How to Get Employees to Follow Policies and Procedures: 5 Proven Methods

About the Author – How to Get Employees to Follow Policies and Procedures: 5 Proven Methods – Jeremy Smillie

If you’ve ever faced the scrutiny of an audit—whether it’s compliance, financial, or internal—you’ve likely encountered the frustration of colleagues not adhering to company policies and procedures. This becomes especially stressful as regulatory deadlines loom, with the pressure to ensure every box is ticked and every protocol followed.

Throughout my career, I’ve seen it time and again: there’s always that handful of people who just won’t follow the rules. You might wonder, “Why won’t they just stick to these simple steps? Why are they being so resistant? What am I missing?”

If these questions resonate with you, you’re in the right place. This article is your guide to understanding why employees may not be following your policies and procedures and, more importantly, how you can turn that around. Let’s dive into five proven strategies that will help you get your team on board and ensure that your policies and procedures are not just documents gathering dust but active guidelines that everyone in your organization follows.

If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re responsible for creating or enforcing the policies and procedures within your organization. You might not be the CEO or President, but you understand compliance’s critical role in the company’s success. The concept of chain of command has been ingrained in organizations for centuries, and it’s clear: employees are more likely to listen to directives when they come from the top.

Whether you’re a Security or Compliance Officer or someone involved at the analyst level, gaining buy-in from senior management—especially the C-level executives—is crucial for successfully adopting policies and procedures. Compliance audits, whether for PCI-DSS, SOC2, or other frameworks, are not just best practices; they require that C-level executives sign off on all policies.

But this isn’t just about ticking boxes for compliance. When the C-Level signs off on policies and procedures, it sends a powerful, implicit message to all employees:

• These policies have been read and understood by the highest level of leadership.
• Senior management has provided feedback and had a hand in shaping these policies.
• The policies have been officially approved and are not just another document.
• There is an expectation that employees will follow these policies, as modeled by the leadership team.

This kind of top-down endorsement legitimizes the policies and significantly increases employees’ likelihood of adopting and adhering to them. When leadership visibly supports and enforces policies, it creates a culture of compliance that permeates the entire organization.

In any compliance framework, it’s essential that employees formally acknowledge that they have read, understood, and accepted the company’s policies and procedures. This is often the first step toward ticking off that all-important compliance checkbox. There are several ways to achieve this; one of the simplest is to assign a task through your ticketing system, like Jira, and add it to their routine workload.

However, as many of us know, not everyone prioritizes these tasks. Some coworkers might push these tickets into the backlog, de-prioritizing them in favor of what they consider more urgent work. To ensure compliance and prevent this from happening, there’s a more direct and effective approach.

When you schedule an all-hands, make sure it’s truly that—everyone in the organization needs to attend, and that includes the entire management team. No one wants to be singled out by their boss, so attendance will likely be close to 100%. Start the meeting with a roll call, listing each person’s name out loud. If someone’s missing, have their manager reach out immediately to get them on the call. There should be no excuses; everyone must drop what they’re doing to attend.

During the all-hands, focus on discussing the company’s policies and procedures. Highlight any areas where adherence has been lacking or inconsistent. In my experience, onboarding and offboarding procedures often need extra attention and consistency.

After the meeting, have everyone log into the ticket system, comment on the assigned task, and confirm that they have read and understood the company’s policies and procedures. Once they’ve done this, they can close the ticket. This ensures the acknowledgment is recorded and helps you achieve that critical compliance checkbox.

Taking this hands-on approach makes it clear that compliance is a priority and everyone in the organization is accountable. It’s a straightforward but powerful way to ensure no one slips through the cracks when following company policies and procedures.

It’s time to collaborate with your HR department. Every company needs a structured way to evaluate employee performance, typically at least once a year. Performance reviews have long been the standard for assessing employee contributions, and they play a crucial role in determining raises, bonuses, and career advancement. Integrating compliance with company policies and procedures as a key metric in these reviews is critical.

When employees understand that failing to adhere to company policies and procedures could negatively impact their compensation, it becomes a top priority in their daily tasks and interactions. They’ll be more likely to stay compliant, knowing their actions are directly tied to their financial and professional growth.

For performance reviews to be truly effective, compliance must be prominently featured on the review form. Consider including a self-assessment question like, “How well did you follow the company’s policies and procedures?” This reinforces the importance of compliance and encourages employees to reflect on their adherence throughout the year.

As someone responsible for monitoring compliance, I know it’s important to maintain a regular documentation schedule. Set up monthly recurring tasks to track and record instances of non-compliance, complete with proof. This documentation will provide valuable input during performance reviews, ensuring that feedback is accurate and that employees are held accountable.

By embedding compliance into performance reviews, you create a system where employees are consistently reminded of the importance of following company policies. This approach helps maintain high compliance standards and reinforces a culture of accountability throughout the organization.

When you see the heading “Automation Is Your Best Friend,” you might think, “I’m not tech-savvy enough to automate tasks.” But automation doesn’t have to be intimidating. You’re probably already using tools that can help automate many of your daily tasks without realizing it. Automation is about working smarter, not harder, and it’s a powerful ally in ensuring compliance.

Let’s start with what you already have and explore how to use built-in automation.

Email Automation: Most security and compliance frameworks have specific rules around email safety. If you’re an administrator for G Suite or Office 365, you already have the tools to automate and enforce these rules across your entire organization. For example, Google provides a comprehensive guide on how to make G Suite HIPAA compliant, which you can find here: Google’s HIPAA Implementation Guide for G Suite. Similar guides exist for other frameworks, allowing you to automate compliance settings and ensure everyone in your organization follows the required policies.

Onboarding and Offboarding Automation: If you’re struggling with onboarding and offboarding processes, consider using an Identity Provider (IdP). Integrating an IDP lets you link your SaaS products and licenses to individual users. This means you can onboard new employees with just a few clicks and, just as importantly, offboard them with a single click when they leave the company. This ensures access is granted and removed promptly, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and ensuring compliance with your security policies.

Countless other types of automation are available to help ease your compliance burdens. Take some time to explore the tools you already use and see how they can automate repetitive tasks. Even small automation can save time and reduce the potential for human error, making your compliance processes more efficient and reliable.

Remember, automation isn’t about being a tech genius—it’s about making your job easier and ensuring critical tasks are handled consistently and accurately. So embrace the power of automation and explore how it can be your best friend in maintaining compliance.

Who says following the rules has to be boring? Injecting some fun and excitement into the workplace can be a powerful motivator. People thrive on positive reinforcement, and being publicly recognized for outstanding work, climbing to the top of a leaderboard, or being the first to complete a task can drive engagement and compliance.

Gamification is about making routine tasks more engaging by adding elements of competition and reward. It’s a strategy that encourages participation and fosters a positive workplace culture. Turning policy adherence into a game can transform how employees interact with compliance tasks.

Numerous tools on the market are designed to help you gamify your workplace. Here are a few that I’ve personally used with great success:

• KnowBe4: A platform that combines security awareness training with gamification to reinforce good security practices.
• Bonusly: A tool that allows employees to give and receive small bonuses, which can be tied to compliance-related achievements.
• Kahoot: An interactive platform that can be used to create fun, competitive quizzes around your policies and procedures.

Prizes are a great way to boost motivation, and they don’t have to break the bank. Even a modest budget can go a long way in creating excitement. I’ve run gamified events with as little as $50 in prize money, and the impact was significant. The key is to get everyone involved, encouraging healthy competition where everyone strives to be number one.

Remember, the goal of gamification isn’t just about handing out prizes—it’s about creating an environment where employees are eager to engage with and adhere to company policies and procedures. By making compliance fun, you can improve participation, boost morale, and create a more compliant and cohesive workplace.

If you’ve reached the end of this article, you’re already taking the first critical step toward transforming how your organization approaches policies and procedures. Implementing these strategies—whether it’s gaining C-Level buy-in, rallying the team with all-hands meetings, incorporating compliance into performance reviews, leveraging automation, or adding a layer of fun through gamification—will enhance compliance and foster a culture of accountability and engagement.

Remember, the effectiveness of your policies and procedures doesn’t just come from writing them down—it comes from how you integrate them into the daily lives of your employees. By adopting these techniques, you can ensure that your organization meets and exceeds compliance standards, creating a secure, compliant, and motivated workplace.

Don’t wait for the next audit or compliance deadline to make these changes. The sooner you begin implementing these strategies, the sooner you’ll see the benefits in compliance and overall organizational performance. You have the tools, the knowledge, and the roadmap—now it’s time to take action. Start today, and you’ll create a workplace where policies are followed and embraced.

Your journey to a more compliant and engaged organization starts here. Let’s put these ideas into practice and set the standard for success.