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Policies and Procedures Change Communication

Our company just put in a new policy on absenteeism and I think it is all wrong. As a manager, how do I handle this? What should I say to the employees when they complain about it, as they surely will.



A manager is often described as the person in the middle, and, in this type of situation, you are not far from the middle of a mess. On the one hand, as a manager, you are expected to follow the company's policies. But, at the same time, you are expected to think. In this case, you need to do both.

You can start by looking carefully at the policy and its possible impact. For example, the policy may appear to be shortsighted and in need some adjustment along the way. In such a case, you should not attack it in front of your employees, but rather follow-up with your manager to discuss the specific problems the new policy will probably cause. You should also be ready with some viable alternatives.

However, if the policy is a huge blunder that will surely cause serious problems almost immediately, then you should unilaterally put it on hold and meet with your manager right now. This is not a rant-and-rave session, but rather a businesslike presentation of the clear and unavoidable costs, liabilities, and other problems that this policy will cause.

The larger issue is that your company implemented a policy presumably without any employee input. As you discuss alternative policies, you should also discuss ways to avoid this type of problem in the future, such as by having more two-way communication in the process. That's not a bad policy at all.





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