In large and medium-sized organisations, workplace policies are usually developed by executive boards or human resources committees and are implemented by managers; commonly known as a “top-down approach”. As already stated, many of the concepts and practices covered in this guide are new or in development, so editorial staff have an important role to play in influencing policy discussions and development, perhaps even implementation.

Small businesses, community organisations and not-for-profits may not have a written policy but there may be practices of employing or contracting paid and/or volunteer workers that result in a diverse and inclusive workforce, to a greater or lesser extent.

In contrast, to policies, style guides are very much the domain of editorial staff and freelancers or consultants who work on print and digital content. Editors and proofreaders, for example, must keep up to date with word choices, usages and other trends in the literature (books and journals) as well as in society more broadly (news, commentary and the arts). An advantage of this “bottom-up” approach is that editors can provide on-the-ground intelligence in real time, and this enables house styles to reflect readers’ perspectives and practices.