Every business operates within a set of rules or standards. These rules or standards are commonly referred to as policies and procedures. If you own a bakery, your policies and procedures will focus on quality ingredients and care used in bakery production to ensure customer satisfaction and cleanliness.
If you operate a self-storage facility, the policies and procedures will focus on customer service and safety.
Let’s start with definitions. Policies are created to define the business and services that are offered. According to the Oxford dictionary, policies are “a course or principle of action adopted or proposed by a government, party, business, or individual.” Policies are the way a business operates to provide clear expectations to its employees. Procedures are “an established or official way of doing something.”
In business, the policies determine the procedure. If a business wants things done a certain way, that information is created within the procedures, and it generally supports a policy in order to shape the business the way the owner intended.
For example, if great customer service is the goal at a self-storage facility, the policy would read something like this:
- To provide excellent customer service to all tenants in every interaction.
The procedures would reflect this policy specifically, like this:
- To provide excellent customer service to all tenants, the manager will
- Answer the phone quickly (2-3 rings) whenever possible.
- Answer with a positive greeting of “It’s a great day at Store Today Self-Storage. How can I help you?”
- Provide answers to questions and follow up as needed with the tenant.
Policies dictate procedures. In order to create effective procedures for your staff to follow, it’s important to consider the needs of the business alongside the risks. The two most basic needs of the self-storage business are tenants to rent the units and for secure and accessible storage for tenants. The risks that present a liability to the owners, managers, and investors are things like handling customer complaints, slips and falls, theft, and even employee satisfaction. Some areas to consider when creating procedures include legal compliance within the state and municipality in which the business operates.
It may be helpful to network with other self-storage owners and make a list of the most common risks. Once you have created policies to address the risks, the next step is to create procedures to follow that mitigate the risk.
For example, in the event of someone slipping on the property, the company policy would be:
“It is the policy of Store Now that all employees are responsible for keeping a safe, clean, and dry space for all customers and other employees. Maintain areas that are free of hazards when walking and working.”
The procedures that would then follow could be:
- To keep a clean environment for customers and employees, all employees must immediately clean up spills to keep all walkways free from hazards.
- All walkways are swept clean twice daily to prevent slips, trips, and falls.
- All debris is removed when seen to prevent slips, trips, and falls.
- Any hazardous areas that cannot be fixed are covered or noted with proper signage to encourage caution.
- Proper exterior lighting must be used and maintained to ensure proper functioning.
This example denotes the policy related to a safe environment for both employee and customer, and provides specific steps taken to meet that requirement.
Policies and procedures should cover every aspect of the business including.
- Work or operational hours
- Expectation for employees’ arrival and departure
- Dress code
- Work when idle
- Customer interaction
- Chain of command
- Proper communication with customers and other employees
- Billing and collections
- Security procedures
There are many other considerations for creating a robust policy and procedure manual. The goal is to protect a business from frivolous lawsuits, but it’s also to keep employees informed and safe. When employees don’t know what to do, they generally don’t do much. This leads to frustration among all employees when they are unsure of what to do next, or frustration for managers because their employees seem to be lazy. Rather than being lazy, they need vision and clear direction. While it’s rare to find a motivated employee who takes initiative, they do exist. Create an environment that encourages employees to get tasks done using proper policies and procedures.
At Coastal Storage, we focus solely on self-storage. We assist clients in acquisition, construction, development, and consulting on anything related to self storage. Call us today at 904-591-0140 to work with our team.