COMPANY POLICIES

A STRATEGIC TOOL FOR EFFECTIVENESS.

by

ODIMAYOMI OLUWAFEMI

Outline• What are policies

• Characteristics of policies

• Purpose of policies

• Abuse of policies

• The ties: the vision, mission, strategy and corporate culture.

• Mutual experience

What are policies?Business policies are deliberate verbal, written, or

implied system of principles that guide decision making in an organization. E.g directions, laws,

principles, rules or regulations.

They are set of rules and conduct within an organization, outlining the responsibilities of both

employees and employers.

• For the provision of structure- they arrange relationship between the parts or elements of the business,

• For stating rights and duties of every body in the organization

• For the implementation of strategies.

• To prevent deviation from planned course of action, to maintain consistency.

• To maintain compliance/coordination of actions

• To build a culture.-To communicate values and expectations of how things are done in the organization.

Purpose of Policies

Characteristics of policies• It should be related to objectives

• Policies statement should be definite, positive, clear and understandable to everyone in the organization.

• They should be flexible (Periodically reviewable), but should possess a high degree of permanency.

• There should be as many policies as necessary to cover conditions prevailing in the organization, but not too many as to become confusing or meaningless.

• Policies should be based on organizational facts and sound judgement, not merely on personal reflections.

• Policies should recognize economic principles, be in conformity with government laws and be compatible with the public interest.

• Just, fair and equitable

Imagine a football game without it’s rules…

Playing by the rules is the first step towards winning!

Abuse of policiesThe improper use of policies for Unjust

or corrupt practices

And it is a question of cause and effect

Types of abuse• Physical: Intentional acts that are obviously

against rules and regulations.

• Emotional or Psychological : a form of abuse, characterized by a person subjecting, or exposing, another person to behaviour that may result in disloyalty to the company’s rules and regulations.

• Sexual: any non-consenting sexual act or behaviour.

Effects of policies abuse

• Unhappy Employees

• Dissatisfied Customers

• Poor Employee Relations

• High Employee Turnover

• Bad Corporate reputation

• Ineffective management

• Affect bottom line negatively.

Effects cont.

The ties.• Vision lays out a destination; destination guides

strategy; and strategy chooses action. And action determine the success.

• Vision addresses long term goals, mission brings it closer and corporate culture is the thread linking them all.

• Our vision statement sounds nice but it is not useful if it cannot direct actions

• Corporate culture stems from corporate policies.

What is corporate culture?

• A collective character of an organization.

• It is essentially the sum total of the attitudes, behaviours, beliefs and traditions of an organization.

• It encompasses the collective goals of a company and the standards of expected behaviour in achieving those goals.

More on culture…

Senior management typically develops brand strategy while the actual brand experience is most often delivered by the least-informed and lowest paid service associate.

Internal brand is the set of strategy process that align and empower employees to

deliver brand promise to the customer in a consistent manner

Culture is more than just an internal phenomenon, a company’s culture is often felt outside of its own four walls.

It is an important part of the company’s brand. If culture is not aligned with the brand, or the brand does not naturally arise from the culture.The company can develop a credibility problem by promising one thing to the market but deliver something else.

When your people don’t know what the priorities

are, politics and infighting aren’t too far away. And

that is exactly what happened at yahoo.

Corporate culture models

Strong Corporate Culture

Weak Corporate Culture

Employees have a sense of empowerment and increased productivity.

Employees feel lost and decrease loyalty

Employees have an understanding of company goals, regulations and philosophy.

Employees just tag along without a proper understanding of what is required of them.

Employees feel respected.

Employees feel unmotivated

Relationship between corporate culture and

performance

A positive culture boosts performance but performance alone doesn’t create a positive culture.

Company’s failure should not be measured only by the level of liquidity or profitability but the imbalance between corporate

culture and corporate performance

Case study of Skye Bank

• Emefiele said the apex bank had appointed a new board and management for the bank following the resignation of the Chairman, Chief Tunde Ayeni, and MD/CEO, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo.

• He said the bank’s outgoing board and management had consistently failed to turn the fortunes of the bank around despite consistent warnings from the CBN.

• The CBN boss urged shareholders and customers of the bank to remain calm, stressing that the bank was not in distress.

The Experience Our policies (are they viable?)

General personnel policies General obligations grades of staffEmployments and cessation of work Nature of employment Types of appointment Offer/acceptance of appointment Staff reporting for duty Disengagement resignation/termination of appointment Retirement/pension certification of serviceGeneral conduct, code of ethics and safety Work attendance Hours of work Punctuality On-call allowance Overtime Time off for extra work

Our policies Dress code Security checks and rules Staff identity (I.D) Cards Corporate safety policy Communication policy Local movement Movement outside locationDiscipline and grievances Discipline Ground for disciplinary actionDisciplinary process Initial report Investigation Decision of disciplinary action PetitionDisciplinary measures Verbal warning Written warning No pay for no work Suspension from duty on half pay Suspension without pay Termination Grievance procedure

Our policiesRemuneration and benefits Salaries Salary increment/performance appraisal/promotion Housing policy-rent subsidy/allowance/furniture grant Recreational facilities Responsibility/relief allowance company’s quarters and housingDuty tour Travel within Nigeria Travel outside Nigeria Duty/training assignment Class of air travel Transfer: permanent transfer Transfer benefits Temporary transfer Request for transferLeave Annual Compassionate/casual/exam Leave allowance Maternity leave Sick leave

Our policiesLoans, Advances and Grants Salary advance Rent advance Compassionate loan Vehicles/refurbishing loans Furniture allowanceBenefits & Incentives Mass transportation MedicalBonuses Annual productivity Drivers’ No-accidentGroup life insurance policy Group personal accident Pension fund administrator/National pension Act 2004 Cooperative thrift & credit society Canteen servicesMembership of professional bodies Membership of social clubs Long service merit awardDeath benefits

Transport allowance

Utility allowance

Our policies• Training and manpower development• Types of training• Company-sponsored training programs• Educational assistanceLocal courses

Membership of professional bodies.

Mutual work place culture Fellowship Birthday celebration Salutation and greetings Thanksgiving

World class culture• Is our business strategy and corporate governance world

class?

• Is our structure, power and authority world class? (information flow)

• Is the business process world class? (networks, workflow and team members)

• Is the reward system world class? (compensation & reward)

• Is the Human resource management world? (hiring, staff management, feed back)

`1 1 1``1`1``

• Our culture/beliefs and our performance, can we be better?

The link between policies, vision, mission and corporate

strategy• Two quick facts

o Strategies depend on people to be successful.

o Policies shape and guide the behavior of the people, who carry out the strategy which eventually brings about success.

How “SMART” are our Corporate Policies?

Do our Policies satisfy the “SMART” test?

The SMART Era• The “Smart” Evolution – smart phones,

smart TVs, smart cars… Smart goals!

• The “Smart” concept: innovative, easier, more engaging…

• “Smart Policies”? Let’s find out…

The SMART we know…

Meet the new SMART!S – Strategic

M – Meaningful: Communicate the Vision accurately

A – Applicable: Workable (calculated efforts)

R – Results-Oriented… NOT activity based

T – Take stock: Evaluate status in Iine with realization of the Vision.

people

Do individuals/units really understand the

game plan?

STRATEGY

RESULTSTACTICS

Processes

Strategy V. TacticsThe Strategy Equations

1. Great strategy + Poor tactics = poor results

2. Poor strategy + Great tactics = poor results

3. Great strategy + Great tactics = Great results!

So, what are your thoughts?