An Employee Handbook is an efficient and consistent tool for managing the complex employee/employer relationship.Employee handbooks can help accomplish the following: Improve Company CommunicationsEmployee handbooks provide an excellent and comprehensive way to communicate your company’s various policies and procedures. A handbook can be a vital workplace communication tool. If employees do not know your expectations, they have little chance of performing their jobs successfully. Increase ProductivityHow much time is wasted during the day by employees asking your company’s supervisors questions about company policies? Without clear guidelines, supervisors and managers spend much too much time answering questions, reconciling problems, or interpreting unwritten company policies. Well-written employee handbooks answer questions ahead of time and keep employees working. Improve Morale and CooperationHandbooks really can improve morale and cooperation. Handbooks give you the opportunity to clearly state your company’s expectations. Employees will know where they stand before getting started in a new job. Handbooks eliminate surprises and communicate to each employee what it takes to be successful. People have better attitudes when they know the rules up front. Protect Your Company A well-written handbook will spell out many of your rights as an employer. For example, the right to hire and fire employees at will is a right most employers want to try to protect. Many times employee handbooks prevent costly lawsuits because they spell out your company’s policies. Reduce Conflict and InconsistenciesProblems can erupt in the workplace when an employee feels he or she was unfairly treated. Inconsistent company policies are usually viewed as unfair. Handbooks allow your company to establish written policies that can be consistently applied to situations and employees. Meet State and Federal RequirementsAn employee handbook can be an excellent educational tool for your supervisors. It provides them with guidelines on company policies that are consistent with State and Federal laws. Most employers are finding it difficult to keep up with complex employment laws. Employee handbooks may not entirely fix this problem, but they can help. Increase Awareness of Company BenefitsMany employers provide their employees with company benefits. Benefits are not limited to just health insurance; your contribution to an employee’s Social Security Trust Fund is a benefit. Many employers do an inadequate job of communicating company-provided benefits to employees. Employers stand to gain very little in terms of increased employee loyalty and satisfaction unless company benefits are communicated effectively. Employee handbooks provide an excellent means for communicating employer-provided benefits. This blog post was reposted with the permission of our sister company, Personnel Management Systems, Inc., located in Kirkland, WA. If your organization requires outsourced human resources management or assistance developing an employee handbook. please call them at (425) 576-1900.