Where to get Help 

While there are obvious benefits to legally protecting yourself and your company by having an employee handbook, most small business owners view their staff not as adversaries, but rather as members of the same team, working toward shared goals. With this in mind, the employee handbook can -- and should -- be a positive tool for encouraging growth, improving morale, and aligning employee behavior with company policies.

The tone of the handbook should be positive throughout. The introduction can set this tone by using a friendly letter from the company president in which the general mission or long-term goals of the business are outlined. When practical, explain the reasoning behind specific policies, especially those that may be controversial.

To write a good handbook, one option is to borrow those used by other companies. Ask your spouse, best friend, contractor or another small business owner for theirs, remembering that rather than simply adopting what works for another operation, you'll need to tailor the contents to reflect your own corporate culture, policies, procedures and type of business. A law firm may want to stress honesty and integrity, for example, while a construction company may emphasize workplace safety.

The content and organization for your handbook can also be found in other personnel manuals, including proper legal wording and general policies on subjects ranging from alcohol and drug abuse to safety and security, absenteeism and vacation.

The book "Developing a Personnel Manual," by Lin Grensing-Pophal (Self-Counsel Press, Canada, 1993) points out that much information for your employee handbook already exists in the form of policy-setting memos, literature provided by insurance carriers (including full descriptions of your policies) and standard, unwritten procedures. In addition, industry and regional employer associations sometimes offer free material on the subject, and may be able to provide legal advice at no charge as you construct your handbook.

Another option to creating your handbook from scratch is taking advantage of software packages such as "Employee ManualMaker" (Jian Tools for Sales, Inc.) that outline the major items that should be included in a personnel policy handbook as well as do's and don'ts to be considered when drafting and revising the document.

And don't forget that employees may also be a gold mine of useful information. John Rush of Graphic Communications in San Diego, California developed his handbook with the help of an employee who had previously attended a seminar on how to write an employee handbook. In reviewing handouts from this seminar, Rush found helpful legal and organizational advice.

In addition to leveraging employees who possess experience in writing handbooks, solicit input from all levels of personnel so your manual addresses a wide range of concerns.