The program then generates a policy running about a page and a half. PPE opens the topic with reasoned advice that it may be better not to specify too much. It then asks the user to select all applicable forms of prohibited conduct from a list of 18 types. Examples are theft, falsification of records, use of alcohol and drugs, fighting, insubordination, safety or health violations, sexual harassment, absenteeism, and unsatisfactory performance. Depending on the responses, the draft policy may range from three paragraphs to two pages.
All questions are topic-specific.
One could imagine a souped- up version with, in addition, a few introductory questions on such characteristics as legal form of the business, nature of product line, number of employees, turnover rate, and employee literacy level, the answers to which would globally affect policy tone and content. Unless and until such a feature is added, PPE's crude editing facility should get plenty of use. Other, simpler refinements would be useful. And some questions calling for verbal answers cannot cope with more than one word or labels longer than eleven characters. None of these problems is fatal, of course.