Spring is here – a season synonymous with renewal and fresh starts. Therefore, spring is the perfect time to breathe new life into your business, and your HR policies are a great starting point.
So here is a quick and effective checklist to help “spring clean” your HR policies and ensure everything is up to date, compliant, and aligned with your company culture.
- Review Contracts of Employment
Are your employment contracts still legally compliant? Do they reflect current roles, pay, and working arrangements (Especially if flexible or hybrid working is happening) Make sure clauses around notice periods, working hours, and probation are clear and consistent.
- Check Key Policies and Procedures
Certain core policies should always be on your annual review list. These include:
- Disciplinary
- Grievance
- Sickness Absence
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
- Anti-Harassment and Bullying
Ensure these are legally compliant and reflect current best practice. Recent case law or legislative updates might mean tweaks are needed, especially around issues like sexual harassment or mental health at work.
Check for outdated references or overly complex language. This is an opportunity to reinforce your culture, as much as your compliance.
Remember, if your policies are present as an employee handbook, it should be a helpful and accessible guide, not a dusty PDF no one reads!
With parental leave rights and flexible working rules evolving, now is a good time to review your policies on:
- Maternity
- Paternity
- Shared parental leave
- Adoption leave
- Time off for dependents
Check they are clear, fair and inclusive.
As part of all of this, encourage employees to share feedback on existing policies. Their insights can shed light on practical challenges and preferences you may have overlooked. This not only enhances policy effectiveness but also demonstrates your commitment to their needs.
- Evaluate Benefits and Rewards
Benefits are a major factor in employee satisfaction and retention. Evaluate your benefit and reward packages to see if they remain competitive. Perhaps even consider seeking feedback from your employees on the current benefits and rewards available, and what they would perhaps like to see introduced.
- Refresh Training Records
Are your managers up to speed with your policies? For policies to work, your managers have to understand them to be the driving force. So, make sure that they receive training, including:
- handling grievances
- conducting investigations
- managing sickness absence
- managing performance fairly.
- Performance Management Tweaks
Examine your performance review process. Does it effectively drive productivity and engagement? Consider replacing outdated yearly reviews with ongoing feedback mechanisms or goal-setting systems that foster growth and collaboration.
- Communicate the Changes
Once your documents are reviewed, make sure any updates are clearly communicated to your team. This could be through line manager briefings, team meetings, an all-staff email, or a user-friendly platform. Keep the tone clear and positive, and the information to the point and easy to understand.
So let’s make HR work for you. Spring cleaning your HR policies isn’t just a compliance exercise – it is a chance to make sure your documents reflect who you are as a business and how you support your people.
Need a helping hand? At View HR, we help businesses review and refresh their HR policies with clarity, confidence, and care.
