It is a tool businesses use every single day, but for the benefit of your business, you must have an effective email policy. Companies need effective email policies to encourage communications internally and externally, while also protecting the organization from any ramifications, whether this is legal liabilities or data breaches. What do you need for an effective email policy guideline?
Reiterating That Emails Are for Business Use
Your policy should highlight that emails are specifically for business use, not external use, unless it involves emailing a customer or supplier. While many employees may consider using emails for external use, you've got to tread carefully here. There will be times when external emails need to be sent, and this is why you could benefit from an email verifier tool to provide an extra line of defense, but you must reiterate the fact that, on a legal level, emails sent or stored on the computer system could be monitored. This is critical, especially when we are addressing the legal ramifications.
Highlighting Email Etiquette
Within an organization, there can be a number of protocols that can ensure your emails are specific to your business. There could be a number of practices that benefit here:
Not forwarding emails without permission.
Limiting replies to those who need to know the specific details, rather than using “Reply All.”
Replying to emails within a reasonable timeframe.
Providing specific information within the signature line.
Showing What Would Not Be Tolerated
It may sound like common sense, but email policies are legal documents. It's a good idea to highlight the types of behaviors that are immediately punishable. Harassments or discriminatory language are things that should not be tolerated.
Highlighting the Repercussions
Policies are critical, however, they will not make an impact if they cannot be enforced correctly. This is why explaining the consequences of non-compliance should be clear as crystal. Disciplinary action, or at the very least, a disciplinary structure that highlights the termination process could be an option if an employee was to not follow the rules.
Communicating the Guidelines
If you do not communicate these guidelines effectively, it's unlikely to have an impact. It's vital that we provide the guidelines in writing and distribute them to every employee via their email addresses. They also need to be on the company's intranet, put into handbooks, and be part of employee training. When we are providing this information, it's critical to be consistent, but we also need to make sure that it is checked over by a legal specialist. Employees should not have any right to privacy because the equipment belongs to the employer, but this is why your employees need to sign a document that makes it clear that they are being monitored and need to follow email guidelines.
Using email can be fantastic for businesses, it can help you to reach out to customers and promote your business in the right ways, but for your employees, emails should be a tool that needs to be used in the right ways.