Policies and procedures

The difference

• A policy is a statement of what the business will do and why — a business-wide rule that provides a framework for decision-making.
  • It answers what and why.
  • Example: "All customer data collected on site is deleted within seven days unless it is required for an order."
• A procedure is the step-by-step instruction for how that policy is carried out in practice.
  • It answers how, who and when.
  • Example: the daily task list telling the operator to open the data folder, export order-related files, delete everything else, and record that it was done.
• One policy usually needs several procedures. The policy is the rule; the procedures are the routines that make it real.

	Policy	Procedure
Question it answers	What the business will do, and why	How it is done, step by step
Scope	Business-wide	Task-specific
Written by	Senior management	Managers and supervisors of the task
Changes	Rarely	Whenever the task or equipment changes
Example	The business will provide a safe workplace	Before using the forklift, complete the pre-start checklist and log the result

Why a large business needs them

• Consistency. In a business of hundreds of staff across several sites, the same situation must produce the same response wherever it arises.
• Legal compliance. Health and safety, employment and privacy obligations are met through documented procedures — being able to show what was required, and that it was followed, is what protects the business.
• Training and induction. New staff learn the standard quickly from a written procedure instead of copying whoever is standing next to them.
• Accountability. When something goes wrong, management can tell whether the procedure was inadequate or was not followed — and those need different responses.
• Protecting reputation. Policies set the boundary before an employee is standing in front of the decision, so the business is not relying on individual judgement in a moment of pressure.
• Efficiency. A settled procedure removes the time cost of working out the same thing repeatedly.

The costs and limits

• Writing, training and reviewing them takes time and money.
• Too many, or too rigid, and staff cannot use judgement in a situation the procedure did not anticipate.
• Procedures that are out of date are worse than none, because staff learn to ignore them.
• A policy that exists on paper but is not enforced provides no protection at all — it may make things worse, because the business has documented a standard it can be shown to have breached.