How to Create an Employee Handbook Online

Your employee handbook is critical to your company’s success. An effective handbook details everything from culture and values to day-to-day expectations to policies that help ensure compliance with employment laws. 

Since it’s vital that employees read your handbook, you should make it as simple as possible to access. So, if you haven’t considered moving your employee handbook online, you should — and not just because that’s what we do here at Blissbook.

In this article, we’ll discuss handbook creation, highlight the perks of going online, and provide some factors to help you choose a platform.

5 Perks of an Online Employee Handbook

If your company’s employee handbook has always been distributed as a PDF or as a physical, printed document, you may have some reservations about changing formats. 

Let’s take a look at the benefits of transitioning to an online handbook.

Perk #1 – Access from Anywhere

Employees shouldn’t have to search high and low for their handbook when a simple question arises. By making your handbook easy to access, employees are more likely to view it as a trusted resource. Not only does this minimize unnecessary questions — it also leads to greater compliance with policies and procedures. 

When a handbook is created in Blissbook, it’s accessible 24/7 on any device, meaning employees can turn to it easily should they have questions. If an employee opens a jury duty summons on the weekend, they can quickly hop online to see the notification procedures. Or, if an employee is making travel plans and can’t remember whether New Year’s Eve is a company holiday, they can access the information anywhere they have an internet connection.

An online handbook will never be misplaced.

Perk #2 – Easily Make Updates

An effective employee handbook should be updated regularly to ensure it remains relevant and legally compliant. You should review your handbook often to evaluate whether policies are working as intended, whether new additions are in order, or whether your organization’s size or geography warrants new policies. 

Note: Blissbook’s law change alerts can simplify your policy updates. Reach out for more information!

If your handbook is online, you can make and distribute changes with a few simple clicks. In Blissbook, it’s easy to notify employees of handbook updates.

Plus, the annotations feature makes it easy for employees to identify what’s changed.

You know what else is great? No more versioning! Your online handbook is always the latest published version, so there’s never any confusion about which file to open or whether or not the policies an employee is looking at are current. Online platforms like Blissbook will track all the versions for you, so you don’t need to label your handbook as the “2023” version or anything like that. Employees always see the latest published content.

Perk #3 – Be Comprehensive Yet Compact

Your handbook should be both comprehensive and user friendly. This means you should present your handbook in a way that’s easy for employees to digest. For example, Blissbook’s Read More buttons enable you to provide a basic policy summary while hiding the specifics in an expandable text section. Video functionality allows you to showcase your people, and search capabilities make it easy for employees to find what they’re looking for.  

You’ll also have the ability to insert as many links as you choose. When you reference your timekeeping system or your ethics hotline, you can link directly to the source, making it easier for employees to adhere to company policies and procedures. 

As your organization grows and you add new topics to your handbook, it can become cumbersome to navigate — especially if it’s in printed format. 

Perk #4 – Only Show What’s Relevant

If your handbook is a static document, you can’t progressively disclose information to employees when they want it. This means presenting all the information to all the employees all the time, no matter the content’s applicability. Although you can create documents tailored to different employee groups, now you’ve got to make updates in multiple places. 

With a dynamic online platform like Blissbook, you can take advantage of powerful access limitation, which allows you to share content based on various data points — like location or employee classification. 

Perk #5 – Collect Electronic Signatures

Online employee handbooks can also make signature collection easier. We’ve highlighted how important this is in our articles on acknowledgment statements and signature pages. By collecting electronic signatures, you don’t need to bother with loose papers and maintain a tracking document. 

Instead, employees can sign electronically directly within the handbook platform. Most platforms will include some type of reporting of those signatures, although Blissbook’s Documentation Center makes it particularly easy to see who’s signed. Blissbook’s automated reminders feature will even nudge employees who haven’t yet signed the handbook.

Choosing an Online Handbook Platform

So, how do you select an online handbook platform? In addition to looking for a platform with the perks highlighted above, here are some additional things to consider. 

• User-friendliness 
• Security features
• Customer support
• Price
• Customization and template options
• Policy updates for legal compliance
• Reporting and analytics 

Do your research to determine which platform meets your company’s needs — and you might discover that Blissbook is the way to go.

Enhancing Your Online Employee Handbook

Now that you know the perks of online handbooks and have guidance on selecting the best option, it’s time to talk about how to make the most of going digital. 

If your handbook content is in good shape, way to go! However, if you’re starting from scratch, we’ve got some tips to turn the complex task of handbook creation into something more manageable. We’ve covered the basics of content creation in our article, How to Create an Employee Handbook. You’ll also find helpful information in these free resources:

• How to Write Policies & Procedures: This guide offers best practices for creating, championing, and communicating your policies and procedures.
• How to Write a Culture-First Employee Handbook: If you want to create a more meaningful employee handbook experience, this guide is a must-read.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when developing your online handbook.

Leverage Images and Video

If your handbook has been in printed format, you’ve probably been limited in terms of incorporating visuals. Online handbooks create a world of possibilities. We’ve written about How to Find and Use Images for An Employee Handbook, but here are some visual elements you can include:

• Photographs
• Illustrations
• Diagrams
• Screenshots
• PDFs
• Video

This example is from ABB, one of Blissbook’s enterprise customers:

Link, Link, and Link Some More

Though we touched on this earlier, one of the beautiful things about online handbooks is the ability to link. Yes, you can link to other resources, but you can also link to other portions of the employee handbook.

For example, in your Sick Leave policy, you can direct employees to the handbook section on Leaves of Absence. In your Code of Conduct policy, you can link directly to related policies, like your Conflicts of Interest or Social Media policies. If employees can access additional information with a simple click, they’re more likely to comply with your company policies and procedures. 

Anticipate employee questions and link them to the answers.

Add Interactive Elements

There are several ways to include interactive elements in your employee handbook, breathing life and energy into the document.

• Start with a clickable table of contents, allowing for easy navigation
• Include video, like in this sample Blissbook handbook 
• Incorporate interactive features, like this company timeline (built using Blissbook!)

See how this leads to a better employee experience? Remember: Technology is your friend!

Craft a Digital Employee Handbook with Blissbook

With the digital expectations of today’s workforce, a 60-page PDF handbook that tells employees all the ways they can be fired doesn’t cut it. Embracing a digital format is a better employee experience, enables easy updating, reduces risks, and increases the likelihood that your team will engage with it.

When it comes to crafting the ideal digital handbook, Blissbook stands out. Its user-friendly design, array of customization options, and extensive features make it an essential tool for any modern company.
Whether you’re building a handbook from scratch or giving the old one a much-needed makeover, dive into Blissbook’s free trial and experience the difference yourself.