Grab That Wheel: Create an Employee Handbook to Take Control - Tire Review Magazine

Grab That Wheel: Create an Employee Handbook to Take Control

When most owners of tire businesses see the term “employee handbook,” they are likely to have one of several thoughts – usually all negative.  

You might be thinking that you simply don’t have time for that now, feeling that business is simply too tough to mess with minor details. “I’ll get to it when…” is often the refrain.
Several years ago, you might have put a few employee handbook thoughts down on paper, made some copies, passed them around and decided that was that.

Or perhaps you think employee handbooks are only for huge companies like Exxon and GM. Smaller organizations – like yours – just don’t need to mess with something like that.  

The purpose of this story is to help you realize that all three of these perspectives are fundamentally flawed. Insightful business leaders openly admit that it’s their people that drive the success of their business. As the service aspect of businesses in our economy continues to grow, it is clearer every day that nearly all businesses are in the people business.  

Well, if your people drive your business success, then your employee handbook is the steering wheel that you and they will need to be successful. A vehicle with no steering wheel, or one that doesn’t function properly, will end up in the ditch sooner or later – usually sooner. Without a proper employee handbook, you will most certainly experience the same fate.

Unfortunately, the repair bill for this type of crash will be much greater than a simple car accident. Instead of a tow truck driver, you will likely find yourself paying the hourly rate for legal counsel.

Why is a Handbook So Important Today?
There are two primary perspectives that can be taken with regard to employee handbooks: defensive and offensive.  
Let’s explore the defensive perspective first. There are several very important legal reasons to have a proper handbook in place. The front end of any handbook should address several disclaimers, and this article on the topic is no different. In no way should this article be interpreted as providing any form of legal advice to you.  

Laws change too rapidly for this to be even remotely possible, but most importantly, there are vast differences across the 50 states and 13 provinces and territories of Canada in terms of the topics that can and must be covered, and how those topics should be addressed.  

That said, given that the handbook addresses how you interface with your employees – and how they interact with each other and your customers – it is absolutely essential that your policies and procedures be formalized and put into writing.  

No matter how well done, keep in mind that your handbook definitely does not remove the need for verbal communications between owners, managers and employees on an ongoing basis. While such communications are absolutely essential, we all know that people ignore a good bit of what is said, and even that which they do hear is often with a certain amount of their own “spin.”  

For example, you tell a new employee that no one is to list overtime hours without approval from management. This may be heard as no one can put down an hour, but 10 minutes here and there is still okay. Should you take disciplinary action against an employee who constantly abuses this – or any of your policies – without documentation provided to them in the form of a proper handbook, you might just learn the name of their attorney.

And that is the defensive strategy behind having a proper and thorough handbook. Besides the countless federal laws that cover and protect employees, there are a like number of state/provincial regulations to address, as well. Plus there is good old common sense, the kind that can keep you out of the courtroom should an employee not like the way their employment time with your company progressed.

On the offensive side of the handbook issue, many successful business leaders do indeed view their organization’s employee handbook as that steering wheel which provides solid direction for employees.

According to Maria Gaeta, COO and partner of KAFF Partners in Cleveland, Ohio, the benefits of having a complete employee handbook include:

• Provides you with a valuable human resource tool
• Permits you to establish standard personnel policies
• Provides employees a clear definition of standard policies
• Helps your company meet legal requirements
• Provides a formal statement of company policy and philosophy
• Provides a benchmark for supervisors/managers
• Helps set expectations
• Is an excellent communication tool
• Provides new employees with consistent information

A Dealer’s Perspective
Dawn Tilghman is the owner of Burnett-White in Salisbury, Md., and she provided us with a “small organization” perspective on the topic. Bill Cleary, on the other hand, is director of human resources and training for Dunn Tire, a company with 430 employees in 32 locations in New York. In addition to Cleary, Lori Sebia, Dunn’s payroll and benefits administrator, provided additional insights.  

While there were several differences in the approach taken, there was clearly a great deal of common ground in terms of how these very different organizations approach the topic of their employee handbook.

Both dealerships saw this document as helping to eliminate repetitive questions about a vast number of procedural issues, such as holidays, vacation time and sick days. They agreed that a handbook can only function in this fashion if the importance of the document is covered with every new employee, it is written in a clear and concise fashion with a user-friendly table of contents, and it allows line managers to easily refer back to it to answer employee questions.

And they both also emphasized the need to update the handbook on at least an annual basis, and to invest time in reviewing it regularly with managers and employees.
 
For Burnett-White, this is done during a scheduled biannual employee meeting. Given the size of Dunn Tire, their review takes place during its annual managers and assistant managers meeting. Those leaders then go back and have meetings with the Dunn employees in each location.

To capitalize on the legitimate offensive opportunities the handbook should provide, it is very important that the handbook, whenever possible, be written in a positive tone. If the entire document is comprised of “you can’t…” or “you will be subject to disciplinary action if…” statements, no one will read it, let alone use it as you intend.

There should valuable information and some “carrots” in there, as well. On the very first page of its employee handbook, Dunn Tire clearly shares its core strategy with employees and explains their role in making it happen.

Carrots can come in the form of offered bonuses for referring new employees, or rewards for the submission of new ideas that result in additional revenue generation or cost savings. Of course, a listing of holidays when the business is closed is always a positive – except that, in the minds of employees, there are never quite enough of them.

Building Your Handbook
Historically, companies had to build their handbooks starting with blank sheets of paper. This created a very slow and tedious process, and kept more than a few tire dealers from completing the task. As outside resources like employee benefits consultants or attorneys were used, creating a proper handbook became a painful and costly proposition.  

Today all of this has changed. Multiple Internet resources can provide you with a template meeting state/provincial and federal requirements, and some of these downloads are specifically designed for tire stores and auto service centers. For a fee of around $100, you can get a complete template that will provide you with a format and sample wording, allowing any dealer to complete a handbook with minimal added effort.

Note: We did not say you could just download your organization’s employee handbook. For a range of legal reasons – and the previously mentioned disparity in laws from state to state (and province to province) – all these resources can possibly provide is a simple template.  

For their small fee, these sites will not build in your policies; that’s up to you. There are numerous areas in any handbook where your company will be different than others. Plus, when it comes to handbook topics, you have a great deal of discretion in terms of whether each has to be covered, what is covered, and the specifics of how each item is addressed.

Even with these templates, it is a wise investment to have your attorney review what you assembled to ensure the document meets legal requirements and says exactly what you intend for it to communicate.

With this general guidance as a backdrop, let’s revisit the approach that our two case organizations took.

Burnett-White and Dunn Tire took very different paths to achieve appropriate results. Tilghman approached a local university and worked with a professor to make the construction of Burnett-White’s first handbook part of a group of students’ senior project. The handbook was completed over 12 weeks, and the final document was reviewed by a law professor.  

In addition to a complete employee handbook, Tilghman also got suggestions on her dealership’s business plan and a formal presentation of the handbook for employees.

When Cleary joined Dunn Tire in 1997, he immediately recognized the dire need for a complete employee handbook. He developed a budget and an execution plan, and brought in a local organization to help mold the handbook. For a modest upfront investment, the tire dealership received a template that included all of the basic policies and procedures consistent with prevailing state and federal law.

“The hard part was taking that template and adapting it to the specifics at Dunn Tire,” he said. “That took some time.”  

Since that first edition in 1997, Dunn Tire has continued to work with the same firm to create annual updates, keeping them current with dynamic legal issues. The result is an effective and efficient employee handbook that has helped the dealership grow. “It tells our employees to do what they are supposed to do, and avoid what they are not supposed to do. It is also a vehicle to counsel employees when there is a problem and corrective action is needed,” he said.

Both Burnett-White and Dunn were quick to point out how changes in technology have impacted the need to regularly update their employee handbooks. For instance, the use of cell phones, smart phones and Mp3 players should be addressed by the development of clear policies.

Dunn has also addressed an emerging concern regarding the health of the workplace. Taking a proactive stance, the company offers flu shots to employees in its three largest markets. This benefit is discussed in the handbook, and is part of a large set of employee benefits outlined during employee recruitment and orientation.

Important, too, is that both companies ensure that new employees sign a document indicating they have received a copy of the handbook and have discussed with a member of management the document’s role in their work.

Building Your Steering Wheel
In addition to the topics already mentioned, there are a variety of issues that should be addressed when developing and maintaining a comprehensive employee handbook. Six major topics should be addressed, and each are briefly discussed below. Some of these will be boilerplate items if you use a standard template, others will need to be modified to be consistent with the policies and procedures your organization develops, and some may be added at your discretion.

1. Employment: This section should begin with a statement of your equal employment opportunity policy, and you need to make a clear statement regarding non-discrimination and your anti-harassment policy. Your compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act and your policies regarding conflicts of interest and outside employment should also be addressed here.

If your company has an initial employment period – what we used to call a “probationary period” – this aspect of a new employee’s experience should be clearly spelled out, including its duration. Note that for legal reasons this period should not be called a “probationary period.”

All job titles and job responsibilities should be listed, as well as your organization’s policies regarding promotions and transfers, if applicable. Every aspect of the recruitment and selection process should be addressed, including any medical examinations and background checks that your organization might require for candidates.

2. Compensation: Topics covered in this second section should include the basis of compensation – be it salary or hourly – for every position/title. Also to be addressed are performance-based compensation and the impact of performance reviews on compensation. In addition, you should cover overtime pay (and overtime policies), time recording, any employee referral program you have, and management of personnel records. Other topics often handled here are direct deposits and pay advances.

3. Time Off: There are a variety of reasons why an employee might be off work, and all of these should be addressed in this section. This section should cover vacation, personal time, holidays, bereavement/condolence leave, jury duty (including pay from the company and the court), military leave, time off to vote (if applicable), illness-based absences, any leaves under the Family and Medical Leave Act, any child care leave or parental leave policy, and rules addressing leaves of absence without pay.  

4. Employee Benefits: The initial portion of this section should include an obvious disclaimer – it must be made clear that the details of each and every benefit you provide are spelled out in each plan’s official documents, and where access to those documents is available. It must be clarified that your handbook is intended to highlight certain aspects of the applicable plans for informational purposes only, and that management reserves the absolute right to modify, amend or terminate any of the listed benefits at any time and for any reason.  

Plan components that are often included in this fourth section are health insurance, dental insurance, flexible spending accounts, group life insurance, long- and short-term disability insurance, any retirement or 401(K) plans, and workers’ compensation benefits.

5. On-the-Job Issues: For many tire and auto service retailers, this portion of the handbook will be most frequently referenced in corrective action sessions. Some of the most prevalent issues are attendance (punctuality and dependability), drug and alcohol abuse, any employee assistance programs that you might make available, anti-nepotism (hiring of relatives) policies, romantic/sexual relationships between employees, the increasingly important topic of violence in the workplace, procedures for accidents and emergencies, and internal complaint procedures.

Also important here are policies guiding the use of e-mail, voicemail and the Internet; use of company equipment, supplies and computer systems; internal investigations and searches; the use of reference checks; and any policies you have regarding smoking, lockers and dress codes. This is also a good place to address a tuition reimbursement policy if your organization has one. Should your company have a policy regarding giving and receiving gifts from individuals within or outside the organization, it is logical to address it in this section of your handbook.  

Last, but in no way least, is your safety policy, and how responsibilities for this are associated with various positions and activities. Given the nature of the work your company performs, the safety of the employees, customers and visitors to the property must be positioned as being of paramount importance. Consequences for the violation of this policy, as well as any illegal and/or prohibited behaviors, should be clearly spelled out in your handbook. This is known as the disciplinary procedures policy.

6. Leaving Your Company: Employee handbooks should be a cradle-to-grave issue when it comes to working for your dealership. The document should be utilized in the recruiting and hiring process, and it should address the departure of individuals from the organization. Departure reasons that should have clear procedures spelled out in the handbook include resignations, dismissals, retirement, and even permanent disability or death (yes, even death). Each cause should have clear employee and company procedures spelled out.

Grab That Wheel
Hopefully by now you have come to realize the importance of having a thorough employee handbook. Irrespective of where your organization stands in the development of your handbook, you hopefully want to join Burnett-White and Dunn Tire in the group of organizations that have and keep their employee handbook where it should be.  

So grab hold of your organization’s steering wheel. The time to take action is now. Whether you are in the pool of companies starting from scratch, one that has an incomplete document, or part of the group that carries an outdated handbook, this is not something that can be left to back seat drivers.

Dunn Tire’s Cleary shared the following insight: “In reality, your handbook becomes your contract with your employees and their contract with each other.” In the absence of a contract, everybody ends up being right and everybody ends up being wrong – and it’s often left to the lawyers and judges to pick through the resulting mess.

That is far from the right way to run a successful business today.


Questions to Consider When Starting Your Handbook

1) Is your company growing?                

2) If yes, what will the company look like in 12 months? (Describe company in terms of employees, levels of supervision, sales/income goals and resources to support managers, etc.)

3) In 24 months?

4) What policies do you presently have in place?

5) What policies do you think should be included in your employee handbook? (See checklist on page 38 for further details)

6) What benefits does your company offer to employees?

7) How have policies been communicated to employees in the past?

8) Have policies been enforced? Consistently? If yes, how have policies been enforced?

9) Does this manual replace an earlier edition?                

10) How do you plan to implement your employee handbook?

11) What is the “main message” you want your employees to receive when this is implemented?

12) Are you going to provide training to managers on the information contained in the manual?

13) What other items/questions/concerns have come to mind as you have answered these questions?

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