Writing HR Policies and Procedures

Why Attend

Writing human resources policies and procedures is both an art and a science. Historically, human resources departments have resorted to outsourcing this function to professionals who have specialized in this arena. This course will equip you with the knowledge and skills you need to complete this challenging task in-house. If you still decide to outsource this activity, you will benefit from this course by learning how to ensure the policies and procedures produced by the third party are written in the right manner for your organization.

Course Methodology

The course is workshop-based consisting of numerous case studies and team based-activities. The course also relies on round table discussions and presentations of work completed to ensure learning and retention of knowledge.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• List all human resources functions and responsibilities and identify their contributions to organizational success
• Explain the difference between policies, processes and procedures
• Apply appropriate HR policies and procedures writing techniques
• Describe the purpose and usefulness of human resources policies and procedures
• Develop human resources policies and procedures

Target Audience

Professionals working in human resources planning or human resources administration who are directly responsible for developing HR policies and procedures. This course is also suitable for human resources managers who wish to sharpen their skills in writing HR policies and procedures.

Target Competencies

• Human resource management
• Policies and procedures
• Business writing

• System thinking
• Flowchart development
• Human Resources Management Systems

Course Outline

• Human resources management
  • Towards a modern definition
  • The main functions in HR management
  • Competency-based HR management
  • HR deliverables: a model for multiple roles
  • HR as business partner
  • HR competencies: moving from traditional HR to strategic HR
• The strategic role of human resources
  • The evolution of HR into a strategic function
  • Steps to building the strategic role of human resources
  • Policies and procedures as the cornerstone in strategizing human resources
• Basic writing tips
  • Writing in an impersonal style
  • Organizing paragraphs and sentences
  • Using simple, specific and positive language
  • Using active verbs
  • Applying easy and effective grammatical rules
  • The gunning fox index for writing complexity

• Human resources policies and procedures
  • Nature and importance of policies and procedures
  • Policies versus procedures
  • Why are HR policies and procedures required?
  • Expressing values in HR policies and procedures
  • Importance of statutory inclusions
  • Formulating HR policies and procedures
  • A partial list of policies
  • Contents and sections of a policy
  • Practical policy writing activities
• Development of human resources procedures
  • Defining processes and procedures
  • Differences between processes and procedures
  • Considerations in developing processes and procedures
  • Building your process
  • Use of flowchart symbols
  • Writing detailed procedures to support process maps
  • Main considerations in developing HR procedures
    • The development process
  • Developing HR procedures – practical application
• Human Resources Management Systems (HRMS)
  • Introduction and briefing
  • Relating HRMS to policies and procedures
  • The various applications
    • Oracle human resources management system
    • Sap human resources management system
    • Other options