The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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tm Policy Power ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ software. Copyright 1991. Laurence Hatch manual. Copyright 1991. Laurence Hatch All Rights Reserved Duplication by restricted terms only ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ A release by: Taxonomic Computer Research Business Software Office PO Box 12011 Raleigh, NC 27605 919-856-0995 ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Instruction ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Policy Power (tm) is a simple but carefully crafted program that generates a personnel policy manual - alias Human Resources Guide. While there are some fine $99-$350 policy manual generators on the market and for $2000 any attorney will do one, many small businesses need that money for something else - like personnel. Policy Power is free to try and just $19 to register. In our study we also found that some manual generator programs had just a few topics (20-50). Policy Power has over 100 topics and around 300 policies in all. Policy Power also has more modern topics like parental leave, FAX use, and flextime. We also added many topics that are small issues but can create problems unless spelled out. Some of the costly programs just spit out their own wordy policies that very few personnel can understand - unless they are used by other attorneys! Policy Power uses short and clear and crisp phrases. And it lets you add to them before you get to wordprocessing stage. We also used many fill-in-the- blank type entries that are useful for refering people to experts around your company. We hope you like Policy Power as much as we at TCR like it. Like it or not - please write and tell us what you think. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Installation ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 1. Backup the distribution disk at least twice. 2. To run the program type: policy 3. A menu will appear in a few seconds. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Shareware Use Guidelines ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 1. You may copy and share this program so long as no fee over $7.00 is charged for the program. 2. You MAY NOT modify any of the files (ppower.doc, policy.exe, or policy.dat) under any circumstance. 3. You MAY NOT bundle this product with any human resources materials or consulting services unless you use copies registered at the wholesale rate. Write to TCR for details on wholesale duplication at a rate of $10 per copy. 4. You may operate this program on a single computer or CPU to evaluate its performance. 5. If you use a manual generated by this program or permits its access on a regular basis we request you register your copy for a one-time fee of $19.00. (see end of manual for details). ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Why does our company need a POLICY MANUAL? ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ There are several reasons: 1. It could be the law. Many states and unions have legal requirements for informing employees that include posters and other forms. A policy manual is often necessary to handle this volume of information and make it easy to find. 2. 99% of employees tend to do what is expected of them. Don't assume they have the same common sense as you do. When you spell out what is expected they are more likely to comply. 3. Many of them have worked other places where things were done differently. In fact employees often assume that some procedures are done the same way everywhere in corporate America. People who have worked in government will also assume that federal job guidelines are in effect with you. Having a policy manual is simply good communication. 4. Employees like rules and procedures when it protects them. They will feel secure when they can justify their actions or inactions based on a written manual. When a rule or procedure is written down they will be more confident to make decisions. 5. An organized work place is an efficient work place. When you put everything in one place in alphabetical order people can find what they want to know. Just knowing that organized book of policy is there builds a feeling of security and mental discipline. 6. It says that management cares. When you plan for their future, happiness, and freedom people are willing to work harder for you. Companies without policy manuals or that restrict access to them are likely to be viewed as non-caring and unconcerned about quality of work life. 7. It motivates and empowers new employees. While new staff may not read it all, a good policy manual may tell them more about your company than hours of orientations. It tells them what opportunities they have, what rights, and what creative freedoms. When a manual has more 'please try this' than 'don't you dare' people feel empowered to function at a higher level. 8. It can save a life. Just having a single phone number for hazardous materials or security can be vital. Phone lists and directories often disappear when needed most. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Menu ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ c create a new manual r review policy topics q quit to DOS Press c to output a new manual Press r to list policy power topics on screen Press q when you are done and wish to exist ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Policy Output Options ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Once you have selected c or C to create a new manual the program will cycle through all the available policy choices in alphabetical order. The 8 options ============= PRESS THIS KEY TO 1 output statement #1 2 output statement #2 3 output statement #3 4 output statement #4 s skip this policy topic w write your own statement n done - go on to next policy q quit to menu - end output Quit ==== If you press q you will end your ability to continue on. You cannot resume a manual generation session so only press q if you have made a mistake and must start over. You can also use q to practice output. Option use ========== You can select the options in any order. You can pick a listed statement (1,2,3,4) then write your own. You can write a statement then pick just one pre-written statement (say 3). Moving on ========= When you are done picking or writing a statement on a given topic just press s or n to move on to the next topic. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Writing your own statements ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ You may find it easier to write your own statements. There are several useful methods that users have found helpful. METHOD 1: Read all 4 statements. Press w to write any combination of them in your own words. METHOD 2: Press 1, 2, 3, or 4 to output any statements you like. Press w one or more times to add more statements. For example you press 2 to output #2, w to write your own summarizing #3 in your own words, press 4 to output #4, and finally n to move on to the next policy. You output 2 as is and wrote one yourself. Any combination works. METHOD 3: Read all 4 statements. Press w to write your own version of one of those statements. Press ENTER until all lines are filled. Read another statement. Press w again and write your own version of that statement. METHOD 4: Press w to write an introduction paragraph such as: w (enter writing mode) (you enter:) Our policy at MegaCorp Industries is to make a diverse menu of benefits and compensation suited to their own needs. Your personal benefits counselor can be contacted at ext. 1234. 1 (policy 1 is output) 4 (policy 4 is output) n (you move on to the next topic) Legal Review ============ Be careful to have anything you write checked by a an attorney such as labor attorney or human resources paralegal. If you have federal contracts or union workers you may need to seek guidance from federal publications and union authorities as well. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Wordprocessing your policy manual ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 1. Load your wordprocessor. 2. Load the manual file as non-formatted or ASCII files. Many wordprocessors will load the file regardless of format. 3. Reformat margins and text so it is readible. 4. Re-write any policies that require: a. additional explanations b. charts and lists c. fill-ins such as [name] becomes John Doe and [number] becomes 211 5. Save changes. 6. Merge any related documents. SEE Companion Documents below for ideas. 7. Repaginate and reformat all printing options. 8. Print. 9. Have manual reviewed by co-workers, human resources staff, attorney, union officials, and other parties. If possible consult a labor relations attorney with expertise in human resources policies, discrimination, Equal Opportunity, compensation, and other federal laws. If you have government contracts or grants your manual may need to be reviewed in relation to specific laws that only affect firms with contracts or grants. Federal contractors are not allowed to do some things that other businesses maintain as standard policy. WARNING: Not all statements furnished with Policy Power may be legal or desirable for your business and in your state. Users are strongly advised to get every possible legal and professional review before distributing a manual. 10. Make certain that all required posters, manuals, and forms are posted and available as required by law or corporate policy. Your policy manual does NOT remove the obligation to post some notices required by law. 11. Repeat above steps until manual is complete and approved by consultants. 12. Distribute manual to ALL employees. Making the manual available SOMEWHERE is neither good communication nor legally wise. Employees which fail to perform or act as required may cite the unavailability of policy manuals to your harm. Removing underlines =================== If you do not wish to retain the underlines as output you can ask your wordprocessor to delete them in one quick operation replace: ═ with: (space) The underlines are ASCII 205 NOT the normal equal (=) ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ On-disk and on-line policy manuals ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ There are many reasons to make manuals available on diskette or from networked databases. These include: 1. Manual may be updated frequently without added printing costs, inconvenience of interfiling supplement pages, and distribution costs. 2. Users may search by specific keywords or personal names. If someone wants to know whether to go to John Doe or Mary Smith to get some form they can find those staff names or the name of forms. 3. Manual is available on portable or laptop PC's where a printed manual would be inconvenient to carry. A common use is on EVERY portable PC used by field sales staff. They can have travel expense policies and even reporting forms on line without carrying heavy manuals and copies of forms. READ ONLY: Your on-line or on-disk policy manual can be saved or marked as READ ONLY. This will prevent most users from tampering with it. If your firm is large enough or enough time expires you can be certain someone will attempt to change that file as a prank or in anger. Their changes may misinform or anger other staff before the unauthorized changes are detected. WARNING: On-line manuals may not be available to all staff due to lack of computer access or training. Make sure that updates are available to all regardless of computer access. Selectively informing your staff due to computer access denial is bad policy from many aspects. USE GUIDELINES: Under no circumstances may the Policy Power files policy.exe or policy.dat or their contents be distributed to non-registering users. Users may only distribute an original output manual on a non-shareware basis. It should also be difficult for users to modify the manual so policy.exe should not be made available. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Companion documents ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The following documents are often included with policy manuals for convenient cross reference and easy distribution: 1. Room and telephone directory for company 2. Corporate organizational charts 3. Yearbook or annual report 4. Sales reports that are not confidential 5. Product line summaries such as a mini catalog 6. Forms for travel expenses, vacation time, etc. 7. Maps to major buildings. 8. Maps to other facilities. Some firms find it easy to produce a general policy manual and two or more custom versions. Some types of policy refer to specific types of users. These other policy additions can include: 1. Sales policies such as ethics, appearance standards, telephone scripts, maps to stores, etc. 2. Administrative and secretarial policies and procedures. These can include basic computer, photocopier, FAX, and other equipment instructions. You might also include Supply Request and Equipment Repair Requests Forms. 3. Production line policies. 4. Chemical handling policies not applicable to general staff. 5. Security team policies such as guidelines for security officers. You may not want other staff to know all these procedures and schedules. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Shareware registration ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 1. Users may evaluate this program for a reasonable period of time without registering. 2. If you continue to access the program or generate an actual manual we request you register your use of the program. 3. A registration fee of $19.00 + $4 shipping provides you with: a. The most current version of the program. A larger version will be available after September 15, 1991. b. Lifetime technical support via phone or mail. c. $5.00 off any other commercial purchase or registration of a TCR program. (see below). Taxonomic Computer Research, PO Box 12011, Raleigh, NC 27605 USA ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ SOFTWARE FOR ENTREPRENEURS from Taxonomic Computer ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Price (US $) Title:Description ════════════ ═════════════════ $19.00 or as TCR Business Plan Outliner: Creates a shareware a detailed 100-topic business plan that can be wordprocessed as desired. The on-line EXPERT ASSIST window provides many useful ideas and examples. $19.00 or as Ideafile for Entrepreneurs: Quick sharware search database with over 500 ways for entrepreneurs to save money and access business resources. $69.00 Software Business Planner: Develops a a highly detailed 200-topic business plan for computer software authors and development firms. Examples, ideas, and warnings about common mistakes are provided for each topic considered. $89.00 Pizza Delivery Stats: Computes over 30 statistics for the pizza delivery stores to measure driver efficiency, labor utilization, food use, hourly values, ratios, and management efficiency. $19.00 or as Policy Power (tm): Creates on-disk manuals shareware of personnel or human resources policy. Over 100 topics (300 policies) are covered with ideas and examples. Users can pick from existing policies, modify them, or write their own. $29.00 or as Hatch's Business Software Directory: The shareware most affordable on-disk database guide to specialized business software. Shows titles, descriptions, and sources for over 800 titles of business software in every industry. The datafile is over 300K alone. Harddisk required. $89.00 The Daily Sales Report: Professional sales analysis tool that computes daily and year-to-date results for telephone, catalog, or personal visit sales. Includes complete report generator, income/sales forecasting, and expert system goal setting functions. Over 40 statistics are computed in 2 seconds. $19.00 or as Hatch's Family Budget Planner: Yes, there are shareware already scores of good and excellent home budget managers. We wrote this one because most budgets fail to consider enough types of expenses. In fact we found 349 ways that homeowners and self-employed people spend and over-spend. This ultra-detailed, micro- management approach produces more realistic budgets and expense type breakdowns. $149.00 WTDL (Wordprocessed Text Display Language): A programming development tool that creates interactive on-disk catalogs, textbooks, newsletters, customer surveys, and product demos. Over 60 functions add fancy titles, colors, ASCII graphics, file handling, menus, directories, note files, survey forms, order taking forms, and more. Best of all it works with any unformatted wordproccessor textfile. Since there are no royalties on the runtime text processor your colorful diskette catalogs or newsletter can cost you as low as 50 cents! $59.00 or as Product Selection System (PSS): This expert system shareware development system helps customers and sales staff select product models for exact customer needs. Whether you sell phones, cars, stereos, insurance, plants, computers, software, lamps, mechinery, pets, chemicals, or boats this PSS can help. $69.00 Job Performance Evaluator (JPE): Your employees deserve fast and fair evaluation of their performance. This affordable system works like those $600-2500 corporate evaluation programs but without the price and complex interface. Over 250 evaluation criteria are considered and each person's strength's and weaknesses are determined in minutes. The textfile reports can be wordprocessed to add typed or written comments. $99.00 TCR Marketing Planner III: Business plans are just the first step. This software builds a very detailed marketing plan using over 300 considerations drawn from consultants and modern marketing literature. Even if you do not yet need a detailed marketing plan this program is a marketing course in itself. $89.00 Proven Principles: Customer Satisfaction - A powerful training and business evaluation tool for customer relations. With both learning and evaluation modes this single program provides dozens of ways to measure, refine, study, tune up, and evaluate consumer affairs. TO OBTAIN SHAREWARE VERSIONS: Shareware versions of listed titles are NOT distributed directly by Taxonomic Computer. Please write or call your shareware dealer for availability. In all cases the commercial ($19) version is more complete as to functions, technical support, and/or manual. SHIPPING/HANDLING: Add $4.00 to all US and Canadian orders. Overseas orders add $10.00 and furnish any required shipping forms. OTHER CATALOGS: Taxonomic Computer is the world leader in horticultural and gardening software with over 24 titles for home gardeners, landscape/design professionals, nurserymen, and researchers. Our new SOFTWARE FOR THE PLANT SCIENCES CATALOG is available for $3.00. Our free SPORTS AND AUTOMOBILE SOFTWARE catalog includes basketball and football stats programs (for coachs NOT handicapping) and expert system selection of automobiles. TERMS: Purchase orders over $75.00 are welcome from corporations, incorporated consultants, retailers, governmental agencies, universities, and national trade associations. Other parties send check or money order in US dollars. Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery if paying by personal check. REQUIREMENTS: All programs require a 100% IBM PC compatible system, one 5.25" disk drive, harddisk w/ 1 megabyte free, and 256K RAM. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Feedback ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════ At Taxonomic Computer we have implemented a new SUCCESSFUL FEEDBACK PROGRAM to assure that our customers truly influence future product releases. This includes: 1. EVERY letter or call is kept on file under each title. At least one staff member must read each communication before the next version is developed. Someone responsable for code writing and testing will read your comments! Your thoughts will NOT get lost at some consumer affairs office. 2. At LEAST 2 customer-supplied improvements must accompany every new program update or upgrade. 3. Dealers and distributors are ACTIVELY consulted for product improvement ideas. 4. Every title is updated at LEAST once every year. There are two releases a year for about 75% of the titles. So please write! Taxonomic Computer Research, PO Box 12011, Raleigh, NC 27605 USA