Employee manuals serve several purposes. In addition to being a convenient way to provide new employees with vital information, they ensure that consistent information is disseminated, can serve as important guides for decision making, help you find information quickly, and enable you to locate gaps in your content. However, building them can be an overwhelming process. Because of the daunting challenges of both building and maintaining comprehensive employee manuals, many organizations do not take time to pull together information into one location. However, you can benefit immediately by creating a manual that your employees can reference as needed. A well-constructed employee manual may also act as evidence that you have provided your employees with legally required information.

In order to have an effective policy manual, the employer should take the time to identify what is important to the business, both in keeping the employees informed and happy, as well as accomplishing the business objectives of the company.