The Policy Driven Organisation

Some organ­i­sa­tions have poli­cies for every­thing, right down to the brand of pen­cil used. Is that overkill, or is it nec­es­sary for an effec­tive organ­i­sa­tion? I think the answer lies in society.

Think about the stereo­typ­i­cal lawyers book­case, filled with hun­dreds of acts of law, and all the amend­ments too. How could any reg­u­lar per­son ever know all of those laws? They couldn’t.

A great deal of what is writ­ten down in acts of law rep­re­sents com­mon sense and “moral” behav­iour. Peo­ple may not nec­es­sar­ily know about each spe­cific law, but on the bal­ance peo­ple behave in a respon­si­ble manner.

Now, all the laws of soci­ety need to be cod­i­fied and recorded, but organ­i­sa­tional poli­cies don’t. Think about a front line staff mem­ber who has to com­ply with 300 organ­i­sa­tional poli­cies in addi­tion to legal and reg­u­la­tory require­ments. It’s not going to hap­pen. That employee will con­duct them­selves accord­ing to the cul­ture of the organ­i­sa­tion, and their own inter­nal moral compass.

When you’re think­ing about poli­cies, excer­cise cau­tion. Don’t cre­ate hun­dreds of poli­cies that will never be read. It’s a point­less exer­cise. Instead, cre­ate poli­cies and codes of con­duct that influ­ence the cul­ture of the organ­i­sa­tion. The rest will take care of itelf.