What’s so good about the Policy Place online policy service?
What’s so good about the Policy Place online policy service? It’s our most popular service, especially for agencies and practitioners who have to comply with the Social Sector Accreditation Standards and Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Services Standard.
So what do you get for money?
- 24/7 access to core policy content to support your compliance
- all staff easy access to policies they need
- governance member access
- regular reviews and updates of core policy content
- options to further customise your policies and procedures (eg input translations; add procedural documents and forms)
- helpful links to support your training and implementation of policies
- policy content covering diverse areas like Governance, Client Services, Integrity, Probity, Financial Management, Complaints, HR, Health and Safety
- access to people with expertise in social services, accreditation and compliance
Best of all – No more worry for you, or for those coming after you, about having to keep your policies updated!
To help you understand the system more, here are answers to some common questions that we get.
Why is there a policy on something we didn’t previously have a policy for?
Your set of online policies is aimed at addressing your compliance obligations. You will be joined to a policy page because we thought it would be helpful and relevant to your service given these obligations and good practice requirements. If you think otherwise then let us know. Likewise, let us know if you think you are missing something.
Does every member have the same policies as us?
To set each agency up with its particular set of policy pages, we consider what compliance needs they have, the services they provide and their existing policy documents. This means that services may be set up with a similar set of policies but that these may have been customised in different ways.
Can we edit and add in other policies?
As an optional extra, you can choose to edit and add to the policy content we set up for you. This is an especially good option if you are a larger organisation that wants policy content beyond the scope of our usual content or content required for your compliance needs. Customisation options also enable you to tailor your policies to your particular kaupapa so that they are as helpful as possible to your users.
Do we have to review and update the online policies?
No, we review and update your policy set. When you join us, you will receive a Schedule for when policy pages will be reviewed. You will be notified before each review and invited to provide feedback. Your feedback, along with feedback from others, and relevant law, policy and practice changes is considered and used for updating. You are then advised of the policy updates.
How do we get our staff and governance to use the online policy system?
It can be hard to get used to a new system, but people can adapt. They may have always used paper-based policies so going online means entering the unknown. But people can do it. As we now know from the pandemic and the growth in remote working, a system of online policies and procedures is the only way to go!
Can we get extra online policies?
Yes, we can develop and upload additional policies for you at an additional cost.
What happens if we sign up?
We will schedule you in to join the system and ask you to send us your existing policies and procedures, your branding and any other information you think will help us set up the policies for you. Once we’ve finished we send you a log in. From then on, we keep in touch through reviews and updates. We talk more about the system here.
Can we put our existing policies and procedures on the system?
Yes you can if you buy into the customisation option of adding a policy or adding paragraphs to existing policy content. You will be responsible for reviewing and updating that content unless something different is arranged.
Some of our members, opt into customising for a year. They then maintain a standard subscription for a couple of years until they decide to review their customised pages.
You are welcome to contact us to discuss.