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I think this misses the point of an employee handbook completely. Its meant for when things go wrong... employees are not looking at any company handbook on a

I think this misses the point of an employee handbook completely. Its meant for when things go wrong... employees are not looking at any company handbook on a day to day basis to figure out how the company runs and how they should act. They only crack it open when shit hits the fan and they need to know what to do... - Think one of your co-workers is not performing up to par - might want to consult the employee handbook - Think you might get laid off - might want to consult the employee handbook - Wondering how much time you can take off - might want to consult the employee handbook Employee handbooks are stuffy, boring and read like a dictionary. It is essentially a very light contract between the employer and employee - writing a contract about how there basically are no rules probably makes everyone feel like they are forward thinking but helps very little. Here are some tangible examples... - There is no rule on vacation so my coworker "John" takes a lot of vacation. Hes pretty responsible about it but sometimes he's out and we really do need him - its begun to frustrate me a little. Is he about to be fired or can I do this too - Im doing a ton of work but would like to go to Europe for 6 weeks? (The problem here is that there is a very real limit on vacation - the limit is a magical number/level of output in the founders/investors/manager's heads and may depend on their mood day to day. What one's expectation of acceptable time off may not match anothers.) - I like to wear unqiue clothes but now a couple coworkers have started to tease me in ways that are really starting to bother me. (As a side note I think this was part of what occurred with that Kixeye debacle while it was a vary extreme case.) Lets see what the handbook says... oh. - "Tim" produces like crazy - the problem is that he is not big on communication and doesnt want to be apart of our meetings. Hes doing great work - its just not integrating with the direction everyone else is going. It probably sounds like Im advocating for the other extreme where every detail is mapped out. Im not - it can be too extreme on structure but I dont think the other extreme is any better. In all honesty this would drive me away - it looks like a dream until money is low, stress is high, somebody is abusing something, or there is political in-fighting (which definitely can happen at small startups).

fitandfunction 14y ago
Agreed. For instance, for legal / HR purposes, it's important to articulate (and get everyone to acknowledge in signature form) zero tolerance for harassment, and what to do in cases of harassment. This feels like an extended form of a "mission statement," i.e. these are the values that we want to work by. For that purpose, it's a fine document -- just don't call it an "employee handbook." I hope zaarly is far enough along to have other docs that do cover the more mundane (but necessary) aspects of employment. If not, they're exposed to unnecessary liability.
andrewcooke 14y ago
i think the problem / missing context / explanation is that they currently have a very strong, shared culture. in many ways that is a good thing, and something that this document is trying (perhaps unconsciously) to preserve. all your (completely valid) issues examples are cases where someone drifts outside the assumed common culture (and i agree that is also when you most want a handbook). apart from "emergent issues", this also runs the risk of being exclusionary. if you don't feel like "one of the gang" then a handbook like this is going to make you less likely to join the company. from a small-scale, short-term viewpoint that might seem like a good thing. but in the longer term i am not sure it is so healthy. [from personal experience, as someone who was raised in one culture, lives in another, and typically works with people from a third, i find things like holiday "quotas" extremely useful information in guiding how i should behave and / or whether i should be working there...] hmmm. and if they really did try to understand and write down some description of their culture, and failed, it suggests that they're not so great at getting a handle on who they are, or what they are doing, or at negotiating between themselves to find common ground. which all seem like important skills.
olgeni 14y ago
> They only crack it open when shit hits the fan and they need to know what to do... ...and sometimes you can skip the Employee Handbook entirely and head for the Shitstorm Encyclopedia...
erso 14y ago
I don't ever want to consult an employee handbook. I especially don't want someone to tell me to RTFEH. At Pivotal we have an e-mail alias for making any kind of request that will get routed to the right person and dealt with/responded to quickly. No guesswork required, no flipping through an employee handbook. There's also a person everyone gets assigned that they can go to at any time with questions about how to enter their time, what to do about a bad situation at work, or whatever else they want to talk about. There should always be a person available, not (just) an employee handbook.
- dagw 14y ago
  There should always be a person available, not (just) an employee handbook. Obviously, but that person isn't omnipotent. Perhaps that person has never taken maternity leave and doesn't know the routines. Having things written down somewhere makes it easier to find and eliminates any guesswork. The other advantage of a handbook is anonymity. Perhaps you want to look up the routines for maternity leave without announcing that you are/plan to be pregnant.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
eloisant 14y ago
Well, it's not a company handbook, it's a company advertisement for recruiting. That's pretty obvious when you read it.

fitandfunction 14y ago

Agreed. For instance, for legal / HR purposes, it's important to articulate (and get everyone to acknowledge in signature form) zero tolerance for harassment, and what to do in cases of harassment. This feels like an extended form of a "mission statement," i.e. these are the values that we want to work by. For that purpose, it's a fine document -- just don't call it an "employee handbook." I hope zaarly is far enough along to have other docs that do cover the more mundane (but necessary) aspects of employment. If not, they're exposed to unnecessary liability.

andrewcooke 14y ago

i think the problem / missing context / explanation is that they currently have a very strong, shared culture. in many ways that is a good thing, and something that this document is trying (perhaps unconsciously) to preserve. all your (completely valid) issues examples are cases where someone drifts outside the assumed common culture (and i agree that is also when you most want a handbook). apart from "emergent issues", this also runs the risk of being exclusionary. if you don't feel like "one of the gang" then a handbook like this is going to make you less likely to join the company. from a small-scale, short-term viewpoint that might seem like a good thing. but in the longer term i am not sure it is so healthy. [from personal experience, as someone who was raised in one culture, lives in another, and typically works with people from a third, i find things like holiday "quotas" extremely useful information in guiding how i should behave and / or whether i should be working there...] hmmm. and if they really did try to understand and write down some description of their culture, and failed, it suggests that they're not so great at getting a handle on who they are, or what they are doing, or at negotiating between themselves to find common ground. which all seem like important skills.

olgeni 14y ago

> They only crack it open when shit hits the fan and they need to know what to do... ...and sometimes you can skip the Employee Handbook entirely and head for the Shitstorm Encyclopedia...

erso 14y ago

I don't ever want to consult an employee handbook. I especially don't want someone to tell me to RTFEH. At Pivotal we have an e-mail alias for making any kind of request that will get routed to the right person and dealt with/responded to quickly. No guesswork required, no flipping through an employee handbook. There's also a person everyone gets assigned that they can go to at any time with questions about how to enter their time, what to do about a bad situation at work, or whatever else they want to talk about. There should always be a person available, not (just) an employee handbook.

dagw 14y ago
There should always be a person available, not (just) an employee handbook. Obviously, but that person isn't omnipotent. Perhaps that person has never taken maternity leave and doesn't know the routines. Having things written down somewhere makes it easier to find and eliminates any guesswork. The other advantage of a handbook is anonymity. Perhaps you want to look up the routines for maternity leave without announcing that you are/plan to be pregnant.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]

eloisant 14y ago

Well, it's not a company handbook, it's a company advertisement for recruiting. That's pretty obvious when you read it.