{"id":2753,"date":"2022-06-22T16:53:12","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T20:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/?p=2753"},"modified":"2023-09-13T12:44:33","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T16:44:33","slug":"creating-a-code-of-conduct-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/creating-a-code-of-conduct-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating a Code of Conduct policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"92\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/code-of-conduct.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2756\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The words &#8220;code of conduct&#8221; may make you think you&#8217;re already in trouble. However, a company&#8217;s code of conduct is ultimately just a policy that details responsibilities, social norms, and other rules employees should follow in their interactions with others and toward the organization as a whole. Simply put, it lets employees know what you expect from them, which should help create a more harmonious workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A code of conduct is not only beneficial in terms of managing employee behavior, but it can also help establish your company&#8217;s culture and core values. Let&#8217;s get to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key points to include<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>First it&#8217;s important to note that, if &#8220;code of conduct&#8221; is a bit too stiff for your company&#8217;s culture, consider alternatives like What We Expect, Standards of Behavior, Behavioral Expectations, etc. Regardless of the policy&#8217;s name, it should be written in a way that implies you&#8217;ve got everyone&#8217;s best interest at heart \u2014 not that you&#8217;re just looking for reasons to discipline employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll want to cover these general topics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>To whom the policy applies \u2014 all employees, regardless of rank, classification, and\/or status; vendors; clients <\/li><li>The extent to which the policy applies \u2014 during work hours only, at work functions, in public places, on social media<\/li><li>Respect in the workplace \u2014 nod to policies related to harassment, discrimination, equal employment opportunity, conflict resolution<\/li><li>Professionalism and ethics \u2014 acknowledge policies related to conflicts of interest, dress code, drugs and alcohol<\/li><li>Compliance with the law \u2014 reference established policies related to issues of legality, like theft, proper use of the internet, confidentiality, intellectual property<\/li><li>Disciplinary measures \u2014 what will happen if the code is violated<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why it matters<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Your company&#8217;s code of conduct is important because it establishes your expectations regarding employee behavior toward peers, managers, and the overall organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To ensure that your code of conduct seems like a helpful resource, <strong><em>START<\/em><\/strong> by telling your employees <em>why<\/em> it exists. You want their buy-in from the first sentence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your policy might start with something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>We want you to have success here, and a big part of that is making our expectations clear. Our code of conduct outlines what we need from you in order to create a respectful and professional atmosphere. It&#8217;s important that our employees act with integrity and in accordance with these guidelines.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What\u2019s trending<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As of April 2022, there are more job openings than there are employees to fill them, according to data from the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>. Since employees can easily seek other opportunities, employers need to bring their A-game. Generally speaking, the more laissez-faire the employer, the better the chance of acquiring and retaining talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When developing your code of conduct, try not to overreach. It&#8217;s one thing to emphasize getting work done properly and with integrity \u2014 but if you&#8217;re making rules that impact personal freedom and\/or time outside of work, be careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Additional notes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Link to relevant handbook policies, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/creating-a-policy-against-harassment-discrimination-retaliation\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2704\">Policy against Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/creating-a-drug-and-alcohol-policy\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2675\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Drug and Alcohol Policy<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/creating-an-outside-employment-moonlighting-policy\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2629\" target=\"_blank\">Outside Employment (Moonlighting) Policy<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>While you\u2019re perfecting your handbook, check out some other Blissbook content focused on policy creation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/how-to-write-policies-procedures\">How to Write Policies &amp; Procedures<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/how-to-write-a-culture-first-employee-handbook\">How to Write a Culture-First Employee Handbook<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The words &#8220;code of conduct&#8221; may make you think you&#8217;re already in trouble. However, a company&#8217;s code of conduct is ultimately just a policy that details responsibilities, social norms, and other rules employees should follow in their interactions with others and toward the organization as a whole. Simply put, it lets employees know what you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,23,25,47,57,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-company-culture","category-cya","category-employee-handbooks","category-handbook-content","category-hr-resources","category-policy-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2753"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3072,"href":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2753\/revisions\/3072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blissbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}