I was having dinner last night with an old personal work friend, her spouse, and one of the major players (president) in a firm where my friend currently works and the topic of handbooks came up. Well, you can imagine that in my mind I thought there is only one way to go and that is electronic but I was caught off guard to find out that there are still some that feel paper is the way to go. Needless to say, it was a hot topic that not only incorporated the need for a paper version of a handbook but also who is responsible for informing employees of changes in policies. From a hard copy prospective, surely it is the company that needs to inform employees with updated versions of page, partial or complete changes. On the soft side, my feeling that the company is responsible for tell employees that there are changes to X,Y,Z and you can find them on the employee intranet. But to make sure that people read it you need an electronic footprint when employees go to the intranet to access the handbook. This is your insurance policy that allows you to track who does and who does not keep up to date on policy changes. Yes, soft copy is cost effective, real time, and gets to everyone, fast and easy. Hard copy well some may get, it some will throw it away, some will file it and never look at it. Which to you is more efficient.
The dinner was great, the dinner companions inspiring and the discussions provocative, insightful, and in some cases contentious. But in the end given the markets some may need hard copy and some soft but the real way to go in today's world is electronic.
As usual, your comments are welcome at wgstevens2@gmail.com and I would like your own personal insights.
