Then you ask the staff who are meant to use those policies what they actually say. They have never read them, received no training, and sometimes do not even know the policy exists. All that impressive documentation starts to look more like theatre than protection.

A policy only matters when it shapes what people do. If it sits untouched in a folder, it is not keeping anyone safe, clarifying responsibility, or helping staff make better decisions. It is simply creating the illusion that action has been taken.

The policy that was reviewed every year

Years ago, I worked in an organisation where one of the most important child safety policies was completely inadequate. It contained significant gaps, offered little practical guidance, and left staff unsure about what to do when serious situations arose. Staff, the organisation, and the young people we supported were all carrying unnecessary risk.

I raised the issue repeatedly over many years. Each time, I explained that the policy needed serious work and that leaving it unchanged was dangerous. The response was usually that it was too complicated, too difficult, or something that would be addressed later.

Later never came.

What made the situation worse was that the policy was formally reviewed every year. Someone changed the review date, it moved through the approval process, and it was signed off again. On paper, the organisation could confidently say the policy had been reviewed.

In reality, nothing meaningful had changed. No one had spoken with the staff using it, examined the gaps, or tested whether the procedures made sense. The administration had been completed, but the responsibility had been avoided.

Policy can become an illusion of action

There is something comforting about having a policy. Once it has been written, approved, and uploaded, the organisation can point to it and say the issue has been addressed. Boards feel reassured, executives can report progress, and managers assume the risk is covered.

Writing a policy and changing practice are two completely different things. A policy may look excellent on paper while having no impact on the workplace. Staff keep doing exactly what they were doing because no one has explained what changed or what they should now do differently.

In that situation, the policy becomes an illusion of action. The organisation has produced a document, but the real work has not happened. Nothing has changed where it matters most, which is in the daily decisions and behaviour of staff.

Speak to the people who actually use it

One of the most common mistakes organisations make is writing policy from the top down. A small group of executives, managers, or consultants develops the policy, gets it approved, and passes it down to the staff expected to make it work. Frontline workers may not be consulted until the policy is already finished.

That approach ignores some of the best knowledge available to the organisation. Frontline staff know where a process will slow things down, where responsibilities are unclear, and where a simple instruction may create unintended problems. They can often see where a policy will succeed or fail long before senior leadership does.

Involving staff improves the policy and creates ownership. People are more likely to support a process when their expertise has been respected and their concerns have been taken seriously. Consultation also tells staff that leadership trusts the people doing the work.

Job titles do not always reveal who understands an issue best. Executives may understand governance and organisational risk, while frontline staff understand what happens when a real situation unfolds late on a Friday afternoon. Good policy needs both perspectives.

A good policy should make good practice easier

Many policies contain broad statements about what an organisation values but offer very little guidance about what staff should actually do. They might describe safety, respect, accountability, or professional conduct without explaining the procedures underneath those ideas. Staff are left with principles but no clear pathway.

A useful policy should reduce uncertainty. It should make responsibilities clear, explain what happens next, and help staff respond consistently. When someone faces a difficult situation, the policy should help them answer the question, “What do I do now?”

This is especially important for new and young staff. They may not have years of workplace experience to fill in the gaps or challenge an unclear process. If the policy does not make expectations understandable, they are left to guess.

Good policy makes good practice easier. Poor policy leaves staff carrying the risk.

Implementation matters more than the document

A well-written policy is only the beginning. Someone needs to own the rollout and make sure staff understand why the policy exists, what has changed, and how it affects their role. Without implementation, the policy remains separate from everyday work.

Training gives staff the chance to work through realistic situations and ask questions. Induction ensures new staff learn the policies that shape safety, behaviour, reporting, boundaries, and decision-making from the beginning. Team meetings and supervision keep the policy connected to current practice rather than allowing it to disappear after launch.

Mentioning a policy once is rarely enough. People need repetition, examples, reminders, and opportunities to raise concerns. That is how a policy becomes part of the workplace rather than another file saved somewhere on the shared drive.

Policy should remain connected to practice

A policy should be treated as a living document. That does not mean rewriting it every week. It means paying attention to whether it still works and listening to the people who use it.

Managers can ask staff where they are getting stuck, whether procedures are realistic, and whether responsibilities are clear. These conversations should happen throughout the year rather than being left to an annual review completed by someone disconnected from the work.

When the same issue keeps appearing, the organisation should respond. Staff quickly lose trust when they repeatedly raise a concern and nothing changes. Eventually, they stop speaking up, and silence gets mistaken for agreement.

Accountability comes after clarity

Staff need to be held accountable for following policy. But accountability only works when people have been properly informed, trained, supported, and given clear procedures. You cannot upload a document, tell no one about it, and later punish staff for failing to follow it.

Managers and supervisors have an important role here. They need to model the policy, discuss it with staff, notice when it is not being followed, and address problems consistently. If leaders ignore the policy whenever it becomes inconvenient, staff will quickly learn that the document does not really matter.

Accountability should also apply upward. If a policy is unclear, outdated, or unsafe, leadership has a responsibility to fix it. Signing off the same inadequate document every year is not accountability.

Final thought

A policy sitting in a folder is not protecting anyone.

It does not protect staff, the organisation, customers, children, young people, or the wider community. Protection comes from clear procedures, staff involvement, practical training, consistent implementation, and leaders who are willing to act when something is not working.

The next time your organisation reviews a policy, look beyond the date at the top of the page. Ask the staff who use it whether it actually helps them do their work. Ask whether people understand it, whether it reflects reality, and whether it has changed behaviour.

Because changing the review date is not the same as reviewing the policy.

And writing something down is not the same as doing it.

About Confidence in Mentoring

Confidence in Mentoring helps organisations employ, support, and retain young staff through better mentoring, clearer supervision, and stronger workplace systems.

About the Author

I’m a qualified youth worker of 20 years and a workplace mentor with extensive experience supporting young people in workplaces and community organisations. I write about workplace mentoring, supervision, staff confidence, retention, and what helps young staff thrive at work.

You can contact me:

🌐 confidenceinmentoring.com💼 Linkedin

When young staff leave after a couple of months, it’s easy for businesses to feel frustrated.

They’ve spent time advertising, interviewing, onboarding, training and answering questions, only for the young person to resign, disengage or disappear before they’ve properly settled.

But what if the first 90 days aren’t just a probation period for the young person?

What if they’re also the period where the young person is deciding whether the workplace is clear enough, safe enough and worth staying in?

In this episode of Not Work Ready, I explore why the first 90 days matter so much for young staff, and why onboarding needs to be more than paperwork, policies and a quick tour.

We unpack why young staff are learning the workplace, not just the job, and how confusion, hesitation or silence can easily be misread as poor motivation.

I also discuss why belonging often comes before performance, and what managers can do to help young staff feel clear, connected and confident enough to contribute.

In this episode

Why young staff often leave before they settle

Why probation works both ways

How onboarding can become too administrative

Why young staff are learning the workplace, not just the job

How hidden workplace rules create confusion for new staff

Why managers can mistake lack of clarity for lack of motivation

Why belonging comes before performance

What managers often misread in young staff

Practical ways to support young staff in the first 90 days

How clarity, connection, safe correction and future focus help young staff stay

Key takeaway

Young staff are more likely to stay when they feel clear, connected and confident enough to contribute.

The first 90 days shouldn’t just be treated as a test of whether a young person is good enough for the workplace.

They’re also a test of whether the workplace has created the conditions for that young person to settle, grow and succeed.

Good onboarding isn’t just about helping young staff start.

It’s about helping them stay.

Keep the conversation going

Read more articles on mentoring, young staff and workplace culture on Substack:

Confidence in Mentoring https://confidenceinmentoring.substack.com

Visit:

Website: https://confidenceinmentoring.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathonvanderploeg/

Stop Blaming Staff. Start Fixing Systems.

When staff leave, performance drops, or workplace culture starts to suffer, organisations often look for someone to blame.

Is it the young staff?

The supervisor?

HR?

But what if we're asking the wrong question?

In this episode of Not Work Ready, I explore why many workplace challenges aren't actually people problems—they're systems problems.

We unpack what workplace systems really are, how they shape staff confidence and workplace culture, and why one of the most important roles of a manager is removing the barriers that stop people from doing their best work.

Drawing on examples from my own experience, I discuss why clear processes, consistent communication, accountability and predictable workplace practices matter so much, particularly for young staff entering the workforce.

In this episode

Why organisations often blame people instead of fixing systems

What workplace systems actually are

How poor systems create confusion, frustration and disengagement

Why good managers remove barriers instead of simply managing people

Practical ways managers can improve systems within their own teams

How trauma-informed principles create better workplaces through predictability, consistency and connection

Why workplace culture is often the result of the systems behind it

Key takeaway

Good people can struggle inside poor systems.

The role of a manager isn't simply to get people working harder—it's to create an environment where people know what's expected, feel supported, and have the systems they need to succeed.

Sometimes improving one system can have a greater impact than hiring another person.

Keep the conversation going

Read more articles on mentoring, young staff and workplace culture on Substack:

Confidence in Mentoringhttps://confidenceinmentoring.substack.com

Visit:

Website:https://confidenceinmentoring.com

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathonvanderploeg/

They don't end with a formal announcement or a decision to shut them down. More often, they slowly fade away. Meetings get postponed, mentors become too busy, mentees stop engaging, and eventually the program becomes something everyone quietly stops talking about.

In this episode of Not Work Ready, I explore the five common reasons mentoring programs fail after launch and what organisations can do differently to build mentoring programs that actually survive busy workplaces.

We look at the importance of having a clear purpose, separating mentoring from performance management, selecting the right mentors, providing training and support, and measuring the outcomes that matter.

I also discuss why mentoring is much more intentional than many workplaces realise, and why good mentoring programs require more than goodwill and good intentions to succeed.

In this episode:

Why mentoring programs rarely fail overnight

The most common mistakes organisations make when launching mentoring

Why mentoring needs a clear business objective

The difference between mentoring and performance management

How poor mentor selection can undermine a program

Why mentor training matters

The importance of measuring outcomes and participation

What organisations that sustain mentoring programs usually do differently

Key takeaway

Mentoring programs don't fail because people don't care.

They fail when organisations treat mentoring as an informal activity rather than a supported system. Successful mentoring programs require clarity, structure, training, support, and ongoing attention if they are going to create meaningful outcomes for staff and organisations.

Free ResourcesMentoring Program Business Case https://confidenceinmentoring.com.au/#landing

Read the companion articles:

Why Many Workplace Mentoring Programs Fail Before They Even Beginhttps://confidenceinmentoring.substack.com/p/most-workplaces-think-they-understand

Connect

Website:https://confidenceinmentoring.com.au

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathonvanderploeg/

Substack:https://confidenceinmentoring.substack.com

“How do we keep young staff?”

In this episode of Not Work Ready, I explore why many young people don’t actually leave because work is hard — they leave because the environment around the work feels difficult to settle into.

I unpack the social and emotional side of employment that workplaces often underestimate, including the importance of belonging, clarity, fairness, and psychological safety for young staff entering the workforce.

Throughout the episode, I share reflections and stories from my experience working alongside young people in workplaces, mentoring programs, and youth services, and why I believe mentoring can play such an important role in helping young staff settle, grow in confidence, and stay connected to work.

In this episode:

Why young people experience workplaces differently

The importance of social belonging at work

How uncertainty and lack of clarity quietly increase stress

The role fairness plays in trust and retention

Why young staff often leave emotionally before they leave physically

How mentoring helps young people settle into workplaces

What workplaces that retain young staff usually understand

Key takeaway

Young staff are not just looking for jobs. They are looking for workplaces where they feel connected, clear about what’s expected, and treated fairly.

When workplaces create environments that feel socially safe, predictable, and supportive, young people are far more likely to relax, contribute, and stay.

Connect

Website:https://confidenceinmentoring.com.au

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathonvanderploeg/

Substack:https://confidenceinmentoring.substack.com

Managers may assume they lack initiative, confidence, communication skills, or interest in the role. But in many cases, quietness is actually a sign of overwhelm, anxiety, uncertainty, or fear of getting something wrong.

In this episode of Not Work Ready, I unpack why young staff sometimes go quiet at work, what workplaces often misunderstand about this behaviour, and how clearer support structures can help young people settle, speak up, and build confidence over time.

I also introduce some basic trauma-informed approaches workplaces can use to reduce unnecessary anxiety and confusion for young staff. This includes simple but powerful things like creating predictability, explaining expectations clearly, introducing staff properly to the team, pairing them with supportive colleagues, and helping them understand what to expect throughout the day.

The episode finishes by exploring how mentoring can create a safe relationship within the workplace — helping young people ask questions earlier, process feedback more confidently, and feel supported before issues escalate into disengagement or resignation.

In this episode:

Why quietness is often misunderstood in workplaces

The link between silence, overwhelm, and anxiety

Why many young staff avoid asking questions

What workplaces unintentionally do that increases stress

Simple trauma-informed practices that reduce uncertainty

The importance of clarity, predictability, and connection

How mentoring helps young staff feel safer and more confident

Why support often needs to come before initiative

Related article

Read the companion article here:

Quiet Young staff arent always doing finehttps://open.substack.com/pub/confidenceinmentoring/p/quiet-young-staff-arent-always-doing?r=6ca2x8&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Connect

Website:https://confidenceinmentoring.com.au

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com

They often show up as lateness, withdrawal, poor communication, low confidence, emotional reactions, repeated mistakes, avoidance, conflict, or someone slowly disengaging from the workplace.

In this first episode of Not Work Ready, I talk about what happens when mental health starts affecting staff performance, why this creates real pressure for managers, and how mentoring programs can create an early layer of support before issues escalate.

I also share part of my own story, how mentoring changed the trajectory of my life during a difficult period with my own mental health and why that experience shaped the work I now do through Confidence in Mentoring.

This episode explores why mentoring is not therapy, HR, or performance management, but a practical support structure that can help staff feel seen, supported, and more confident before things reach crisis point.

Read the related article here:When Mental Health Starts Affecting Staff Performance, It’s Already Too Late

Learn more about Confidence in Mentoring:confidenceinmentoring.com.au

Connect with me on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/confidenceinmentoring