Training A New Employee - Email Etiquette And Security

Here we are in 2025, and email has remained one of the most important tools in modern business communication. Regardless if you’re onboarding a new hire or guiding an intern through their first weeks in your company, teaching email etiquette is essential. Doing it ensures that your organization maintains a polished reputation in front of clients and partners and helps protect sensitive data from cyber threats. Your new employee probably knows how to use email casually in their personal life, but it’s essential to teach them that workplace standards demand an extra layer of etiquette, formality, and security awareness.

We hope you’ll use this article as a practical training guide to help your new employee master the art of sending emails in a professional and most importantly secure way.

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Why professional email etiquette matters

Before listing the recommendations, let’s understand why it’s essential to dedicate your time in training your employees. Every email sent from your business address reflects your entire company, not just the new employee, who is an individual sender. A poorly structured message with typos or missing details can give clients the impression of carelessness, while an overly casual tone may come across as unprofessional. By contrast, clear and polite communication strengthens trust and credibility. For a new employee, understanding the “dos and don’ts” of professional email etiquette sets the foundation for success. This includes learning how to use appropriate greetings, formatting emails with readability in mind, avoiding slang, and proofreading before hitting send.

Structuring a professional email

When you teach your new employee how to structure their emails correctly you also make sure that their messages (and implicitly your company’s messages) are easy to read and well-received. Here are the key components of a professional email.

• Subject line: Concise and descriptive. It should summarize the purpose of the email (e.g., “Meeting Agenda for Friday, Sept 8”).
• Greeting: Formal but friendly, using “Dear [Name]” or “Hello [Name],” depending on context.
• Body text: Written clearly, with short paragraphs and direct sentences. Unnecessary jargon should be avoided.
• Closing: Professional sign-offs such as “Best regards,” “Kind regards,” or “Sincerely.”
• Signature: A consistent email signature with the employee’s full name, job title, and company contact information.

Encourage new employees to draft emails with the mindset that the recipient is busy and appreciates clarity.

The importance of professionalism and tone

Email etiquette should focus on tone because a message written too casually could seem careless, while one written too formally could make the recipient feel you’re too distant or cold. Encourage the employee to make decisions according to the type of email they send and strike a balance. They want to send polite, respectful and professional emails, but also make the recipient believe they are approachable. For instance, instead of writing “Hey, send me that report ASAP,” a more professional phrasing would be: “Hi Alex, could you please send me the updated report by end of day? Thank you in advance.” Small changes in tone can significantly affect how the message is received.

Proofreading and double-checking before sending

When composing an email the final but crucial step is pausing a couple of seconds before pressing send and proofreading the text. Proofreading ensures that there are no grammatical errors, typos, or missing details. Double-checking the recipient list is equally important to avoid sending sensitive information to the wrong person. Encouraging new employees to take a few extra seconds to review their email helps prevent embarrassing mistakes and strengthens overall professionalism.

Use a reliable email provider

It’s your job to ensure that your employees can send business emails securely, so before setting up their addresses make sure you pick a reliable service provider. Security begins with the platform for business email, so one of the most important steps in ensuring safe communication is using a reliable and trusted provider. Free or outdated services might lack robust security measures, while enterprise-grade providers offer features like encrypted connections, spam filtering, and integration with company-wide security policies. A reliable provider not only protects the organization from phishing attempts and malware but also gives employees tools to manage emails more efficiently. Training new hires to appreciate why the company has chosen its specific provider reinforces the idea that email safety is not optional, it’s built into the organization’s infrastructure.

Teach them to create complex passwords

One of the most common vulnerabilities in email communication comes from reused and weak passwords. Your new employee will definitely be tempted to use the same combination they use for their personal accounts because it’s easy to remember. They will probably want to use their birthday, pet’s name, or similar passwords for the business email account, which could be completely insecure and the attackers will spend little time guessing. To address this, teach employees about the importance of complex, unique passwords that include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. However, remembering multiple strong passwords can be difficult, which is why password managers are invaluable. Password managers allow employees to generate and securely store complex passwords without needing to memorize them. Not only does this reduce the risk of a breach, but it also saves time and ensures consistency.

Managing attachments and sensitive information

Your new employees also have to learn the business practices for sending attachments and handling sensitive data. All attachments they add to emails should be clearly named and in formats used commonly like PDF, DOCX, XLSX. Same goes for the attachments they receive, they should never open one without checking if it’s virus free. If sensitive information must be sent, employees should be instructed to use encryption tools or secure file-sharing platforms rather than sending unprotected attachments. Additionally, employees must avoid sending confidential data to personal email accounts, as this creates unnecessary risk and can breach company policies.

What to keep in mind

Training your new employee email etiquette is more than ensuring they acquire a set of technical skills, it’s about instilling them with a mindset of responsibility and attention to detail. When employees treat every email as a reflection of both themselves and their organization, they contribute to a culture of professionalism and security. Over time, these habits become second nature, ensuring that the company presents a trustworthy image while protecting sensitive information in an increasingly digital workplace.