Having a business to run means very often that you will have to think about how you are treating your employees, but also what you are going to expect from them, and it is that second thing that is often the most difficult to get right. At some point or another, you have to come up with a set of rules that your employees are going to follow. When you do, it’s vital that you are happy with it and that the rules are what you would hope for them to be. Let’s take a look at how you might want to approach this when it comes time to do it.
Set Hours
Not every business does things this way, and in some respects it seems as though this approach might well be on its way out in general, but you might want to have rules around set hours that your employees need to work. This is a good way of making sure that you are getting the most out of your employees, and keeping them in line, and it also shows that you expect a certain amount from them, so it’s definitely something you will want to consider at the very least. Be careful about what hours you choose, and make sure that they are aware of it in the contract.
Appearance
Although you don’t need to do this, there is also something to be said for having some kind of rule around the appearance of your employees. There might be specific reasons that you need to do this, such as hygiene reasons meaning you need their hair to be kept tied back, for instance. Or you might be keen on getting the appearance right for the sake of customers; while few customers will care anymore about nose studs and so on, in some places this kind of thing might be important, so it’s something to consider.
Misconduct
You also have to think about what counts as misconduct, and this needs to be written into the contract too – although of course, you can’t expect to list every single thing this way. However, what you can do is put out what you think is unreasonable behavior. Specifically, you will need to determine what counts as gross misconduct, because you will have to refer to that if you think someone has breached that rule and needs dismissing instantly. So on the whole, this is the kind of thing that you will need to think about from the start.
Communication
Most businesses find it necessary to have all sorts of rules around communication, which includes how people talk to one another in person as well as via text, email and really any other means whatsoever. This should center around being respectful of one another, and making sure that you are all communicating in a fair and open way. So writing this into the rules is another strong contender when you are setting out your rulebook, and something you should really think about.
