Why do you need an employee handbook? Well, remember your onboarding in your current organization? It was confusing, and let’s say a little overwhelming as well, right? New people, so many document verification, knowing about the policies of the organization, and so much confusion- this is how you can sum up almost every employee’s first day.
Especially if you are in a remote company, these doubts are 2x more. There are no impromptu conversations which can help the employees learn about the organization better.
At this stage, employees need a helping hand to guide them through the entire onboarding process. And apart from the HR associate, buddies, and the manager, a remote work handbook is one of them.
An ideal employee handbook consists of everything an employee needs to know about the company, the policies, culture, code of conduct, and more.
Any doubts can be consulted and resolved through this virtual employee handbook.
10 Employee Handbook Employees
Looking to create an employee handbook for your organization? Here are 10 best employee handbook examples for remote companies:
Netflix
AirMason created a handbook template featuring the globally leading OTT platform, Netflix. It is one of the most well-designed and creative employee handbooks available.
It offers an employee culture guide that consists of:
- 7 culture tenets of the organization
- 9 behaviour expectations
- Key factors of being a responsible person
- Good vs Bad processes
- What “acts in Netflix’s best interest” means
- Budget and performance reviews
- Employee success
- Two necessary conditions for promotion
- What the culture of Netflix is trying to support?
Hubspot
The most striking thing that Hubspot did with its employee handbook is to create monotonous topics in a much more exciting manner. It is considered part-employee manifesto and part employee handbook and talks about the kind of culture Hubspot is creating and the expectations they have from their people.
Zappos
Zappos used the most fun and effective pattern – giving true insights into the organization by adding pictures of the employees, and the events that have taken place.
It is an extremely culture-focused organization and has created a culture book to showcase the same. It gives an employee a clear view of how their work life would be within the organization.
Toptal’s Handbook
This is not just another handbook. Toptal is a remote organization. Hence, they included their lessons and tips in their remote employee handbook in order to run a remote company successfully.
GitLab
GitLab has a 2,200+ page detailed and informative for 1,300 employees. For such a large organization as well as the handbook, it is bound to be created with full clarity and engagement.
It consists of their product promotions, plenty of backlinks, and it maintains a level of transparency that allows people not working at GitLab to contribute.
This company needs no introduction. Almost all of us have a profile on Facebook, right? Imagine what would be the handbook of such a huge multinational conglomerate. You guessed it right, flawless.
This handbook offers a detailed view of the purpose and aim of Facebook, their core values, and more.
Trello
Trello, a software for managing projects, uses their own platform to create their employee handbook. Product promotion cannot get better than this. Trello’s remote employee handbook has been a convenient way of knowing about the time offs, expenses, and a detailed view of an employee’s first day. Here is a glimpse of how it looks:
Valve’s handbook
Valve’s handbook went viral considering how well it was executed. It consists of a transition from how the first day of an employee looks to how their growth looks like.
Here are few of the topics it covers for its employees:
- Your First Month
- What if I screw up? But what if we ALL screw up?
- How Am I Doing?
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- What Is Valve Not Good At?
Disqus
Disqus also chooses to convey their culture through photographs and exciting graphics. From admin responsibilities, what Disqus believes in, to how is life at Disqus.
PeopleHR
This handbook has a simplistic handwritten look that gives insights NOT on how people should wear, behave, etc. Because once people join the organization, they are “responsible for their own actions”. This is the sense of ownership that PeopleHR attempts to instill within their employees.
FAQ
How do I make an interactive handbook?
- Add relevant media
- Keep it simple yet use attractive graphics
- Add links to relevant pages
- Don’t cramp it with extra information
What should an employee handbook not include?
- Important credentials
- Any confidential information
- Writing “probation period” instead of “introductory period/orientation”
What is the difference between an employee handbook and a policy manual?
An employee handbook talks about everything around the company, its culture, employee expectations, and more. However, a policy manual solely details out and talks about all the policies of a company.
