| Boards and senior management set policies to | | | | these issues have an operational impact on the |
| communicate the way that they expect the | | | | processes in place, and the day-to-day |
| business to operate, and for staff to act. This | | | | requirements on staff members. |
| helps support the strategic direction of the | | | | However, there are governance implications and |
| business, and contributes towards setting the | | | | risks for all of these. For example: |
| culture of the organisation. A robust set of | | | | - non-compliance with legislation, or inability to |
| well-communicated and up-to-date policies that | | | | demonstrate compliance - could lead to fines, or |
| staff find useful and refer to regularly is a | | | | punitive action |
| cornerstone of a good governance framework. | | | | - lack of direction within the organisation, leading |
| Policy software provides a framework in which | | | | to difficulties in implementing new initiatives or |
| staff members, including the senior management | | | | reaching targets and objectives |
| team, and nonexecutive directors can operate, | | | | - senior management and non-executives are too |
| knowing the limitations of what they can do, and | | | | involved in levels of detail as there is no clear |
| conversely what is expected of them. On top of | | | | policy delegating authority or parameters within |
| this, there is an ever increasing raft of legislation | | | | which staff should operate |
| that business and public sector organisations need | | | | - staff continue to refer to out of date policies, |
| to comply with, often by putting a policy in place. | | | | which could lead to non-compliance with legislation |
| For some areas, such as health and safety, it is | | | | or internal regulations |
| not sufficient to simply put a policy in place; the | | | | - inability to refer back to communication and |
| business must be able to demonstrate that staff | | | | knowledge of a particular policy when dealing with |
| have read and understood the policy. There must | | | | disciplinary issues, investigations, or performance |
| be intranet sites all around the country that are | | | | management issues. |
| full of policy documents that staff are not aware | | | | Good Governance Includes Good Policy Software |
| of, do not refer to or cannot find. | | | | Management |
| What Can Go Wrong? | | | | Ultimately, governance is about managing the |
| Many organisations spend a lot of time and | | | | organisation at the highest level. How can the |
| resource preparing policies using policy software, | | | | Board do this effectively if there is no clear |
| but miss the opportunity to ensure that: | | | | framework in place? |
| - the organisation has all of the policies in place | | | | Effective governance requires a statement of |
| required to meet legislative requirements | | | | how the board operates, including a high level |
| - staff are aware of all of the relevant policies | | | | statement of which types of decisions are to be |
| - staff understand what those policies mean and | | | | taken by the board and which are to be |
| how to comply with them | | | | delegated to management. Can a Board really say |
| - policy software remain up-to-date and fit for | | | | that it has clear policies in place to support this |
| purpose | | | | declaration if no-one is aware of those policies and |
| - updates to existing policies are effectively | | | | there is no way of ensuring that the policies have |
| communicated around the organisation. | | | | been both read and understood? A suitable policy |
| Therefore, the cost-benefit of investing time on | | | | software package can abolish this burden from a |
| preparing policies is maximised if policies are well | | | | company completely. |
| communicated and managed once drafted. All of | | | | |