Additional Roles to Consider in Policy Management

Your company’s policy management process likely includes the usual suspects: policy writers, reviewers, coordinators, approvers, administrators and users. At the very least, policy and procedure management requires that these roles be occupied. There are additional policy management roles, however, that should be considered when constructing a robust and thorough policy process. These roles will help expedite and streamline content, so that policy creation and implementation is more efficient, thorough and substantial.

This article is, by no means, a comprehensive list of all roles in policy management. Instead, it provides examples of roles your company may be missing. The absence of these roles may be slowing down productivity. It is important that your company look critically at your own policy management and discern where gaps in the process may exist that additional roles could solve. Now, here are some examples of roles to consider to strengthen your policy and procedure management.

Proxy Authors

To understand what a proxy author does, you need to first understand the role of a policy author.

Policy authors are the primary document owner for a policy. These individuals have knowledge of the issue and are able to craft policy around it. They either set the policy goals themselves or are very familiar with them. Unfortunately, such valuable people in your company probably also have many other responsibilities that overshadow policy writing. That is how a proxy author can assist them.

Proxy authors write on behalf of a document owner that may be too busy to create the policy on their own. They should be chosen for their technical writing abilities and familiarity with the specific formatting and style by which your company policies tend to be written. They take guidance from the principal policy author and will regularly present company policy examples of their progress for review by them and other stakeholders. While it is not mandatory for them to possess specific knowledge of the policy issue, it can be helpful to have the ability to work with less oversight from the policy owner.

Collaborators

While your policy committee should be comprised of stakeholders pulled from the most valuable areas of the company such as compliance or administration, certain policies require the expertise of an individual who is not a member of the committee. These collaborators are specialists in their particular niche at the company.

Collaborators have a unique role during policy writing as a special advisor on matters of intent, language and technical details. Depending on the specific policy, several collaborators may be necessary for different sections, and while they don’t actually have to write anything themselves, they ensure policies are written correctly. Some company policy examples that require the knowledge and skills of a collaborator include policies related to substance abuse, operation of complex machinery, multinational regulatory compliance and legal obligations.

Translators

Translation of policies, especially for multinational companies or companies with a multilingual workforce, is extremely important in achieving compliance and employee efficiency. Traditionally, local branches of companies oversee much of the communication with the local workforce regarding things such as work orders, documentation, and handbooks, but organizations are increasingly introducing more global initiatives. The inability to communicate those initiatives to foreign employees leads to misunderstanding, liability issues, and employee dissatisfaction.

Prior to approval, policy translators are responsible for translating documents into other languages for review and subsequent implementation internationally. Policy translators must have knowledge of not only the target language, but connotative and denotative patterns between English and this language, tonal and formal expression, and the policy requirements and guidelines that must be followed in the particular country. Some company policy examples of documents that require translation include global HR policies, codes of conduct, bonus plans, employee benefits and expatriate programs.

Translation of such technical documents across multiple languages can be a difficult process with many legal and compliance concerns that have to be addressed. However, clearer policy dictation results in a safe, productive and compliant workforce.

Brainstorming Committees

At the onset of the policy creation process – before policy goals have been set or a stakeholder has taken ownership of a policy – brainstorming committees provide small group meetings on specific topics. The reasoning behind a brainstorming committee is similar to that of a collaborator. Both brainstorming committees and collaborators provide insights and ideas to the policy committee and writers, but the brainstorming committees aren’t involved in the actual creation of policies unlike collaborators.

Brainstorming committees are created by the policy committee and invite employees with knowledge of the issue at hand to discuss policy solutions the company can implement. These committees create an opportunity for more employees to have a stake in the initial stages of policy creation and lead to greater buy-in. Employees, who will have to work according to new policies and procedures, can be an invaluable source of practical and reasonable suggestions the policy committee can consider in policy development.

Policy Management Software Plays a Valuable Role in Every Company

Considering these additional roles in your company’s policy management strategy will improve policy creation and implementation by prioritizing the knowledge and expertise of your employees. Another role to consider is that of a policy management software like ComplianceBridge from ComplianceBridge. ComplianceBridge supports policies from conception to distribution, providing stakeholders with the tools they need and automating processes to facilitate the policy lifecycle.

Among the tools it gives policy creators, ComplianceBridge provides a rich templating system that makes collaboration between authors easy and organized. Collaborative tools include version control, messaging, reminders and notifications.

The platform also offers an efficient way to disseminate policies to employees, ensuring that they not only receive the necessary documents but that they comprehend them. ComplianceBridge has over a dozen test metrics you can use to configure your comprehension exams, and you can see and manage the results yourself.

Can ComplianceBridge play a valuable role in the policy management process at your company? Take our quiz and find out today!