How to Create an Incredible Employee Handbook (And Why You Should Bother!)

Let’s be honest, most employee handbooks are ... uninspiring at best.

Everyone needs one, you’re supposed to read it on your first day, but after your eyes cross from flipping through a bunch of pages in a binder that all look the same, is it any wonder that people tend to forget about them until something goes wrong?

THIS IS A HUGE MISSED OPPORTUNITY.

Your employee handbook is a core element of onboarding, training, and even culture-building. But you wouldn’t know it by the boring, difficult-to-use format that so many companies still stick to. 

The truth is, when done right, your employee handbook not only ticks the box when it comes to making sure everyone’s been told the employment policies, it...

• Gives employees the information they need to do their jobs exceptionally well.
  In many workplaces, employees don’t know what their company’s goals or intentions are. This is a golden opportunity to literally spell it out.

• Makes the most important information about your company easily accessible.
  From culture and company values to how we do things to employment policies, this is your chance to cut through the confusion. In the employee handbook, I urge you to communicate with precision how to behave and perform in your workplace. All your effort will pay dividends, and you will thank yourself later, I promise!  

• It shows employees what’s important, rather than just telling them.
  This can be a double-edged sword if you don’t get it right. For instance, if you say your company culture is about having fun and working as a team, but your company handbook is a big pile of self-protective legalese, it can create cognitive dissonance –– or like the “real rules” only come out when something goes wrong.
  
  Similarly, if you expect high quality in everything you do, but your company handbook consists of quadruple-xeroxed, torn three-hole-punched paper, in an old binder, then that shows your employees that your rule about quality comes with at least one asterisk. 

Get your handbook right, and you can improve every single area of your employee experience. Developing or revamping your employee handbook forces you to consider all aspects of the employee experience, from recruiting, onboarding, training, development, performance management, benefits, paid time off, leave, and accommodations to how employees transition out of your organization. It’s a touchstone for the employee experience. A thoughtful revamp can lift your employee experience creating a considerable and aligned impact.

THE CHERRY ON TOP IS THE DESIGN.

Let’s assume you have the words; policies, culture, and values, in pristine order and approved by your employment attorney. Many organizations publish that long wordy document either on their intranet or in hard copy format (I know you!). But wait, this is where the handbook is about to transform. Put it through a design process to emulate your website, logo, and colors. Work with a designer to develop a template that invites readers in and keeps their attention from the table of contents to the very last page. 

If that sounds out of reach for a handbook, check out the handbook created by Dark Horse Comics.

I had the pleasure of supporting Dark Horse as they redeveloped their handbook, and I was exhilarated by their final product. I’m not even an employee of Dark Horse, and yet I still find myself wanting to read every page. It’s engaging, shares all the most important information in an easy-to-read format, and completely aligns with Dark Horse’s culture.

Granted, they’ve got an advantage with their in-house design team –– but what really makes this handbook great is the combination of the illustrations and thoughtful content. It’s the thought that went into it, the way it’s organized, designed, and the unwavering commitment to the company’s culture with every turn of the page. 

*The incredible design credit goes to Graphic Designer, Cindy Cacerez Sprague, at Dark Horse Comics for her work designing this internal document. Cindy excelled with how she made the Dark Horse employee handbook go from words on paper to this impressive form of communication.  

HOW TO CREATE AN EXCEPTIONAL HANDBOOK

Ready to up your own handbook game? Here’s what I recommend:

1. Start by thinking about what’s most important. What do you need people to know? This includes, of course, all the legal stuff and employment policies, but think beyond that. What do your employees need to know to be great at their job? Leave, accommodation, reimbursements, equipment, etc. What about data, stories, company lingo, contact info, history? This is a great chance to pass on organizational knowledge and expectations.

2. Then determine the best organizational structure for your handbook. The way you present this information is just as important as what the information is. After all, if people can’t get to it easily, chances are they’re not going to read it. Look for ways to make this easier on people, using sections and subsections, grouping relevant information together, and thinking about ways people might use the book. For instance, if someone needs to raise something to HR, where might they look first in the book? Would they be able to find that information easily? Or if someone was just coming into the company and had no idea what it was all about, what would you need to tell them first?

3. If possible, use your table of contents to hyperlink to the correct page within your digital handbook.

4. Use this as an opportunity to culture-build.

Finally, remember that this is as much about showing people what your company is about as sharing information with them. Think about how you can use your employee handbook to demonstrate what’s truly important at your company, and set up common ground for what employees can expect in their relationship with their work, each other, and management.