The Principles of Policy Management: Engaging

Are your organization's policies clearly written and easy to understand? In OCEG’s Policy Management Capability Model, it outlines 10 universal principles of policy management - the ninth being engaging.

“Policies need to be clearly written and understood,” the Model states. “This requires policy management processes that conform to consistent writing style and language as well as communication strategies to engage employees.”

In order for policies to be effective, they need to be engaging. This includes:

1. Clearly and appropriately written. In a consistent writing style and template that is written in a way the intended audience can easily understand and apply.
2. Formatted correctly. Appropriate use of white space, typeface, clean style that makes it easy to digest.
3. Actionable. The policy should clearly state what is expected and required and applies to the role and context of the reader.
4. Resources. All the resources related to the policy should be present - training, FAQs, guides, forms etc.

This should all be delivered through a common enterprise policy portal for all employees, and the process to engage employees is found in the Policy Management Capability Model, with supporting policy on writing policies and style guide for writing effective policies.