Like it or not, rules influence our daily life. They split broadly into laws, policies and guidelines: laws provide the hard and fast boundaries of corporate behaviour, enshrined in legislation. They represent the ‘hard line’ and crossing it can have serious consequences

policies offer a framework for formal processes, standardising expectations – a slightly softer line which, if crossed, might trigger disciplinary action even if it doesn’t land you behind bars!

guidelines set out less formal ‘best practise’ recommended approaches, which allow greater flex, have softer edges and don’t cast the same ominous shadows of consequence as laws or policies

Rules represent a significant cultural factor affecting workplace behaviours and the extent to which they hold sway over colleagues will vary according to beliefs about and attitudes towards authority and the way hierarchy is structured.

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, you really don’t want a culture of complete deference, which, according to Stanley Milgram who investigated the defence argument of ‘just following orders’ in relation to Nazi war crimes, can result in a diminished sense of responsibility.

The common tendency of deferring to the ‘highest paid person’s opinion’, (sometimes due to fear of challenging them), stunts creativity and diverse thinking. Dr Sunita Sah explains in her book ‘Defy’ the catastrophic results of ‘insinuation anxiety’, when we’re so worried about insinuating someone else is ‘biased, corrupt or plain incompetent’ that we fail to challenge them.

‘How’ rules are constructed and cascaded are critical to organisational culture; mandating rules is never likely to generate the same buy-in as co-creation. In the extreme, as John Heider writes in ‘The Tao of Leadership’, ‘all laws create outlaws.’ While no-one wants ‘death by consultation’, a pinch of staff involvement in developing policy helps avoid colleagues feeling that rules have been imposed on them. Through increasing a sense of ownership, we boost the chances that new ways of working will be adopted and embedded.

Complex policy risks being received as white noise or, worse still, slowing progress and decision making as colleagues try and navigate through it. Casualties can include performance and innovation. After all, innovation only happens when we loosen our grip on ‘the way things have always been done’ and open our minds to possibility. To do this, it’s worth asking ourselves how well we’re creating space to try new things, be daring and learn from failure.

New policy should be measured against the yard stick of company purpose, to sense-check whether it’s likely to advance organisational mission, vision and values or get in the way. Clear organisational values can be a great compass for decision making and avoid the need for excessive formal policy. If it’s easy for colleagues to assess options and identify which best aligns with organisational values, they’re less likely to need to be told explicitly what to do. Of course, this hinges on several key criteria:

·     shared understanding of what your company values are (really understanding them, rather than ‘saw them once in an induction pack or on a poster in the toilets’)

·     appreciation at an individual level of what those values mean for me and my role, and the part I have to play in delivering our purpose

·     clarity about how the values translate to observable behaviours so there’s no misunderstanding about how colleagues are expected to show up. We’re looking for positive action-oriented statements rather than a schoolish list of ‘don’ts’

·     values are role-modelled by leaders clearly and consistently, so they become part of the fabric of ‘business as usual’

·     values feature in recruitment and induction, and there’s a process for measuring how successfully colleagues are demonstrating the values-based behaviours – think things like 360° feedback approaches

When weighing up whether a new policy is needed, it pays to consider whether your objective is to further something positive or prevent, stop or move away from a negative behaviour. It’s worth taking a step back to consider all factors involved in why people do what they do that could be at play. In terms of culture, consider:

·     the social influences:

·    what smaller tribes and sub-cultures exist within your organisation?

·    what are the social norms and unwritten rules they play by?

·    what are the perceptions of authority figures; are leaders respected role-models who are open to challenge?

·     the environment:

·    do the physical surroundings help or hinder colleagues to behave in the way you want e.g. are there spaces for both independent and collaborative work?

·    how is the unseen infrastructure maintaining levels of employee satisfaction e.g. are salaries keeping apace with inflation? What flexible working options support work-life balance?

·    how could colleagues be nudged towards what you’d like to come naturally? (‘Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness’ by Thaler and Sunstein is worth a read for a deeper dive)

·    what situational context might be relevant? For example, unanticipated pressure exerted by new government legislation having a knock-on effect to your processes or a people matter affecting staff morale

Additional factors could also be relevant; we’ve already talked about alignment at an individual level with over-arching organisational purpose and values. Mindset and biases are also major contributors to behaviour.

As an HR professional, take a step back, look at the bigger picture and what’s within your sphere of influence. The answer might be a new or improved rule, but even then, you’ll want to ensure there’s adequate capability to put it into practice. Gaps analysis can help identify the knowledge and skills needed to operationalise any policy, which might be technical, or, if it relates to the way colleagues treat each other, call for increasing awareness of emotional intelligence.

If you do decide that a new rule is needed, or even just a refresh of an existing policy, partnering with other leaders within your organisation, you’ll be keen to make sure that any changes you make reduce rather than add layers of complexity. ‘The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder’ by Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao is my recommended read to help your organisation run like a well-oiled machine.