Understanding Policies vs. Standards: A Guide

In any organization, we come across two important terms: policies and standards. Both state how one ought to go about things and how to assist in maintaining order. Still, they differ greatly. All those involved in managerial, compliance, or operational capacities must have clear clarity about the differences between policies and standards. Whereas, policies provide the guidelines and course of action; standards provide the details which assure compliance and quality.

In this paper, five main aspects show the difference between policies and standards that will be explained below.

As such, you will be in a good position to appreciate why both phrases are important to the success of a business organization and the reasons for having both of them.

1. Purpose and Scope

As much as we seek to draw a difference between policy vs standard, their purpose and scope should not be underrated. It is important to know that policies and standards are mostly distinguishable concerning their goals and coverage. A policy is hence intended to be a guiding principle that is supposed to steer an organization. It defines where the options are exercised and the conclusions are made.

There are normally no implementation details contained in the policy documents; they merely state the “what” and “why” of an organization’s goals and objectives. It provides a framework that ensures that consistency is achieved for the decisions that are made in the corporation.

Standards, on the other hand, are more specific in terms of their style.

They address the issue of ‘how’ the policies should be implemented. Specifications provide best practice solutions, requirements, or guidelines to bring about outcomes. Whereas a policy might suggest that all staff members do not disclose any information that they share, a standard would prescribe in detail how such information is to be handled.

Whereas, policies do set a general course of action and standards present the specific things for someone to do according to that policy.

2. Flexibility

Flexibility is an area that differs a lot when it comes to policies and standards. Policies also tend to be flexible instruments that may be modified in one way or another in given situations. Most of them are general, and therefore the manager or staff members make decisions based on circumstances surrounding them. Due to their width, policies are semantically transparent and thus can be implemented in several ways depending on the situation.

That is, how professionalism and respect in the workplace are to be enforced may be spelled out by the policy but would not be defined by it.

However, standards are very rigid and there is very little room to explain their implementation. They are expected to be complied with in the same manner as how they have been worded. They are supposed to ensure standardization as far as accomplishing a given task or making some decision is concerned. For instance, the best practice regarding how to deal with customer complaints might be that any complaint must be addressed within 24 hours. This of course leaves very little room for maneuver.

3. Level of Detail

Policies and standards also have differences in terms of the level of detail it includes. Strategies are normally documented items that at the most contain general policy statements. I find them to be very vague as they paint the general picture of what is expected but fail to go deeper down to specifics. An example is a data security policy statement that indicates that the company is committed to protecting all forms of information that ought to be kept secure but will not outline the measures on how this will be done.

On the other hand, standards are stated with a fairly higher degree of precision. Indeed, to satisfy goals established in the policy, they provide specific instructions, requirements, or recommendations that have to be implemented. For instance, a standard would define in detail exactly which encryption methods, passwords, and modes of access would have to be implemented to protect data.

4. Audience

Another major aspect that needs to be pointed out is the distinction of policies and standards regarding the target audience. Most of the time, it is developed with the company employees in mind and the services delivered within the company. They are expected to control/shape the behavior and decisions of not only the managerial employees but also the employees of lower ranks. Policies are mostly encompassing the whole company and thus are communicated using simpler language.

For example, an ethical standard for the corporation policy would be a policy available to all workers at any level of the company.

However, standards usually apply to a much narrower audience. They are sometimes designed to be used by certain departments within the company including the IT department, quality assurance department, or customer care department. As they tend to be more technical and detailed in their presentation, it can be presumed that standards are drafted on a professional level and are best understood by those who have certain levels of technical knowledge or special tasks to perform.

Thus, for network security, for example, a standard would be aimed at the IT department rather than all the departments. Hence, whereas policies are general documents, standards may be formulated for a given target group.

5. Enforcement and Compliance

Policies and standards and their enforcement also do not operate at the same level of compliance as they are regulated by different authorities. Policies are most often applied through managers and are less ‘top-down’ and are more about influencing as opposed to dictating. However, there are always ramifications in not following a given policy, and yet, policies are implemented with some degree of flexibility.

A policy on attendance, for example, might allow some latitude in given situations, say where the student has some complications or an illness.

On the other hand, standards require compliance at the highest level and leave no room for compromise. Failing to comply with a standard may result in immediate corrective action, fine, or penalty. Check or regular observation, inspection, or scrutiny assists in supervising the standards in order that they are employed optimistically as planned. In a manufacturing context,

for example, inability to meet a quality requirement may result in the manufacturing of substandard products hence resulting in heavy losses and loss of clients.

Conclusion

A company needs to have policies and standards because they service different function and are employed differently. Policies provide guidelines that influence actions across different aspects of the firm. They are open, tactical, and strategic documents designed for a specific set of people. On the other hand, standards are comprehensive, precise, and rigid guidelines that purport to ensure compliance and quality in specific fields.

More often targeted at specific departments of the company, they insist on stringent adherence. This coupled with the understanding of the aforementioned variances is always light unto path that makes it possible to ensure regulations and standards are not misapplied and organizational goals are achieved.