An employee handbook is not built just to help out the employees, but to establish a mark in the industry. Employee handbooks have been in existence forever. But with the changed time, the handbooks have changed too. The employees just cannot read a 200 page document that sucks the life out of them. It had to be more than that even though this document is giving out important information.
Yes, a lot of companies realized this gap and sat down to the actual work of building an eye-popping employee handbook that enlightens them with ins and outs of the company while entertaining them in the process. Do not believe us? Here is a list of some of the most amazing employee handbooks there are. Have a look, entertain yourself, or maybe get some inspiration for your own company’s employee handbook.
- Hubspot
- Disney
- Netflix
- Trello
- Zappos
- Education First
- Zaarly
- Pronto Marketing
- Sterling
- Motley Fool
Hubspot
Hubspot has kept the show quite traditional. Rather than going for a funky or comic narrative, they used a PowerPoint Presentation. The handbook is half the company’s manifesto and half the employee handbook to guide the employees in the right direction. The handbook covers the culture of the company while representing how crazy they need their employees to be when it comes to projects. Yes, they clearly mention it saying “we commit maniacally”.
Even though a PowerPoint Presentation, the 128 pages long the handbook is filled with vivid colors, pictures, and a soft conversational tone to keep the readers engaged till the very end. The language used is calm, funny, and goofy to make sure the employees understand the culture they are going to be a part of.
The handbook to date has gained thousands of eyes, likes, and comments praising its uniqueness and how easy it makes the journey for a new employee.
Disney
As soon as we talk about Disney, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Aladdin, Ariel, and so many more just start dancing in our heads. Disney did not just bring these absolutely amazing cartoon characters to the world, they became a part of our world. Most of us grew up with Disney characters as our friends, and after growing up, the thought of working with Disney can excite anyone.
While it may look all fun and games, working as an employee at Disney still calls for some rules and discipline. The Ropes at Disney is the employee handbook released in 1943 for Disney amusement park employees.
Yes, the handbook is keeping up to its expectations. It is fun, in a perfect color scheme, easy to understand, focused on the right message, and with no harshness, and all of it is depicted by a lot of characters. The focus of the book is not to explain the strictness of the rules but to establish a positive relationship between a fun employer and the employees. The handbook is important for employees but it can be a great read for you too.
Netflix
Netflix is a name no one in the world can ignore. They don’t just give their customers entertainment but it has become a vital part of the lives of most of their audience. Now, this is not a matter of question that people would love to work with the company as employees. Netflix released its employee handbook in the year 2009, it is called “Netflix Culture: Freedom & Responsibility”. As amazing as the company is in entertaining people around the world, they do not take the same approach to educating their employees about the company’s rules and culture. The handbook is written with short, crisp, and easy to grasp sentences that land straight on the point.
It gives great insights into how the company works and what they are really looking for in their employees without engaging in any comic approach when talking about business. As a result, the company has been able to hire and retain the most clever and hard working employees in the Industry.
Trello
Trello earned its name by solving problems for the corporate world. The tool solves a lot of problems for people working and managing a handful or a lot of employees, clients, or projects at once. Of course, if they know how to shoot troubles for the corporate world, they know how to create a handbook to troubleshoot the problem of their employees and future employees. The employee handbook they call, “The Employee Manual” is built with a lot of creativity and is up on the company's own platform.
The tone in the handbook is supportive, motivating, easy to guide through, and a huge boost to the confidence of the employees. The handbooks help the employees to understand what they need to do, how they need to do it, and where they need to go when they need help. It welcomes and guides the employees in just the right way with some fun. Wish to read it, it is available right here.
Zappos
A fashion brand that begin almost 20 years ago, never fails to leave a mark wherever possible. They won the market first with their exceptional selection of clothing items, now they are winning their employees with an out of the world style employee handbook.
The handbook is simple, clear, and just so amazing. Yes, it talks about the work culture to be the most prominent aspect of working with Zappos. The company has explained everything about the culture in a subtle but exceptional way. They used the comic style to narrate a story where a grandma and her grandson are in a conversation.
Other than that, the handbook is filled with pictures, quotations, and good words from the employees already working at Zappos. The company preaches its culture so highly that they send any employee home permanently within the first week if it is not the right fit. Of course, as compensation, the company offers $3,000 to the employee as well. Now that is what we call the perfect work culture.
Education First
There is a thin line between a good illustration and an amazing one; it’s called a mind-blowing design. This is exactly what Education First has done with the employee handbook. The handbook is the perfect blend of actively creative copy, stunning and soothing typography, and gorgeous illustration. No less than a work of art, this handbook is filled with children's book-like illustrations.
The handbook almost takes the reader under a spell and the reader feels compelled to read the goals, the cultural notion, and the expectations of the company from the employees. The interesting ideas flowing around the handbook make sure that the reader not only reads it but grasps it thoroughly. It is timeless because of the artistic approach taken by the creators.
There are parts in the handbook that completely talks about the rules and regulations, the work dynamics, and everything that an employee has to know about the company.
Zaarly
Zarrly is a consumer-powered platform that connects buyers to home service providers. The company is spread throughout America. Yes, it may sound like a boring job but the employee handbook of the company is totally the opposite of boring. Filled with a lot of good-humored jokes and puns, the handbook is a great effort to make the employees feel comfortable. The handbook talks about the culture and the dynamics of the company along with the rules to follow, at the same time it helps the employees by easing them out.
The handbook is thorough and detailed like any traditional handbook is but with a twist of new decade culture for the employees to enjoy. Divide into multiple sections like a preface, rules inside the office, structure of the organization, etc., and the humor in all the sections still stays intact.
The layout of the handbook is just right for the eyes and the mind. De-cluttered texts, a lot of colors, just the right amount of text spacing, and designed on the website. It makes the handbook interesting rather than appearing like baggage.
Facebook
“Code of Conduct” as orderly as the name sounds, Facebook’s employee han dbook is not just a comprehensive behavioral checklist for an employee. The handbook serves a much bigger purpose. As huge as the company is, the work culture is no different either. Rather than commending the employees on how to be in the workspace, the handbook sets expectations for the employees with the company’s culture.
The handbook is filled with bold statements highlighting the strength and the main of the company that lies in providing irreplaceable services to the users of the platform. The handbook opens with a personal note from Zukerberg himself. Then the handbook goes on to talk about the principles, the mission, and the requirements Facebook seeks out of its employees.
The language used is very simple to cut out the overwhelming feeling in the employees. It is placed online so the employees do not have to struggle every time they wish to go through it. Each page is lined with illustrations and a background that speaks volumes. And lastly, the handbook can be a massive inspiration for any company working on making a culture based employee handbook.
Love using Facebook? Check out the “Code of Conduct” you will love it even more.
Pronto Marketing
Keep it very basic, very informative, and yet very functional. No there is not a lot of creativity in Pronto Marketing’s employee handbook but it made our list because of the clarity it works with. The employee handbook is not but a webpage with documentation of a lot of information. The entire document is written in a very conversational tone to entertain the readers while giving them the right knowledge.
The handbook starts with an introduction to the company and its culture. Going forward, the document talks about the office setup and working culture, how to sort out the paperwork, compensations for the employees, employee benefits, and ending with some resources and how to get started.
The handbook is comprehensive and gives detailed information about all the important matters like health insurance, paperwork, and whatnot. The greatest part is, that even though the company has hardly used any creativity to make the handbook outstanding it still is soothing to the eyes and brain of the reader.
Sterling
Sterling Culture Code is a handbook that has defiantly made a lot of eyes pop. As the name suggests, the main focus of the handbook is to introduce the employees to the culture of the company. The reason is not just for the employees to understand the culture but also to make them feel at home. The handbook makes it easy for the new employees to settle in well in the first few weeks or months, which can be a little difficult for some new employees.
The ultra modern design working with a minimalistic approach will catch your eye in a split second.
The bold typography, limited texts, and soothing colors make it a perfect blend of fun and knowledge.
Beginning with a message directly from the CEO, the handbook goes on to the benefits, policies, goals, and expectations of the company. The company has also made it easy on its employees by including Q&As in the handbook.
Motley Fool
Motley Fool’s “Fool Rules” is as interesting of a handbook as its name is. It is a 45-page online slide show filled with pieces from life in Motley Fool. Employee pictures, quotes, videos from around the office, pinned location of the office, and a very interesting glossary at the end.
Keeping it extensively precise the handbook runs with small sentences and a lot of bullet points. For those who want to read in detail, the handbook also has a lot of links explaining a single aspect in detail. Keeping it interesting, the handbook has a look at all the parts of the company like policies, benefits for the employees, work culture, purposes and values, goals of the company, etc.
The handbook ends with a note saying that the rules mentioned in the handbook are not a part of the employee contract and thus can be changed without any notice by the authorities.
Hope after reading about all these amazingly creative employee handbooks you have gotten a clear idea for yours too.
