I was talking with a coaching client recently about their department policy. He was following the policy, only to be told by his boss the President that “Our department policies are guidelines only. It is ok to deviate from the written policy.”
Think of the confusion this would cause! A policy such as “Travel expenses over $75 must be accompanied by receipts”. If this policy is only a guideline, then who determines how much you can expense without a receipt? And does it apply to everyone?
How about performance appraisals … let’s say department policy is to review performance appraisals quarterly. Your performance appraisal is an integral part of your raise and promotion. If you don’t meet your performance appraisal targets, do you get zinged on your raise? Or is that one of the department policies that is used as a guideline? If you miss your targets by, say, 10%, and someone else misses their targets by 15%. Are they treated the same when raise-time comes along? If that’s the case, why even set policies?
Are you consistent with your communications?
