Comprehensive best practice policy is an important tool that every business and especially multinational corporations must have for them to succeed in their markets spread across the world. Comprehensive best practice policy helps the business to succeed in the most volatile environments. The policy, therefore, must be maintained by every other business that considers itself a multinational. In this paper, effective best practice guidelines will be developed for Estela Children products. The company is in the U.S and mainly do the manufacturing and sale of children’s toys and apparels. The firm hopes to venture into other international markets so as to reach a wider customer base. The company’s best practice will comprise of various components that include Sanitation, Eating and drinking, Conflict resolution, In-house teams, online teams, Security and Emergency Evacuation procedures (Hayes & Ninemeier, 2009).
Sanitation
Every employee in the company is entitled to proper sanitation including clean water. The company must, therefore, ensure the employee’s right to proper sanitation is respected and upheld at all times. The goal of the company, in this case, is to assure the members of the general public that it complies with the federal, state and local regulations as far as sanitation is concerned. To do this, the company must uphold measures that may include acquiring food and related food products from food vendors that are licensed (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2002).
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It is also the responsibility of the company to ensure every employee has access to clean drinking water. This means that the company must maintain water dispensers in all the departments. Besides, the company should recognize the need to recycle resources so as to prevent dumping. To this effect, the company has been doing well in that it has been recycling plastic products to make children toys. General waste from the company should then be discarded in the normal trash (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2002).
Additionally, employees are entitled to clean washroom amenities with fully functional hand cleaning facilities. It is the company’s policy to guarantee the employees’ and visitors’ access to these facilities at strategic points. This is in accordance with OSHA’s sanitation first standard which requires companies to ensure there is timely access to the washroom facilities. The company must ensure that the employees and the visitors are free to use the facilities at their convenience. For instance, expectant workers may tend to frequent the facilities and the company should not interfere with this. The same applies to male employees suffering from prostatic hypertrophy. To make sure the company meets the needs of both employees and visitors, it will construct 12 washroom units with operational water closets to serve 111 to 150 people per day (Hayes & Ninemeier, 2009).
Eating or drinking
Since the employees spend long hours in their workstations, the company recognizes the need to allow some foods and beverages in outside the machine rooms. No food or beverage should be taken in the machine rooms because this may cause health hazards. For the employees working in offices, they will be allowed to take packed snacks and beverages. However, the food products will not be allowed anywhere near computers, files or books to prevent cases of spillage which may result in loss of important company data. Acceptable foods will include pizzas and other take-out meals which should be taken in the lounge. Every employee is entitled to these foods. The employees should, however, note that all unattended foods and drinks will be discarded (Hayes & Ninemeier, 2009).
Conflict Resolution
It is expected that disagreements and conflicts will arise in the workplace, something which is common whenever people come together. Acknowledging this fact, Estela is ready to resolve such conflicts to ensure there are a smooth working relationships among its employees. This policy seeks to attend to the needs of every employee who finds himself in trouble with a colleague (Alsnih & Stopher, 2004). The process described below will be used in conflict resolution:
Step 1
Any troubled employee must first report to his or her supervisor. The supervisor will then schedule a meeting to listen to all the parties involved in the conflict and come up with a solution within five working days (Alsnih & Stopher, 2004).
Step 2
If the immediate supervisor is unable to resolve the problem due to certain complexities or other challenging circumstances, the supervisor will take the matter to either the employee’s manager or head of the department for further probing. At this point, the human resource department will also come in to help in finding a lasting solution. The department head or the employee’s manager will write to the human resource providing them with details of the conflict as reported by the employee, and also outline the initial steps taken. After reporting to the human resource department, the problem should be resolved within five working days (Alsnih & Stopher, 2004).
Step 3
The employee may feel that the solution given by the manager is not satisfactory. In such a case, the employee has the right to write directly to the Human Resource Department. The HR team will then arrange for meetings with the affected employee to iron out their grievances. However, the decision reached by the conflict resolution team will be not negotiable and the employee must go with it (Arnesen, 2007).
In-house teams
The company will hold at least 2 meetings to ensure everything is running as expected. There will be no limitations on the number of scribes and also the number of employees will be equivalent to the number of departments. An overall leader will oversee the operations of the entire company together will all its branches. The branches will be headed by leaders who will be reporting to the overall leader at the main office (Arnesen, 2007).
Online team
The online team will consist of at least two contracts, one being employed on a full-time basis by the company. The management will have the responsibility of notifying the rest of the workers in the event there is a change of operations. The online team will be working in shifts because the company will be operating in different countries and therefore different time zones. This will ensure that there is an employee on duty at any time to respond to customer queries and ensure all operations are running smoothly. Each employee in the online team will be working for 6 hours (Arnesen, 2007).
Security
Security is an important factor to consider. All employees in the company must be assured of safety while at the company premises and when undertaking all activities of the company. To ensure security is tight, the company will hire security teams to secure the property and ensure the visitors to the company are checked. CCTV cameras will also be installed in all the departments to ensure the environment is under security check around the clock (Arnesen, 2007).
Procedures for Emergency Evacuation
It is the firm’s policy to carry out drills at least once per year. Fire alarm systems should also be installed in all departments and fire assembly points will be clearly marked. Exits will also be clearly marked on staircases and doorways to prepare for fire emergencies. The fire exits must also be kept free of obstacles. The employees will also be given an emergency hotline to call in the event of an emergency. When fire alarms go off, the employees will use the exits to escape and assemble at the fire points. The safety officers will then call out the employees to determine their safety. It is the responsibility of the security officers to provide clear guidelines on what the employees should do when a fire breaks out (Alsnih & Stopher, 2004).
Benefits of Creation of Best Practices Policies
The policies provide a clear way of doing things to avoid confusion of all forms. The policies provide the company with a clear operational plan. They also help the employees to understand and work towards the achievement of the company’s objectives. It is the responsibility of the human resource department to formulate policy guidelines and make sure they are adhered to by the employees. Policies also come in handy in the recruitment process. They guide the company in hiring the most suited people to ensure the company meets its targets. The policies also ensure the recruitment process is in line with the Employment Acts and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Hayes & Ninemeier, 2009).
Major Problems that could arise if the Policies are Not Created
Lack of policies will mean lack of roadmap and as such, the company will have no order. This will result in losses. For instance, the employees will be operating on their own terms due to lack of understanding the objectives and the targets of the company. Lack of policies will also result in misconduct among the employees thus having adverse effects on the performance of the company (Arnesen, 2007).
Policies regarding use of company’s utilities such as the Internet are also important. The policies will prevent cases of employees use the internet in the wrong way such as sending unnecessary emails to their colleagues or chatting during working hours. The policies will ensure the network security is not compromised by the employees. Without policies, there is a very likelihood that many federal and local regulations will not be adhered to. For example, important acts such as the Equal Employment Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 may be violated, posing the danger of closure of the company (Arnesen, 2007).
Ways in Which Policies Contribute to Long-Term Sustainability of the Company
On sanitation, the employees will not waste time looking for clean water to drink. Ensuring there is proper sanitation will mean the welfare of the employees is upheld and as such, they will be motivated to work in that friendly environment, increasing their productivity and hence increased profitability for the company. Having clean drinking water will also save the company money instead of purchasing bottled water. Besides clean water, having feeding programs will also eliminate cases of food poisoning which in the long saves the company medical insurance expenses for the employees (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2002).
Conflict resolution programs, on the other hand, will ensure there is peace co-existence among the employees. The cooperation will make them concentrate on their work and therefore perform better. The policy on the online team will, on the other hand, ensure the company is running smoothly. There is a smooth flow of information which translates to undisrupted production. By adhering to the comprehensive best practices policy, the company will have a competitive edge over its competitors in the industry thus making it more sustainable (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2002).
References
Alsnih, R., & Stopher, P. (2004). Review of procedures associated with devising emergency evacuation plans. Transportation Research Record. Journal of the Transportation Research Board , (1865), 89-97.
Arnesen, E. (2007). Encyclopedia of US labor and working-class history . Taylor & Francis.
Dyllick, T., & Hockerts, K. (2002). Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability. Business Strategy and the Environment , 11(2), 130-141.
Hayes, D. K., & Ninemeier, J. D. (2009 ). Human resources management in the hospitality industry. John Wiley & Sons.
