24 Standard operating procedures (SOP) examples
Employee development is now a vital way for companies to attract, engage, and keep employees. These programs also support digital adoption by helping employees learn to use new tools.
The best programs mix peer mentoring, certifications, and on‑the‑job training. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are part of this process because they explain how to perform a task step by step.
As more teams start working with AI, SOPs can also guide how roles evolve and how new roles, such as AI quality leads, are established.
In this article, we share twenty-four standard operating procedures examples to help you create ones for your business.
HR, L&D, and people operations
HR teams can use SOPs to manage the employee journey, explaining how to handle tasks such as hiring, payroll, and training.
These types of documents can also help the company work well from the first day of recruiting to the final day of offboarding. Here are some examples of standard operating procedures you could draft for this department:
- Annual performance review cycle
An annual performance review requires a standard operating procedure to ensure everyone is working toward the same company goals. The SOP can outline how to set employee goals and provide regular constructive feedback throughout the year.
It can also determine what employers discuss with employees at a performance evaluation. For instance, managers could learn to identify an individual’s strengths and improve employee performance.
- Talent acquisition process
A talent acquisition SOP streamlines the hiring process. It begins by assessing the business needs and obtaining internal approval for the new role. Next, it determines how you use social media and job boards to attract candidates.
After that, it can help you review resumes and create interview questions. At the selection stage, the SOP can help you choose the right person for the job. Once they accept, this documentation can help draft a plan for their first 90 days.
- Offboarding and access removal in cloud/SaaS environments
A standard operating procedure example for offboarding protects company data during employee departures. The process involves four stages, which begin with planning the exit timeline.
Then, you need to revoke all digital access and security keys, back up and transfer files to managers, and wipe corporate devices. Your IT teams also need to audit the process and documents at every step to ensure no security gaps remain.
Customer support & service
Customer support standard operating procedures can offer better procedures for handling calls, messages, and emails.
These documents help agents provide the same high level of service to every person and also enable new staff members to learn their jobs faster. It can also lead to fewer mistakes, happier customers, and better employee morale. Let’s take a look at some examples of customer service SOPs:
- Creating and updating knowledge base articles
Your team can build a better knowledge base by identifying your audience and their problems. A standard operating procedure for this area can focus on using simple language, clear headings, and visuals to make information easy to scan. It can also detail how to perform regular reviews of this base and how to obtain user feedback for improvement.
- Escalation from a lower tier to a higher tier
Any escalation standard operating procedure should include three distinct levels for resolving issues. Level one is for basic tasks such as password resets, level two for technical issues, and level three for engineering bugs. You need to produce rules that determine which level you are on and should indicate when a manager steps in.
- Customer satisfaction surveys and follow-up
If a business wants to manage customer engagement surveys well, it should follow a four-step standard operating procedure. First, you must plan by choosing your goals and questions. Next, you should send the surveys to your customers and review the data to identify key trends. In the end, you should fix any problems and tell your customers about the changes you made.
Sales and revenue operations
Revenue operations standard operating procedures help sales teams work together to grow the business.
These types of guides can explain how to find new leads and close deals. They also show a user how to use CRM software and track sales goals. These are the sales SOP examples you could consider adopting:
- Managing accounts at risk of churn
A standard operating procedure for dealing with customer attrition needs to first identify warning signs, such as low usage or negative feedback. Each client account needs a health score to help teams focus on the real reasons for an individual’s problems. Once you discover a problem, this type of guide should also help employees set plans to prevent churn.
- Forecasting and pipeline review
Companies that need to devise a forecasting procedure should start with a forecasting methodology that explains how future sales should be predicted. It should also include sales stages that describe how a deal advances to the next stage. When performing a pipeline review, users need rules to set a schedule and determine focus areas, such as identifying stalled deals.
- Lead management
In a standard operating procedure for lead management, you should cover how to determine whether a lead is a good fit for the business and how to close a deal during conversion. The SOP should also describe how your marketing team can stay in touch with leads who are not yet ready to buy. You can cover how to use personalized messages or email drip campaigns.
IT and security
IT security standard operating procedures provide clear steps for managing technology and safeguarding data. These documents can explain tasks relating to user access and system updates.
They can also cover procedures for disaster recovery, data management, and network security. Let’s delve into standard operating procedures examples for this area:
- Change management for new software rollouts
When managing change during a software implementation, you require a process that helps control changes, reduce risks, and support people as they adjust. Before beginning, each change is checked for potential issues, such as disruptions, dependencies, or risks to how the software works, its performance, or its security. Your SOP also needs communication guidelines for employees so they understand how it will affect their daily work.
- Security incident response
Standard incident response SOPs begin with a preparation stage that includes the people, tools, and training required. Policies define roles and plans while etection uses monitoring and quick triage to spot real incidents. Containment stops the spread, eradication removes threats, and recovery restores systems from backups.
- Data backup and recovery
An organization needs a data backup and recovery standard operating procedure to describe backup steps, how often they run, and where backups are stored. This could be on-site or in the cloud. It should also cover who is responsible for backups, security measures taken, and which backups are more important.
Healthcare
Healthcare SOPs serve as written instructions for daily tasks, including patient care and safety. These documents also include guidelines for infection control, emergency response, and medication control.
These are some examples of standard operating procedures that maintain compliance within healthcare:
- Equipment care and safety checks
Healthcare equipment SOPs outline clear steps for using, cleaning, calibrating, and maintaining devices. For instance, it can put in place daily checks that involve inspecting cables and batteries, as well as the device’s exterior. Calibration and testing can keep equipment accurate, while storage guidelines require it to be kept in a secure place.
- Keeping patient data private and secure
You can protect patient privacy through a standard operating procedure that prioritizes administrative, physical, and technical measures to help protect sensitive information. For example, it can detail the importance of access controls and the rollout of training on phishing prevention and strong password use. It can also contain a procedure for restoring lost or compromised data from secure backups.
- Registering a new patient
New patient registration in healthcare uses a straightforward, step-by-step process to collect initial patient details first. This standard operating procedure will also require emergency contact information, including the next of kin’s phone number. Health history and any allergies are noted to help with future care. A general consent-to-treat form is signed by the patient, ensuring the patient agrees to receive care.
Retail and e-commerce
Standard operating procedures for the retail industry should detail how to manage stock, fill orders, and help customers.
The main goal is to ensure every shopper receives the same service, whether in person or online. Here are examples of which you could adopt a standard operating procedure within this industry:
- Packing and handling orders
Retail order packing and handling require a standard operating procedure to provide instructions for picking and verifying that items are available to customers. Then, depending on the order, a SOP will specify the required packaging and packing instructions. This guide can also include quality checks performed at different stages to catch errors.
- Handling returns and refunds
A step-by-step process helps staff handle returns consistently, whether in-store or online. When the item arrives, it is logged and checked to ensure it meets the requirements. Staff then decide what to do with the product, such as restocking, repairing, recycling, or disposing of it. The refund, exchange, or store credit is processed quickly, depending on the options available.
- In-store promotions and price changes
Standard operating procedures for retail promotions and price changes include planning, clear execution steps, team training, monitoring, and post-promotion review. Tasks cover market research, updating signs, and preparing staff. For example, planning involves choosing the promotion type and setting prices that match profit goals.
Financial services & banking
Financial firms can use standard operating procedures to guide tasks such as account opening, client onboarding, and risk management.
These written instructions can highlight who is responsible for each step, what rules to follow, and help staff make fewer mistakes. The following are standard operating procedures examples that could be useful within your financial organization:
- Periodic KYC / AML reviews
Periodic KYC/AML reviews keep customer information current, reassess risk, and help detect suspicious activity. Your standard operating procedure will outline that the frequency and depth of reviews depend on the customer’s risk level. This procedure will also specify who will handle these reviews and how long the records are kept.
- Opening new accounts and cross-selling
The new account-opening SOP ensures all legal and regulatory requirements, including KYC, are met. The process includes risk checks, rules for different account types, and a workflow for all application types. For cross-selling, the SOP uses customer journey insights to offer relevant products. It focuses on personalized recommendations and sets clear communication guidelines.
- Daily balancing and closing the books
A daily balancing and closing books standard operating procedure will include recording all transactions and verifying cash or bank account balances. Employees will learn how to update payables and receivables, review sub-ledgers and adjust entries, such as accruals and depreciation. After creating a trial balance, this process will detail how to prepare key financial statements, such as a balance sheet.
Manufacturing, logistics, and utilities
Standard operating procedures (SOPs) in manufacturing, operations, and logistics describe the detailed workflows, quality checks, and safety rules for stopping hazards.
Clear records and documentation requirements are needed in this industry to support quality and compliance from receipt through to shipment. Let’s take a look at some examples of manufacturing, logistics, and utilities SOPs:
- Preventive maintenance scheduling
Businesses can use a standard operating procedure for preventative maintenance scheduling to improve equipment reliability, reduce downtime, and ensure compliance. The procedure covers safety rules, lockout/tagout steps, and emergency actions to prevent harm. A list of needed tools, materials, and spare parts is included. This comes with a schedule for how often tasks should be performed and measured.
- Maintaining quality while you work
Standard operating procedures (SOPs) in manufacturing, logistics, and utilities help maintain quality by combining general rules with quality control steps. These include checkpoints for inspections, clear acceptance criteria, regular process monitoring, and defined actions for handling problems. A process should also state that defects are sorted by type through scheduled maintenance.
- Regular stock counting
A stock-counting standard operating procedure maintains inventory accuracy through three main steps. It begins with planning and preparation that considers scheduling, organizing, and training. Execution follows with using tools to count items and record results. The final step in a process is post-count reconciliation, which involves checking counts against records and updating systems.
Improve business outcomes with standard operating procedures examples
Examples of standard operating procedures show that while the structure of SOPs is universal, the details, language, and rules vary by industry or function.
Real behavior change often comes from pairing SOPs with in-app guidance that fits into daily workflows. You can start by picking one high-impact process in your field and drafting a simple SOP using this outline.
Your business can then change that SOP into in-app guidance and measure how people use it, giving clear feedback. In this way, SOPs help teams work consistently, using the tools they already know.
FAQs
DAPs are helpful, but written documents are still vital for a company. A DAP is a great way to guide users through tasks, while an SOP is the main source for company rules and knowledge. The best strategy uses both tools together. Use the DAP for quick help and keep written SOPs for policy depth and official records.
To get employees to follow SOPs, involve them in the creation process, and ensure the guides are clear, visual, and easy to access. You can show how these rules make their work easier and reinforce compliance by tracking usage and leading by example.
An SOP explains the overall process, including what needs to be done and why, while work instructions provide the specific, step-by-step details for a single task. You can think of the SOP as the map and the work instructions as the exact directions for the driver.
You should review SOPs regularly, usually once a year. High-risk tasks may need a check every few months. Simple tasks can wait for two years. You must update them immediately if rules or tools change. These are living documents that require constant attention and regular care.