Policies

The Policies module provides a way for Organizations to Adopt and/or Draft Policies & Procedures within The Guard. Compliancy Group provides a Library of Policy and Procedure templates, which can be adopted, revised or used as a reference for establishing appropriate policy and procedures. 

Accessing the module will also display graphs presented for both Policies & Procedures and Active Attestation Progress. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Main Page
• Document Adoption Process
• Additional Options
• Archived Documents
• Related Knowledge Base Articles

Main Page

Policies & Procedures Graph – Displays the number of Policies / Procedures that have been adopted or are currently in the draft stage and the number of different categories of policies/procedures in these states.

Active Attestation Progress – Policies and Procedures can be set to require Attestation (detailed below) and Attestation can be tracked via this Graph for general metrics. 

There are 3 tabs located below the graphs at the top: Adopted, Draft, and Templates

• Adopted – Policies/Procedures that have been “Adopted” from the Library or Draft stages

• Draft – A Policy/Procedure that is currently being edited or reviewed

• Templates – All Compliancy Group provided Templates for Policies & Procedures an Organization may need to use to satisfy Program Controls

The process for Policies & Procedures Adoption can be achieved in a few ways. If an Organization aims to utilize the provided Library Templates, then the following instructions will provide step-by-step guidance on how to take a Template and Adopt it, as well as make any necessary adjustments particular to the Organization in question. 

Document Adoption Process

1. Navigate to Policies > Templates (Tab)

2. Officers/Admins can create a new blank policy from scratch via the New Blank Policy button at the top of the page, if needed. Otherwise, the Library can be Searched to locate the necessary document.

3. Select the Policy/Procedure needed to open the Edit/Review page

   1. Alternatively, the following steps (4a-c) can be completed by clicking the SELECT button, instead of clicking on the Policy Name.

4. Review the Policy/Procedure details as displayed on the Template and then select Use this Template
   

   • A Pop-up will appear with drop-downs for the following: Name, Location, Type, Programs, and Standards
     

     • Name - Default Name of the Template - Can be adjusted

     • Location - Organization Wide or Locations set up in The Guard - Locations can be configured via the Admin module

     • Type - Types of different Policies / Procedures. The Guard provides the following for selection:
       

     • Programs - Relates to the Programs module and which Programs are available to the Organization - Multiple Programs may be selected

     • Standards - Relates to the Standards (HIPAA, OSHA, SOC 2, etc) - Multiple Standards may be selected

   • Select Create, once any necessary adjustments have been made
         

5. After selecting Create, the Template becomes a Draft and the Officer/Admin will be redirected to the Editor with this new Policy/Procedure Displayed. Here an Officer/Admin may update/alter/change the Policy/Procedure to their liking. Policy/Procedure documentation here can be “Saved & Adopted” right away, or simply saved into the Drafts for additional review and editing. 

6. Once the content of the Policy/Procedure Draft is final, the Organization, when ready, may follow these steps to adopt it

   1. Select Move to Adopted to save changes and adopt the policy

7. Adopted Policies can be found under the Adopted tab in the Policies Module

After moving a Policy to Adopted, it can then be set up for Attestation:

1. Locate and select Attestation Settings button in the bottom-right corner

2. Set the parameters for Attestation in the pop-up window, then select Save & Send

For specific guidance on setting up Policies for Attestation, please see the Policies & Procedures - How to Assign for Attestation Knowledge Base Article.

Adopted Policies that do not require Attestation can be Published to the Organization's Employees:

1. Navigate to Policies
2. Locate the Adopted Policy you wish to publish and open it
3. On the right-hand side, locate the Publish to Employee Portal option
4. Change the dropdown to Yes
5. Select Save Changes
   • IF a Policy/Procedure has already been set up for Attestation - A pop-up will appear providing the following options:
     • Yes, ask employees to re-attest this policy - Edits to this policy include one or more major changes such as added or changed responsibilities. 
     • No, don't ask employees to re-attest this policy - Only minor edits have been made, such as fixing typos.

To view a list of Overall Attestation status:

1. Navigate to Policies > Adopted
2. The Active Attestation Progress Graph will display the total number of Completed and Outstanding Attestations
3. If a Policy has been set up for Attestation, then general/basic metrics will be displayed via the progress bar beneath the Name of the document. If a Policy has not been set up, then "No attestation configured" will be displayed.
4. Select the Ellipses Button, then select View Attestation, which will display the Attestation Settings Window described in the steps below. 

To view a list of Attestation status for specific Policies:

1. Navigate to Policies > Adopted

2. Locate an Adopted Policy/Procedure that has been set up for Attestation (Note: Policies will display ‘No attestation configured’ if no Attestation settings have been set up). Opening the Policy, then selecting View Employee Progress will display the same window shown below

3. Select the Ellipses Button on the right-hand side of the Row, then select View Attestation

4. In the pop-up window an Officer/Admin can Export and pull a report of active attestation status for each User; An Officer/Admin can also Send Reminders to Unattested Users, if needed

Once Attestation settings are set up, the Active Attestation Progress Graph will display completion data and can be monitored via the method above, the graph itself, or the progress bar displayed under the Policy/Procedure Name on the Adopted tab.

Adopted Policies can be Edited - After a Policy/Procedure has been Adopted, it can be edited. To edit an existing Policy/Procedure:

1. Navigate to Policies > Adopted
2. Select the Adopted Policy/Procedure that needs to be Edited - This will open the policy view
3. Double-Click anywhere on the Policy/Procedure to open the Editor
4. IF a Policy/Procedure has already been set up for Attestation - Changes can be made to the document, then Save Changes can be selected. Upon saving the changes, a prompt will appear and provide 2 options regarding re-attestation for Employees assigned to the Policy:
   1. Yes, ask employees to re-attest this policy - Edits to this policy include one or more major changes such as added or changed responsibilities. 
   2. No, don't ask employees to re-attest this policy - Only minor edits have been made, such as fixing typos. 

Selecting Yes here will notify all assigned Employees that they need to re-attest the updated Policy/Procedure. 

Additional Options

Navigating to the Adopted tab, then selecting the Ellipses Button on the right side of the row will display additional options:

• Open – Opens the Document

• View Attestation - Displays a Windows reflecting current Attestation Status. Note: This option is only available when a Policy has been set up for Attestation.

• View Document History – Displays Change Log for document

• Download PDF – Downloads a PDF version of the document

• Assign Owner – Assigns an Owner to this document

• Archive – Archives the document

Archived Policies

To Archive an Adopted Policy/Procedure:

1. Navigate to Policies > Adopted
2. Locate the Policy/Procedure that needs to be Archived
3. Select the Ellipses Button on the right-hand side of the row, then select Archive - NOTE: Confirmation must be provided as Archived Policies/Procedures cannot be restored; but they can be accessed, reviewed, downloaded after archiving.
4. Confirm on the prompt and the Policy/Procedure will be archived

Policies that have been Archived can be viewed via the Options dropdown at the top-right of the Policies Module. Selecting the Options dropdown will display an option to View Archives. This page will display any archived policies. Currently, a Policy that has been archived CANNOT be “unarchived” – be absolutely sure you wish to Archive a policy.

Related Knowledge Base Articles

• Policy and Procedures - Adoption Process
• Policies & Procedures - How to Assign for Attestation
• How To Attest to Policies & Procedures