Communicating Your Policies Orally
Choosing to communicate your work policies and expectations orally has several advantages:
- It allows you and the employee to engage in a dialog.
- It allows employees to ask questions immediately.
- It is more personal than a written notice.
- You can be somewhat flexible in allowing exceptions to your rules, if you feel there's a good reason in a given situation.
- You can change your rules when you feel it's necessary.
- It is less likely that an employee will try to say you created an employment contract.
However, there is a downside to relying on oral communication of policies. When it comes time to enforce a policy, possibly through termination, it may be difficult to prove that an employee knew about a policy when only an oral discussion took place.
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Warning
Some federal and state laws require a written or posted policy. Know what your state requires and do not think that orally communicating the policy will fulfill the requirements of the law.
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If you decide that you want to communicate your policies and work expectations orally, use these tips to make your discussion the most effective:
- Make sure that you have allotted plenty of time to go over the policies with the employee. This generally would occur when the employee is first hired.
- Make a list of the policies and rules you want to cover with the employee so that you don't forget any of them.
- Explain to the employee why you are taking the time to explain your standards and expectations.
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Practice Tips
If it's a new employee, explain that you want the employee to have a clear picture of what kind of behavior is acceptable so the employee can get off on the right foot. Many times, employees are too scared or overwhelmed in their first few days to ask questions about work rules, so the information can be helpful.
If the employee is being disciplined for infractions of rules or for non-compliance with your standards, explain to the employee that you want to be sure that the employee is aware of the policy or rule in question. Also be sure that the employee understands the requirements of the policy.
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- Treat the matter seriously — if you treat your policies as a joke, so will your employees.
- Whenever possible, explain to employees the reason for your policies and standards.
- Allow the employee to ask questions and provide clear, consistent answers. If employees don't have questions at the time of the discussion, make it clear that they can ask you questions about the rules and policies anytime.
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