The best way to create an employee handbook or a culture book for your company is to use a sample employee handbook for reference. It can be intimidating to start from scratch, but having a checklist of important topics can help streamline the process and ensure that all necessary information is included.
There s a lot that you need to cover! Below, we ve put together a list of topics that are commonly included in effective employee handbooks. Feel free to use this as a template for your own best employee handbook for small business checklist.
This checklist is made primarily for office jobs, but can be helpful for all types of jobs.
SEE ALSO: Example Employee Handbooks
About the company
- Our mantra
- Who we are as a company
- Our history / timeline
- Our values
- How our teams / employees are organized
Your first days
- What to expect
- Training schedules
- Tools we use
- Who should I contact for X?
Policies
- Best practices for creating a user-friendly table of contents for your digital employee handbook include:
- Working from home
- Vacation time / holidays
- Sick leave / family leave
- Absence / lateness
- Confidentiality
- Using your phone at work
- Time-wasting sites at work
Good to know s
- General work hours
- What people wear
- Can I bring my dog into work?
- Lunch breaks!
- Desk decor
- Team outings / events (ie. happy hour)
- Candidate referral program
- Performance reviews
- I m the first/last one at work. What should I do?
- How can I use my company credit card?
Compensation
- Payment schedule
- Bonuses
- Promotions
These are the essentials for an office job environment, but we recommend showcasing your organization s corporate culture by including team photos, funny memes, etc. as well. Keep in mind that your handbook should be an enjoyable read If it s enjoyable, employees will take more time reviewing it and are more likely to take in the information, and adhere to it.
You should have a legal document that employees sign, but you should also have a handbook that your employees will read. It s important to outline key information for new hires to get up to speed quickly.
If you haven t already, check out AirMason it s our tool to build your own employee handbook.
