Running a business isn’t easy. ServoPro knows that our members work each day to maintain an outstanding workplace environment for both customers and employees. Part of maintaining a high functioning business is giving workers access to a clear documentation of policies and procedures.
Written documentation whether in paper form or online of company expectations and guidelines does more than just provide clarity. It also assists in safety, employee consistency, and helps your service station easily resolve workplace conflicts. If you don’t yet have a thorough documentation of policies and procedures for your petrol station, here’s a few great reasons to implement one today.
Provide Employees With Guidance
Having a strong team is one of the most crucial elements to running any successful small business, including petrol stations. Once you have built a great team of workers, the next step is providing them with the resources they need to best perform their jobs.
Documented policies and procedures help your staff to structure their work day, and give them a point of reference in the event of confusion or indecision. A clear sense of guidance or direction can give your workers the confidence and tools they need to feel prepared for each and every shift, no matter what may happen.
Identify Problems Quickly
Without clearly defined policies and procedures, it can be much easier to allow conflicts or problems to proceed unresolved which can create greater conflict as time does on. Documentation of company standards and operational procedures will help you and your employees identify issues as they arise.
The faster a problem can be identified, the faster it can be resolved. Lacking a guiding document can make standards unclear, leading to delay in resolution of pertinent issues.
Encourage Consistency
In defining a set of clear guidelines, your employees will feel motivated and comfortable with procedures and policies at your service station. This confidence easily translates to consistency. For example, a clearly defined dress code allows employees to know what is, and is not acceptable attire during their shift. Eliminating this uncertainty makes consistent adherence to company policy much easier for all involved.
Improve Safety
Detailed documentation of policies and procedures is not only important to workplace performance, but is critical to workplace safety as well. Physical documentation of best practices are essential in business such as petrol stations where potential hazardous and flammable materials are regularly handled.
Furthermore, guidelines in proper footwear, cleaning tasks, and even policy in the event of crime or emergency will enable workers to feel prepared and knowledgeable in what steps to take should action become necessary.
Protect Your Business
Having documentation of company policy helps protect your business from more than just emergencies. This documentation also protects your petrol station in the event of lawsuits ranging from areas such as safety violations, all the way to simple HR complaints. As a small business, it is important to reduce your liability when possible, and clearly formatted policy and procedure documents are an excellent way to mitigate risks.
ServoPro Can Help
Despite its importance, devising a full documentation of policies and procedures for your business can be a complicated or even daunting task. We’re dedicated to helping our members create comprehensive plans for their business with as little hassle as possible.
ServoPro has over 200 policy and procedure documents available as reference for our members, available in both the HR and Safety areas of our member portal. If you’re looking to create an outstanding reference guide for your petrol station, but don’t know where to start, reach out for assistance today.