Policy is a framework for decision-making that establishes rules and procedures. It supports consistency, compliance, and accountability for employees within an organization.
Public policy is a complex area that involves the formulation of legislative and administrative initiatives to achieve an agreed goal such as improving healthcare or reducing consumption of products that harm human and planet health. Various factors influence the success of a policy, including political elements such as public opinion and party ideology, economic considerations like growth goals and market dynamics and environmental factors such as resource availability and climate change.
The implementation of a policy is where the rubber hits the road. Peters notes that ‘Policy implementation is the stage when bureaucrats implement legislation and policies through a variety of activities such as making regulations, providing services and products, launching public education campaigns, adjudicating disputes etc’.
This includes enforcing the policy through various mechanisms such as monitoring, auditing and compliance. It also consists of reviewing the impact, cost and effectiveness of a policy. This can be done using tools such as regression analysis, causal inferences and cost-benefit analyses. The final step is to make adjustments to a policy or, in the most drastic case, to terminate it.
Policies help organisations keep track of their legal responsibilities, ensure consistent and fair decisions are made, and provide a structured approach to resolving workplace incidents and grievances. By developing clear policies, communicating them effectively, ensuring consistency and reviewing them regularly, an organisation can ensure their policies are well understood by all employees and support a healthy and compliant work environment.