Solving personnel problems with policy is unfortunately common at companies in the small-medium space. Very small companies tend to be more person oriented, and very large companies tend to have outgrown it (though they may still do it at the department level).
It is also one of the most annoying mistakes I see frequently repeated at startups and young businesses.
Solving problems with policy is common in all companies. It’s programming at the organisation level. Every policy is either a good candidate for automation or an indication of automation limitations.
It is also one of the most annoying mistakes I see frequently repeated at startups and young businesses.