Perfect Policies™ · Book Guide
RULES: Powerful Policy Wording to Maximize Engagement
4th Edition, International Edition · by Lewis Eisen
Lewis Eisen helps organizations craft their rules in a way that treats adults like adults, so people want to follow them.
Corporate policies routinely speak to employees in the tone of a scolding parent, even when the underlying rule is entirely reasonable. RULES argues that the wording of a policy carries two messages at once: the substantive rule itself, and an emotional overtone that signals the organization’s underlying attitude toward the people it governs. Lewis Eisen, an Ottawa-based policy writing educator and consultant, sets out a practical approach for closing the gap between the two, so that policies invite cooperation instead of demanding obedience. The chapter-by-chapter guide below follows the book’s own executive summaries, part by part.
Introduction
Introduction
Aggressive policy language not only casts a negative light on the organization but often fails to achieve its intended effect. Adopting a respectful language approach can improve the effectiveness of our rules. Levels of buy-in are explored by reference to a Ladder of Engagement model, extending from disengagement at the bottom to champion at the top. The chapter concludes with a look at the book’s structure and terminology conventions.
Part I
Rules in Context
Chapter 1
The Traditional Approach
The most common drafting errors in corporate policies are a lack of clarity, of succinctness, and of respect. The unavailability of good training for policy drafters has contributed to the perpetuation of traditional methods, while the undervaluing of policy drafting skills within the organization has dampened professional networking. The heavy-handed language traditionally found in policies is a result of two factors: parental influences on our perceptions of what rules should sound like, and a long history normalizing the acceptability of aggression directed at the workforce. The latter has changed only in recent decades, and the old approach is simply an historical remnant of a past era.
Chapter 2
Evolving Trends
The effectiveness of traditional policy approaches is re-evaluated in light of contemporary business trends, specifically changes in technology, management styles, and generational expectations. Adapting policies to align with modern information consumption habits and leveraging technological advancements improves both the efficiency and the effectiveness of the final product. Responding to the needs of a diverse and changing workforce allows the organization to continue attracting skilled talent, sustaining their competitive edge in a dynamic environment.
Chapter 3
The Basics
All rules made by management are binding on employees. Codifying rules in policy effectively operationalizes them. Written policy implicitly asserts authority and jurisdiction over subject matter; where either of those is lacking, the policy is ineffective. Policies are distinguishable from Standards and Procedures. Respecting those divisions helps us increase engagement, because buy-in always happens first at the policy level.
Chapter 4
Corporate Culture
Cultural approaches to rule-making have an influence on the level of engagement. Policy wording reflects both the content of a rule and the writers’ attitudes. Disseminating those two in parallel, a policy can unintentionally convey negative messaging, damaging the relationship between the parties. Organizations striving to create a culture of empowerment, trust, and accommodation can word their policies in a way that reinforces that culture; in contrast, poorly chosen wording erodes it.
Chapter 5
Stakeholders
The wording of policy instruments responds to the needs of four major stakeholder groups — developers, consumers, policy managers, and approvers — the last of which is at times overlooked as a distinct group. In some circumstances, internal services like Audit, HR, Contracting, and Communications have a consultative role in the drafting process. Lawyers need to be consulted too, while bearing in mind where policies diverge from contracts and how the drafting rules differ.
Chapter 6
The Documentation Landscape
It is important to distinguish primary sources, being those that set rules, from secondary sources, which restate or explain them. Primary sources are most functional when tailored to the vocabulary of subject matter experts, prioritizing precision. Secondary sources, in contrast, offer plain language explanations to a general audience, focusing on practicality and ease of understanding.
Chapter 7
Policy Governance
Clear governance lines are companions to the instrument hierarchy, matching approval levels to various instruments. Policy statements that exceed scope or level of approval are of no force. External Standards are incorporated by means of a statement adopting them; internal ones are incorporated by means of a statement enacting them. Setting the approval level of Standards below that of Policies, where feasible, maintains the separation between operational details and business oversight.
Chapter 8
Enforcement
Policy compliance can be a collaborative exercise, rather than a confrontational one. Enforcement techniques can modify both behaviors and environments. Excessive harsh language and hollow threats are typical signs of a dysfunctional regulatory system. To incorporate discipline measures, business lines need to work with the HR branch, typically the only one authorized to mete out punishment, to map infractions to the general disciplinary grading system.
Part II
Internal Authorities
Chapter 9
Primary vs Secondary Sources
Policies, Standards, and Procedures are primary sources for setting rules, and are fundamentally distinct from secondary sources that repeat, explain, or elaborate on the rules. Primary sources are most functional when tailored to the vocabulary of subject matter experts, prioritizing precision. Secondary sources, in contrast, offer plain language explanations to a general audience, focusing on practicality and ease of understanding.
Chapter 10
Policies
Consistent with the distinction between primary and secondary sources, the body of a well-written Policy is limited to statements of policy. Standards and procedures belong in separate documents, and educational material, explanations, and commentary are all appropriate for Toolkit documents in the office manual. We want our office manuals to be as comprehensive as possible; in contrast, we want to keep our Policies as succinct as possible, reducing the amount of time needed for drafting, consultation, and approval.
Chapter 11
Standards
Standards are sets of technical specifications, grouped together as a drafting shortcut. The specifications can range from precise measurements to general descriptions. Their applicability can be set at mandatory, optional, recommended, or disallowed, and in fact can be segmented so that different components of a standard have different applicability levels. Two specialized standards regulate human behavior: Codes of Conduct and Codes of Ethics.
Chapter 12
Procedures
Procedures can specify minute details and steps without being seen as micro-managing. They can also contain duplication, so identical statements may appear in multiple instruction sets. What procedures can’t do is change the parameters of a job description or contractual engagement. It is prudent to consult with whatever branch of the organization is responsible for the terms of engagement of the position being affected. A sample procedure is provided as a potential model.
Chapter 13
Breaking Down Silos
A well-integrated policy suite reflects the interdependencies of various parts of an organization, not by repeating rules generated by other business units, but by producing an office manual that synthesizes the information into a coherent narrative. Changes in circumstances that cross the enterprise, such as the Covid-19 pandemic or the introduction of Artificial Intelligence, are opportunities for business areas to collaborate. Acceptable use policies falling under the IT policy are an anomaly; moving them back to the HR branch will unify policies to be technology-agnostic.
Part III
Drafting
Chapter 14
Drafting Principles
A number of drafting techniques can make rules sound positive, including favoring positive grammatical constructions, specifying the desired outcome, and converting directive statements to informational ones. Statements of micromanagement in policies, despite being well-intentioned, are susceptible to being perceived as control mechanisms; they are more palatable in procedures, where detailed guidance is not only expected but also appreciated.
Chapter 15
Drafting Techniques
A number of simple language changes can turn authoritarian wording into a more respectful statement of policy, without sacrificing the rigidity of the rule itself. They center around transitioning from command statements focusing on the negative to informational statements emphasizing the positive.
Chapter 16
Must, May, and Should
The traditional modals must, may, and should impart a Parent-Child dynamic to rules, emphasizing the divide between rule-makers and rule followers. Their existence could be justified as convenient markers for distinguishing mandatory, optional, and recommended elements, were it not for the fact that in many cases they impart a meaning inconsistent with that pattern. We can replace the modal with a statement more directly indicating the decision the rule is predicated on. A large majority of those decisions are around authority, eligibility, entitlement, validity, characterization, pre-condition, sequence, and deadlines. Presenting that decision provides more clarity than the modal verbs, without the heavy-handedness. In other words, we want to inform people about the rules, but when we assume positive intent, we don’t also have to tell them to obey them.
Chapter 17
Packaging
Apart from the core statements, Policies contain various pieces of metadata for recordkeeping, navigation, and management purposes. These include fields capturing the title, the approver, critical dates, the objective and scope, roles and responsibilities, other versions, and enquiries. To eliminate ambiguity in the future, best practices are associated with each piece.
Chapter 18
Terminology Management
Clarity of meaning relies on the consistent use of terminology, not only within a document but across the entire policy suite. Standardized terms can be captured in a common glossary for the benefit of the reader, and in a shared lexicon to guide drafters. The Interpretation section of an instrument reflects drafting decisions only; business decisions around the meaning of a term or phrase properly sit in the core section.
Part IV
Values-based Policy
Part IV
Values-based Policy
Revisiting the Ladder of Engagement presented in the Introduction, we look at how core values play a crucial role in improving engagement. Non-compliance with organizational rules can often be the product of a misalignment between one or more values: those underlying the policies and those held by an individual or group. We can depict how policies and other Internal Authorities trace back to the foundational documents by using the Documentation Landscape presented in chapter 6. This connection gives us a new narrative within which to discuss issues around engagement and non-compliance.
Named Framework
Values Ancestry
Values Ancestry is Lewis Eisen’s approach for tracing a policy statement back through the layers that gave rise to it: from a Policy, Standard, or Procedure, up through the organization’s Internal Authorities, to the Foundational Documents that set out its mission, vision, values, and strategies. When employees resist or fail to comply with a rule, the cause is often a misalignment somewhere along that chain, most often at the level of values, rather than a simple failure to understand the rule itself. Tracing a rule’s values ancestry gives an organization a shared, values-based vocabulary for discussing engagement and non-compliance, rather than treating every instance as a discipline problem.
Policies engage when their value ancestry is clear.