Policies play a significant role in our day-to-day lives. They are everywhere; involved in everything. Policies, or rules, give a more concrete expression to the principles that they are supported by and, I do believe they are valuable. They clarify expectations, establish important boundaries, and, at their best, provide a level of necessary safety.
However, there are times where policies seem to get in the way of something more important. In certain circumstances it seems to me that we get to the point where policy takes over and we perhaps miss the best reasons for policy to exist in the first place. This was clarified for me over the past few months by the dealings I had with two companies. The best way I can describe my experience I think is “policy before people”.
When policies do in fact serve to promote the principles or values they are founded upon (for example, safety and fairness) and this connection is apparent, then it is a little easier to accept ones we may not entirely agree with. But when they do not do this, when they seem disconnected from some underlying value, or, are connected to a value with which we do not entirely agree with or struggle with (for example; financial profits) – then it can be a more challenging process.
At this point the discussion could go any number of ways and there are many examples we could look at. The situations I have in mind though are ones when things have not gone as planned and we need to do some ‘customer service’. When something like this happens the default response seems to be, ‘well, that’s our policy, there’s nothing I can do’. And perhaps this is true; perhaps there really isn’t anything the company could, in fairness, reasonably do. But in my experience this is not always the case. Often there is something more the company could do to try to address the situation and ‘make things right’; do more to get the better underlying values.
And for me, this is where great companies set themselves apart. They understand the need for good policies that support their business plan and financial viability, but they also understand that policies should serve other things as well. Great companies understand that as important as policies may be, in the long run an emphasis on people and more creative solutions to challenging situations have much greater, long-lasting effects.
(A side note: in my two experiences another key element was that the person I was talking to either had no information about WHY a certain policy was in place, or had no authority or power to do anything about the policy – both of which are frustrating experiences I would think. This emphasizes my point, trying to defend a policy without knowing, or having, a positive sensitive reason for its existence puts employees in a somewhat demoralizing position.)
This entry was posted
on Sunday, November 19th, 2017 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Comments.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Policy Before People
However, there are times where policies seem to get in the way of something more important. In certain circumstances it seems to me that we get to the point where policy takes over and we perhaps miss the best reasons for policy to exist in the first place. This was clarified for me over the past few months by the dealings I had with two companies. The best way I can describe my experience I think is “policy before people”.
When policies do in fact serve to promote the principles or values they are founded upon (for example, safety and fairness) and this connection is apparent, then it is a little easier to accept ones we may not entirely agree with. But when they do not do this, when they seem disconnected from some underlying value, or, are connected to a value with which we do not entirely agree with or struggle with (for example; financial profits) – then it can be a more challenging process.
At this point the discussion could go any number of ways and there are many examples we could look at. The situations I have in mind though are ones when things have not gone as planned and we need to do some ‘customer service’. When something like this happens the default response seems to be, ‘well, that’s our policy, there’s nothing I can do’. And perhaps this is true; perhaps there really isn’t anything the company could, in fairness, reasonably do. But in my experience this is not always the case. Often there is something more the company could do to try to address the situation and ‘make things right’; do more to get the better underlying values.
And for me, this is where great companies set themselves apart. They understand the need for good policies that support their business plan and financial viability, but they also understand that policies should serve other things as well. Great companies understand that as important as policies may be, in the long run an emphasis on people and more creative solutions to challenging situations have much greater, long-lasting effects.
(A side note: in my two experiences another key element was that the person I was talking to either had no information about WHY a certain policy was in place, or had no authority or power to do anything about the policy – both of which are frustrating experiences I would think. This emphasizes my point, trying to defend a policy without knowing, or having, a positive sensitive reason for its existence puts employees in a somewhat demoralizing position.)
This entry was posted on Sunday, November 19th, 2017 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.