Policies and Procedures

P & P Design and Implementation

MANAGING AT PEAK PERFORMANCE

In today's business world, maintaining the competitive edge is more
important than ever before. A company must rely on it's associates to
operate at maximum efficiency while at the same time, lower production
costs and increase quality levels.

In light of the constantly changing laws and regulations, many companies
are at a loss as to what to do to eliminate on going problems, or do not
have the time, personnel or support needed to design and implement an
action plan for success.

Quite often, it may seem like the employees are running the show. This
is largely due to the fact that in many cases, there are no clear cut
company standards or policies and procedures to follow with regards to
day to day operations, production, performance regulations, employee
standards, and management commitment.

In this day and age, it is imperative that all company operations be
properly documented, dated, and signed off by each associate to ensure
quality, consistency, and efficiency and to reduce any civil or
corporate liability to your firm.

More importantly, in an effort to eliminate any "grey areas", it is
vital that there are minimum standards of performance that must be
adhered to in order for an employee or associate to continue to work for
your company. Secondly, performance standards must be based solely on
behaviors and actions. Opinions and attitudes cannot be changed or
trained, but behaviors can. The important point to make to all employees
of your company is that:

COMPANY STANDARDS ARE NOT NEGOTIABLE!!!

Once an employee has an understanding of his/her job function, and a
clear cut set of rules to follow in writing, the "I didn't know" excuse
will automatically be eliminated. This also paves the way for non-bias
performance analysis for each associate, and the company as a whole.

As this program is implemented, there will be no room for excuses. Each
employee will understand that they are responsible for their
performance, and that they will be accountable for their actions. 

YOU HAVE THE INALIENABLE RIGHT TO INSIST UPON THINGS BEING DONE
ACCORDING TO YOUR COMPANY'S STANDARDS

PERFORMANCE SUMMARIES AND MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

This section of the program involves the introduction and analysis of
performance summaries, targeting, and production trends. Daily, weekly,
monthly, quarterly and annual performance summaries play an integral
role in determining the effectiveness of your staff and it should be
noted that they are the only objective source of information to help you
to develop the abilities of your employees.

Tracking trends by graphing results leads to increased awareness of the
productivity of each department and each individual. The managers must
now take an active role in the coaching of their team. This includes
positive reinforcement, deal making, feedback, disciplinary action, and
consequences.

Effective targeting is achieved by concentrating on one item at a time
with each employee until acceptable consistency levels are reached. This
includes specific job training which must follow the written policies
and operating procedures for each machine or task.

Deal making is a procedure that is used to enhance the performance level
on an individual basis. When used with the proper performance coaching
techniques documented, the need for disciplinary action diminishes.

There are two types of communication that managers use with their staff:
Positive Reinforcement and Negative Reinforcement. In either case, the
information must be relayed to the employee in the following manner.
Reinforcement techniques must be 1) Objective, 2) Pertinent, 3) Prompt,
4) Specific, 5) Direct and 6) Stated Clearly. One very important point
to remember is that:

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT ONLY WORKS IF POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT IS USED
FREQUENTLY

DISCIPLINARY ACTION

There are many circumstances in which the need for a structured
disciplinary action policy is needed. Should a worker fail to do his/her
job according to company policies, or is consistently absent, tardy,
unwilling to perform a specific task properly or is operating at below
average production, that worker must undergo the prescribed disciplinary
action procedure, and corrective action documentation forms must be
filled out, signed and dated, and filed in an appropriate and secure
place.

Once again, it is imperative that the form is filled out correctly, and
that any corrective or disciplinary action is based on behaviors and not
opinions. Even if a verbal warning is issued, a corrective action
document must be completed in order to maintain proper records for
future use. Please note that these records must comply with the
Employment Standards Act, The Health and Safety Act, C.S.A. codes, and
the Ministry of Labour regulations.

LAW WITHOUT PENALTY IS MERELY GOOD ADVICE

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Much of what has been stated thus far depends heavily on your company's
standards, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures. Each employee
of your firm must be fully informed and formally trained on these
policies and procedures, and must sign off that they are understood. If
this is not done, the results will show up as communication breakdowns,
loss of control, inferior quality, sub-standard performance levels,
increased scrap, insubordination, unwillingness to learn new tasks, lack
of responsibility, etc.

Your company may already have a comprehensive policy and procedure
manual. If so, you must ask yourself:

1) Is this manual easily accessible to your employees?

2) Are your employees aware of your company's standards?

3) Do your employees understand the policies and procedures?

4) Do they follow these procedures accurately?

5) Did they sign off that they have read the standards?

6) Does each employee follow the same set of rules?

7) Is your manual up to date?

8) Do your employees understand emergency procedures?

9) Have your employees received specific job training?

10) Are your employees aware of all health/safety issues?

11) Have all material handlers been trained and certified?

12) Have all employees received W.H.M.I.S. training?

13) Does your company supply employee handbooks?

14) Have each of your employees received proper orientation?

15) Does your company have a termination policy?

16) Does your company have a disciplinary action policy?

17) Does your company document all corrective action?

18) Does your company have a targeting procedure?

19) Does your company track individual/group performance?

20) Do you review performance based on behaviors?

ARE ALL COMPANY POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ENFORCED?

YOUR POLICY AND PROCEDURE MANUAL SHOULD INCLUDE:

THE COMPANY

* Introduction and welcome to the company
* History of the company
* Organization Chart
* Orientation Procedure
* Locations
* Equal Opportunity statement
* Sexual Harassment Statement

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

* Eligibility for company benefits
* Group insurance
* Disability insurance
* Worker's Compensation
* Employee purchases and discounts
* Vacations (when eligible, length for full/part time, what 
  pay rate, schedule)
* Receiving pay in lieu of time off or vise-versa
* Carry over time to next year
* Holidays that fall during vacation time
* Vacations denied during what period
* Vacation pay when employment ends
* Sick leave
* Doctor's notes
* Maternity leave
* Bereavement leave
* Jury duty
* Leaves of absence
* Military leave
* Unemployment insurance
* Company holidays
* Profit sharing if applicable
* Employee recruiting bonus

PERSONNEL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

* Personnel records
* Employee status/training period
* Special training requirements or certifications
* Pay periods
* Payroll deductions
* Work hours/recording hours worked
* Overtime
* Meal and break periods
* Attendance/tardiness
* Performance evaluations
* Pay reviews
* Promotion/transfer from within the company
* Hiring practices
* Job compatibility/compatibility testing
* Competency and comprehension levels
* Outside employment
* Conflict of interest
* Health requirements
* Safety precautions, equipment, training, protective
  clothing
* Committees
* Right of refusal
* Employee handbooks
* Designated work areas
* Job specific training
* Training checklist
* Employee incentive programs
* Corrective action/disciplinary action policy (including
  termination)

OPERATION POLICIES AND REGULATIONS


* Confidentiality of company property
* No solicitation policy
* Alcohol and drugs
* Personal appearance and attire
* Name tags, badges, permits
* Bulletin board and postings
* Parking and personal property
* Telephone usage
* Safety regulations and fire protection
* Accidents and injuries
* Security
* Keys
* Maintenance emergencies
* Housekeeping
* Utilities
* Grievances
* Strikes
* Lay-offs
* Union business
* Reporting procedure
* Opening/pre-shift procedures
* Closing/post-shift procedures

PROCEDURES AND PERFORMANCE

* Employee relations
* Visitors
* Job specific policies and procedures
* Performance summaries and analysis
* Quality standards
* Operating heavy equipment or machinery
* Product knowledge and end user philosophy
* Managing scrap
* Environmental concerns
* Building and general maintenance
* Machinery lock out or hold tags and procedures
* Transporting of goods
* transporting of personnel
* Lost or damaged goods and equipment

PAPERWORK

* Requisition forms
* Purchase order forms
* Damaged goods forms
* Transfer forms
* Way bills/bills of lading
* Shipping and receiving forms
* Delivery and pick up procedures
* Invoices
* Repair orders
* Accident forms
* Target forms
* Performance summaries
* Corrective action documents
* Special orders
* Revision forms
* Time cards
* Outside contractors
* Authorization forms

INVENTORY CONTROL

* Physical inventory procedures
* Accepting shipped goods
* Returning goods
* Refusal to accept goods
* Storage facilities
* Chemical storage
* Load, pick up, and stacking procedures
* Shelf life
* Stock rotation
* Transfers
* Damaged goods
* Shipping procedures
* Receiving procedures
* Order picking
* Forklifts, pallet transporters, stacking equipment, cranes
* Lifting devices and procedures
* Load management
* Materials management
* proper signage
* Inventory control and levels

JOB DESCRIPTIONS

* Floor personnel job descriptions (individual)
* Maintenance personnel job descriptions
* Shipping and receiving job descriptions
* Contractors job descriptions
* Lead hand, team leader job descriptions
* Supervisor/foreman job descriptions
* Manager's job description
* Office personnel job descriptions
* Sales department job descriptions
* Service department job descriptions
* Other job descriptions (ie. engineering, lab, technicians, etc.)

MISCELLANEOUS

* Notices
* Meetings
* Unique operating procedures
* Union agreements
* Special requests
* Special interest groups or projects
* Education upgrading
* Theft
* Horse play
* Obscene or abusive language
* Music in the work place
* All pertinent Occupational Health and Safety Regulations
* All Ministry of Labour codes (availability of the codes)
* All pertinent C.S.A. regulations
* Submission of ideas
* Access for the physically challenged
* Acknowledgement of policies and procedures
* Implementation procedure