What is a Company Culture Manual and why does your company need one?
A Company Culture Manual, also known as a Company Culture Document or Employee Handbook is a document delivered to employees by an employer, usually upon hiring and which often covers the Rules of Procedure.
Many companies choose to have documents in digital format, sometimes sharing them on their websites. In other cases, a physical document is delivered to the new employee, often in the form of a small book or notebook. This facilitates their manipulation and the employee can take the manual home and consult it in more detail.
The Culture Manual of the company may have very varied content, depending on the company's own culture, but there is some information that is always present.
A complete company culture manual provides information about the company, its history, mission, vision, goals and brand values.
This document includes information on policies and procedures (confidentiality policy, use of social media at work, dress code, vacation time...) and to describe working conditions and expected behavior in the workplace.
More practical questions such as schedules, use of common spaces, the location of certain materials, among others, may also be addressed.
A Company Culture Manual can be very useful in promoting a harmonious and fair working environment, since all elements are aware of this information.
It is common for the Culture document of the company to be built with the collaboration of the employees, since they are expected to review and feel that the culture of their place of work is reflected in the document.
Many employers also ask employees to sign a statement that they have received the manual and become aware of its content. Although not a legally valid document, it is the commitment of both parties to fulfill their duties.
Some of the most famous Culture Manuals of the Company are the ones from Netflix, Zappos and Valve, because they combine important and relevant information with humorous content that reflects the spirit of good disposition of the brands.