Does your policy support or stress your employees?

Death affects us in different ways. As much as we may think we understand someone else’s grief following the loss of a loved one, we can never really know how they feel. Many factors go into the way we experience grief. Our relationship to the individual, the circumstances of their death, the last memory we have of that person, the things we said or didn’t say to them before they were gone, what we believe others expect from us after the death. As an employer, does your institution’s bereavement policy bring needed support to the grieved or does it add stress to an already difficult time? Consider a few aspects of your bereavement policy to ensure it works for both your institution and your employees.

Number of Days in Paid Status

For most employers, the number of days of paid bereavement leave depends on the relationship of the employee to the deceased. More time is given to close relatives like parents, spouses, children, and siblings, with less time offered to more distant relations like uncles, aunts, and cousins. But families are complicated. What about relatives that live in the employee’s home? What about in-laws and step-relatives? If an employee’s spouse loses a parent and needs to make arrangements, it seems likely that the employee would be involved in those arrangements and would need the same amount of time as if it were their own parent.

While lines do need to be drawn somewhere, consider whether widening the circle of relatives for whom the employee is allowed longer bereavement leave causes any real detriment to the institution. An employee who is granted sufficient time away will be more productive when they return to work.

Timeframe for Taking Bereavement Leave

In the United States, it is common for funerals and other services or memorials for the deceased to happen within several days or a couple weeks of the death. Common, but not absolute. The circumstances of the individual’s death may require a delay in mourning rituals. Weather could play a factor in fulfilling the decedent’s wishes. A pandemic could prevent family from coming together right away. If your policy imposes a time limit by which bereavement leave needs to be taken, consider whether that limit allows enough flexibility for the employee. A two-week limit to take leave is a pretty short period of time. The weather is not likely to change much in two weeks if it’s January in New York. Offering employees a month or even six months can help them make decisions without undue pressure.

Does your policy require the employee to take all the leave consecutively? That, too, could put undue pressure on the grieved. If your policy allows five days of leave, it may be more helpful to allow the employee to divide that time up as they need it. An employee who feels supported in their time of need will likely be a more dedicated employee in the long run.

Documentation

Does your policy require that the employee turn in an obituary or other proof of loss? If so, why? Trust isn’t given, it is earned. Yes, there may be a few people who come up with phantom relatives or friends in order to get a day off. But do you really need to put your supervisors in a position of policing bereavement leave? Just because someone turns in an obituary for a sweet old lady who died last week, doesn’t mean that lady was really their aunt. Trust employees to be honest and do the right thing. The employees who need the time will be grateful that the process for taking leave was easy.

Free Tool Does the Job without Programming or Coding

Have you ever tried to figure out how to convert policy pages into a PDF file and found it to be a tedious experience? Convoluted html coding, such as </p>, <ol>, <li>, <div>, <span>, and &nbsp, confuse you?

There are several software apps and policy management developers who claim to be able to convert web pages into PDF format at minimal cost. Why spend a lot of money trying to find out what to use when you can use this guide for free, thanks to your ACUPA membership!

By following these steps, you will be able to convert HTML code to PDF in no time. The Adobe Acrobat-Create PDF extension tool lets you quickly convert HTML to PDF in your Google Chrome browser. The conversion process happens in seconds without manual deletion of the HTML and CSS codes. Here’s how.

1. In Google Chrome, check to see if you have the extension. Choose Settings then click Extensions. If you do not see a box with the extension displayed, skip to Step 6 for instructions on downloading the extension.
2. Enable the Adobe Acrobat-Create PDF extension, by clicking the toggle switch to the right.
   
3. Navigate to the page you want to convert.
4. Use one of the following two options:
   1. Click on the Extensions symbol, and click on Adobe Acrobat PDF edit, convert, sign tools.
      
   2. In the pop-up box, click on Convert Web page to Adobe PDF.
      

OR

1. Right-click on the web page, choose Adobe Acrobat: PDF edit, convert, Convert Web Page to Adobe PDF.
   

5. Your browser will save the file according to your browser settings. Note: Design features and images on the page may not convert depending on the page coding. However, all text should convert seamlessly.
6. If you need to download the extension, go to the following URL in Google Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adobe-acrobat-pdf-edit-co/efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj
7. Click the button to Add to Chrome.
8. In the pop-up window, click Add extension.
9. The extension is automatically enabled, so you can go back to Step 3 to convert a page.

A Continuous Improvement Approach to Policy Management

This post is co-authored by Stefan's colleague Erin Hastey, Project Assistant for Administrative Policies and Special Projects at the University of Wisconsin.

In an effective policy administration system, policies are regularly reviewed and revised to align with our institutions’ missions and implementation needs. That same emphasis on review and revision applies to our policy management processes. In the University of Wisconsin (UW) System, we follow these guidelines to facilitate continuous improvement.

• Appropriate policy work channels

  Policy owners are our subject matter experts, and we leverage their expertise for maximum impact. At the UW System, we do this by having two, separate policy review committees: one for academic and student affairs policies, and another for finance and general administration policies. Each committee is empowered to develop the internal and institutional review processes best aligned with their subject matter.

• Frequent requests for key stakeholder input

  We cast a wide net for stakeholder input—draft policies and policy revisions are sent to administrators and shared governance groups at every institution each month. Draft policies include web comment forms through which stakeholders can submit their feedback and see others’. Additionally, as part of our annual policy prioritization process, we survey institution stakeholders for their top policy priorities. Based on the survey results, we work with our policy owners to identify areas most in need of attention in the coming year. This allows policy end-users to drive policy prioritization from the start.

• Regular “fresh eyes” on our process

Perhaps the most important part of continuous improvement for any process is regularly having it considered from different perspectives. At UW System, we do this in three ways:

1. Attend the ACUPA conference! By sharing information about our process at conferences, we gain valuable feedback from colleagues and learn emerging best practices. The implementation of our policy equity lens was a direct result of participating in an ACUPA conference.
   
   
2. Graduate fellow program. Through the UW System graduate fellowship program, a fellow serves as our process coordinator. Graduate fellowships last one to two years, and students come from diverse backgrounds and programs of study. This gives us a new perspective on our process at least every two years.
   
   
3. Get “familiar eyes” on our process too. While it’s important to get new perspectives, we also benefit from the perspectives of those most familiar with our process. To this end, we survey our policy owners and end-users at least biennially to get their recommendations for improvement.

Questions to inform continuous improvement for your process:

Key stakeholders: Who are the key stakeholders in our policy management process, and how do we engage them? Do we seek their feedback on our process as well as our policies? How does our process support their (and ultimately, students’) success?

Peer benchmarking: When did we last review our peers’ policy management processes, whether through conferences, research, or direct outreach? What questions or new ideas did that prompt with respect to our process?

ACUPA: How have we taken advantage of our ACUPA member resources to improve our process? What’s one resource we could utilize in the next month?

Seemingly Similar Words Can Be Very Different

Policies would not exist without someone to write them. That may or may not be your responsibility. Once they’re written, they need to be reviewed—for content, accuracy, use of template, comprehension, and grammar. If you are involved in policy administration, some aspect of review is bound to be your responsibility. My job affords me the opportunity to both write and review policies to one degree or another, so I see examples of good writing and not so good writing all the time. A common mistake I see when reviewing policy drafts is using one word to mean another. Let me explain what I mean…

Ensure/Insure

These two words used to be synonyms. However, sometime in the 1800s, as insurance policies became more common, the definitions diverged.

• Insure means to have some kind of financial backing for the potential loss of an asset, your health or life, etc. It should only be used when referring to insurance.
• Ensure means to make a promise or guarantee that something will happen.
• Examples:
  1. The real estate agent recommended we insure our barn.
  2. The vice president for human resources will ensure that background checks are conducted on all new hires.

Since/Because

Most people say the word “since” when they mean because. For this reason, acceptance of the two words as synonyms in dialogue is growing. However, when writing formal documents like policies, the difference between the words should be recognized.

• Since refers to a period of time between two events or from the last occurrence of an event.
• Because refers to the reason for something happening.
• Examples:
  1. Since the last time employees had training, the regulations changed.
  2. Because the regulations changed, employees will be required to go through training.

That/Which

The difference between these two words often comes down to a comma. Both are used to provide further explanation of something, but one is used when the explanation is essential to the understanding of what is being described, and the other provides nonessential information.

• Use that when the information is essential, and do not use a comma.
• Use which when the information is nonessential, and put a comma before it.
• Examples:
  1. Information Technology is responsible for maintaining the system that employees use to submit travel requests.
     In this sentence, without the information after the word “that,” IT would not know which system it has to maintain.
  2. Employees must use the travel system, which is maintained by Information Technology, to submit travel requests.
     In this sentence, who maintains the system is irrelevant to the employee’s understanding of how to submit requests.

He/She/They

This is another example of language changing with culture. Once upon a time, we used “one” as the pronoun for anyone. “He” also was acceptable as a less formal option to refer to persons of any sex. As times changed, and women demanded more equality, we began to use “he or she” or “he/she.” As Bob Dylan sang, “the times they are a-changin’” once again, and a more inclusive pronoun is “they.” However, many grammar wonks are not comfortable using a plural pronoun when the noun it describes is singular. Here are some options that may help make everyone happy.

• Use the word “individuals”
  1. Instead of: An employee must include their date of hire on the form.
  2. Write: Individuals must include their date of hire on the form.
• Omit unnecessary pronouns
  1. Instead of: The vice president, or their delegate, will review the application.
  2. Write: The vice president, or designee, will review the application.
• Restructure the sentence
  1. Instead of: When the employee returns from leave, they will need to provide documentation to their supervisor.
  2. Write: Employees need to provide documentation to their supervisors upon returning from leave.

Word usage and the ever-changing rules that apply to the English language fascinate me. Language is a living, breathing organism that grows and morphs as culture demands. This can make it difficult to keep up with the rules. Are there any examples you have come across in your work?

Why effective communication is an essential skill in today’s changing virtual workplace

First, I must start this off by saying that I am not your ordinary policy administrator, and if you are expecting a how-to-write policies blog entry, I must tell you I really tried. As I sit down and put pen to paper on essential ‘what do to when your policy goes wrong’ or ‘writing the perfect EDI statement,’ I find that I get writer’s block. Maybe because I do this every day—and more so because of the multifarious interests and activities in which I have immersed myself over the years—that I want to write about other skills needed in our ever-changing positions that heighten and brighten our roles.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented many with a unique opportunity to reinvent our workplace. For most organizations, the future involves a blend of remote and on-site work. This impact throws us policy administrators into presenting and meeting online, where normally we work behind the scenes. Even with my years as a Toastmaster, I still find that the new challenges of hybrid workplace models and endless virtual meetings has presented new trials and experiments and that my speaking skills are put to the test at every meeting.

Have you been asked to present ‘off the cuff’ in a meeting, or forced into the limelight now that you are virtual? Have you been in a meeting where you were on mute (but kept talkin’), where a pet took over, or your presentation online just didn’t go as planned? In a recent meeting, I witnessed a Zoom gone wrong for several reasons. A professional team uhm’d and ah’d their way through a meeting, coupled with some beard picking and the awkward ‘hot potato’ answer that made the meeting seem to go on forever. “I’m sorry, you go.” “no sorry..I…” Well,” …. 5 voices speak at once … then suddenly ‘crickets”. I think it would have added that spark to the meeting if a pet were to take over the screen, but it didn’t happen.

When you present virtually, there are more nuances to showing a polished professional presence—a manner that reflects poise and professionalism, confidence, and capability. Your presentation is all ready to go, but you aren’t. During this time when virtual meetings and online conferences have become the norm rather than the exception, those nuances are worth exploring. While its valuable to work within the parameters of our jobs, speaking and communication skills are essential and sometimes a forgotten art. Here are a few simple reminders:

1. Imagine your audience and know your audience. Get to know who is in the meeting or call and if you don’t know who they are, then imagine you have a friend in the call and talk to them. I will elevate your presence and knowing your audience is essential to a professional image.

2. Watch your background. What can people see behind you? Unmade bed? Not so great. Walk around your office or house and find a pleasant, not too distracting background or put a background on.

3. Adjust your lighting. The light source should come from in front of you. Avoid backlighting – which can make you look like a scary silhouette.

4. Raise your computer. The most flattering angle for the camera to capture your face is from the same level or a little above your face

5. Dress the part. Even though participants can usually only see you from the shoulders up, wear something that looks great on you from head to toe, the better your posture will be and the better you’ll feel, in general. When you feel better, you’re a more relaxed and a more confident presenter.

6. Watch your eyes. When you’re looking at the little black dot (the camera) at the top of your computer screen, your audience will feel like you’re looking at them. If you need to look elsewhere – like on your computer or on your actual desk to refer to your materials, that’s fine. Just make sure that every so often you look at the camera.

7. Watch your hands. Remember that your hands and gestures, playing with your outfit and your hair or beard is very distracting and no matter whether you are in front of an audience or on a video call, be aware of your ‘presenters ticks’ that turn your audience off. If you must scratch, turn off your video.

8. Be Ready. If you are asked an impromptu question and don’t have the answer, defer it by saying “that is a great question, how about I find the answer for the committee and circulate after the meeting or later in the meeting” or “repeat the question, if I understand you correctly… (while doing that you can find your answer). Be honest, if you missed the question, say I’m sorry could you repeat that question and don’t forget to let the moderator know when you have stepped away.

Be patient with yourself and your fellow presenters and learn more about cross-cultural communication skills. There is a great article on Avoiding Cross-Cultural Faux Pas that may help you avoid unintended or embarrassing mistakes with team members from different countries.

Learn to create your own opportunities, attend a workshop, or join a Toastmasters Club to hone your skills even further. Speaking in front of audiences (in person or virtual) is not for everyone, which is why it is essential that you broaden your horizons and take your talent to the next level. You and your future Zoom audience will be glad you did!