simple and elegant, and you will have many benefits from it. Good luck.