More important, Gilliland has a good rationale for incorporating such nervy material. "Even though we are getting larger, Wild Oats is still pretty much a mom-and-pop store. We wanted people to know it is still owned by the first three people who bought it," he explains. As for the flop story, he says the company video used to imply that everyone who worked there went straight to heaven, until the owners realized it made more sense to "be a little more realistic about how we work here. We're a good company -- but our execution is not always up to par."
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Philosophy
Philosophy and identity are inexorably tied together for any company. What you do defines who you are, and what you believe in should be a basis for how you act. So your handbook is the place to walk the talk. All the philosophy in the world doesn't mean a thing unless the employee manual's tenets are firmly embedded in the company's human-resources policy and evidenced by its practices.
And though your entire handbook will manifest your philosophy, great companies take a stab at explicitly telling employees what they believe in. "You need the basics of the nitty-gritty stuff, but the place where your handbook has an opportunity to shine is in its philosophy. The handbook helps perpetuate the culture and serves as a keeper of the flame," says Joseph Mansueto, president of Morningstar Inc., a publisher of financial information in Chicago whose employee handbook lives up to that credo.
Strong corporate philosophies shine out of the first few pages of great companies' employee manuals. Take Ashton Photo Co., a 110-employee photo-image printer in Salem, Oreg. The company has spent a great deal of time working out what it considers to be its operating philosophy. Its handbook includes succinct charts that reveal its take on the social contract between the company and its workers, because, says vice-president Alan White, "we use the handbook as a common tool to communicate our values to our employees." You'll see some of Ashton Photo's charts on page five.
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Style
There are two "elements of style" you need to be aware of: voice and look. Let's talk about voice first.
You will be sending out a message about the company simply by the choices you make in telling its story. So do you really want to get all wordy and formal here?
Probably not. Good handbooks strike a tone that is welcoming and authoritative yet are written in language that's crystal clear. (Bad ones make free with intimidating discourses on policy and lists of thou-shalt-nots, in unintelligible and uninviting legalese.) In fact, "all the guidelines for good writing apply to handbooks," advises Hewitt Associates' Rhodes, who stresses that handbooks must be easily understood. So...write short sentences. Use small words. Think clarity.
But of course, don't lose sight of the "voice" in a larger sense.
"I want the handbook to feel like the advice of somebody who has worked here for 10 years telling me what it's like to work here," says Morningstar's Mansueto. The 200-employee company's guide has a collegial, informal tone consistent with the company culture. This section, for instance, sports a breezy, direct tone that speaks volumes:
"Chill out! It's very hard, if not impossible, to provide great service if you are stressed out, so be good to yourself. Find ways to ease the tension and stress of daily work. Bring some toys to the office, get out for a short walk, listen to some favorite music, take the time to eat a good meal or even just spend a few minutes breathing deeply."
One nice way of thinking about the tone of the book is nicely put by Susan Winters, executive vice-president of Bulbtronics, a distributor of specialty light bulbs in Farmingdale, N.Y.: "You can go to a park and see the signs saying, 'No running -- no food -- no walking on the grass,' but you also want to know, Well, what can I do? By reading a handbook, employees should know what kind of company they are working for."
Now to the look of the thing. Not only should the writing be clear, but good handbooks ought to be designed to be read. It should be as easy as possible for the reader to know what is going on. Rhodes, who has helped write countless handbooks, advises people to stick to a few organizing principles:
Pay attention to the visual aspect of the handbook: include a lot of charts and tables, and use other graphic methods such as breaking out long sentences as lists rather than printing heavy blocks of text.
Make handbooks user-friendly -- that is, include a table of contents, question-and-answer sections, an index, and even cross-referencing -- anything to provide direction and guidance.
Make the handbooks easy to handle. No huge notebooks, for instance, or lightweight paper. Stick with a paper stock that's substantial enough to prevent light from going through it.
Finally, Rhodes recommends that handbook authors don't get carried away with "attitude." "After all, this is a consumer's guide to the policies offered," she says, "and while it should be a showpiece, I wouldn't let the show get in the way."
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What to Include
While a section that describes the company's policies and practices may not be the heart of the book, it certainly does comprise the guts of it. The basic principle here: think about what employees want or need to know. Rhodes calls good handbooks "event driven," meaning that employees refer to them when events -- such as sickness, vacation, or other incidents -- stir up a question for them. The essentials include sections on --
