Though you may think of employee handbooks as an HR thing, it’s best to solicit input from various departments, like your executive leadership team, IT, and legal counsel. Collaboration helps ensure your handbook content is accurate and properly reflects your company culture. 

So, how do you manage the collaboration and approval process without getting overwhelmed? 

Adding an acknowledgement statement in your employee handbook is not just a formality. It’s a safety net to document that your employees have received your handbook. Some acknowledgement statements go even further, asking employees for additional confirmation such as reading, understanding, or saying that they’ll comply with the policies included in the handbook.

But first, let’s understand the role of an employee handbook. It’s a fundamental document that helps you set expectations, guidelines, and policies for everyone in the company. Because your handbook is rich with content, it’s important to collect employee acknowledgement.

Here’s a guide to help you understand why you need an acknowledgement statement and how to make yours as effective as possible.

Now that you’ve identified your project scope and goals, who should you involve? It’s best to start with a small team, but multiple viewpoints can create the best end result. It’s imperative that you involve the right people at the right time. If you’re too early or too late, you might run into avoidable issues, such as eleventh-hour budget concerns or the need to reengage leadership when your attorney tells you a policy needs to be modified.

Save everyone, especially yourself, the hassle by thinking proactively. Want to make that simple?

Click here to download our “who to involve” checklist or go all-in and download the entire How to Write Policies workbook.

Adulthood: When worksheets became fun again.

Happy Leap Day Eve! Are you spending Leap Day in Anthony, Texas, the Leap Year Capital of the World? Come on! There’s going to be live music and dancing.

Since you’ve got an extra day this year, spend a little time reading some of the best HR, leadership, and policy management articles we found over the past couple weeks.

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Article of the Week: What are you doing to help those who are following in your footsteps? This week’s highlighted article reminds us how to pay it forward professionally (look for the ✦ below).

Happy Statehood Day to Oregon and Arizona! Oregon was admitted to the United States in 1859 (the 33rd state), while Arizona was a late arrival in 1912 (the 48th state). Who knew February 14th was so significant?

After you’re done celebrating Oregon and Arizona, take some time to peruse several of the best HR, leadership, and policy management articles we found over the past couple weeks.

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Article of the Week: No, we didn’t forget what day it is. For all you lovers (and haters) out there, what better day to revisit your workplace relationship policy? You’ll be smitten with this week’s highlighted article (look for the ✦ below).

Remember the last time you fished around the bottom of an ice-cold cooler for your beverage of choice? Imagine keeping your hand in that frigid water for more than a couple seconds. Not a pleasant hypothetical, huh? However, let’s say you’ve got two options. Option 1: you immerse your hand for 60 seconds and, after the minute has passed, you’re done. Option 2: you submerge your hand for 90 seconds total, but the temperature will increase by 2° F after the first 60 seconds. So, the difference between Option 1 and Option 2 is that the second offering includes a bonus period of 30 seconds of still-pretty-much-ice-cold water. Which unfavorable option are you leaning toward?

Are you ready to become one with the weekend? We are! Which reminds us (*terrible segue*)… We’re back with more original content. Our latest pop-psych article focuses on unity and its benefits in the workplace. And, in case you didn’t click now, you’ll get another chance very soon.

Before you make up a lame excuse to leave work to watch playoff baseball, spend a few minutes reading some of the best HR, leadership, and policy management articles we found over the past couple weeks.

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Article of the Week: No matter how busy we are, most of us make time for self-criticism. Why not spend that energy celebrating small victories instead? The BIG successes are made possible by the mini-wins along the way (look for the ✦ below).

Take a slice out of life! Apparently it’s National Pepperoni Pizza Day. With that, here’s a Dad Joke for you: What did the boss say to his pizza during their meeting? There’s mushroom for improvement.

After you finish laughing uncontrollably, take a few minutes to enjoy some of the best HR, leadership, and policy management articles we found over the past couple weeks.

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Article of the Week: Who knew being happy could be so hard? Most of us are on a constant quest for happiness, and compassion just might be the guiding force that gets us there (look for the ✦ below).

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “liking”? In the age of social media, your brain might have jumped to clicking on a thumbs-up or a heart. But liking dates back much earlier than Facebook and Twitter.

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Envision you’re cruising down the highway, and a new song comes on the radio; it has a great beat and you enjoy the singer’s voice. A few days later, you hear the song and notice a lyric that really hits home, so you feel a connection – a similarity. By the fourth or fifth listen, you’re singing along with the chorus in your head because it’s familiar. It has now achieved Oooh-I-like-this-song! status.

Friday Fun Fact: Did you know that, 24 years ago today, Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken, Jr. played in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking a 56-year-old record? Yes, that means you’re 24 years older than you were then.

Like Cal’s 431 home runs, we hope we knock it out of the park with some of the best HR, leadership, and policy management articles we found over the past couple weeks.

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Article of the Week: Remember how we included original content in a previous Bugle and said we were too humble to make it the Article of the Week? This time we’re not. The featured article reminds us that sometimes we’ve got to give before we get (look for the ✦ below).