What is the basic purpose of documenting human resource policies? It may sound strange; but yeah, some policies can really suck and can add a lot of negative value to help organizations go under. What a terrible statement, it may sound. But this is what could happen, although without knowing it… without wanting to…

Certainly the idea here is to be aware of them, to avoid them at all costs!

1. Counting the hours is not always desirable. Strict timing may be fine for workers in the manufacturing facility or working on the machines; but a discipline that is too strict in general can kill creativity, motivation and, above all, responsible behavior. If you find it too difficult to keep track of production and much easier to count the hours, you’ll only get that! Just think about it. You can’t win the war for talent by treating your people like children. What are you looking for in the end? A solid performance that comes from the heart and soul, or just the physical presence?
2. During difficult times, unfortunately, management decides to continue with sub-par leadership…and here the negative spiral begins. These not very competent managers are afraid to hire the competent ones for fear of being exposed. Mediocrity cascades down the hill until it covers the entire setup and the good people start flying out the door. An apt saying goes like this: “If you hire people better than you, you will become a company of giants, and if you hire people worse than you, you will become a company of midgets.” As such, you need to have a very strong recruiting process, whatever the situation!
3. Some companies require their employees to bring proof of every damn thing, even allowing leave to attend a family bereavement. That’s as low as you can get. If you don’t trust your people and think they will make up relatives and kill them for a few days’ pay, you are unfit to be a leader. When an employee is in personal danger due to the death of a family member, asking for proof is nothing more than adding insult to injury. This shameful practice will no doubt get any employee worth their salt out…eventually, if not immediately.
4. A very popular and well-established practice is to follow a bell curve for performance reviews. It forces the majority of employees to be in the middle band, with a cap of, say, 5 percent to be in the Excellent category. Worse than that is the balancing act on the other side, with another 5% at the bottom to be labeled poor and worthy of termination. Does it mean that their policies are bad enough to hire 5% of good-for-nothing people? It’s much easier to hide behind your sick policies and get rid of these people than it is to give constructive feedback. But imagine the demotivation and psychosis of fear that is injecting into the environment of the organization.
5. It’s amazing how some companies subscribe to the old axiom, “pound the fool and the penny.” For expense invoice reimbursements, being exact isn’t really an issue with digital/online payments. Still, some companies may follow the rounding principle, ignoring less than $0.50 and converting it to the next whole number of 0.51 and up. But what would you call an employer who ignores all fractions, 0.1 to 0.99 on all bills? Yes, depending on the number of payments, he may be saving a few bucks; but you realize the cost you are paying for this savings. A perfect case of stinking practices!
6. Employee development is extremely important and motivating. Some companies hire great consultants, and their expertise will make beautiful IDPs (Individual Development Plans) for their employees. Being experts, they can prepare a much better document as compared to the employees themselves. Yes, it would be an excellent document and nothing more. Where will the property be? It won’t be an exaggeration to say that well-documented development plans without employee involvement have nothing but residual value. That if for your good luck, it does not demotivate you!

It makes sense to keep your organization’s door locked to prevent such practices. And if any such practice is already floating around the organization, it’s time to kick it… without delay!