Email: A dangerous weapon in untrained hands.
The cost to businesses and public sector organisations of poor email is growing to incredible proportions.
At one end of the scale, staff are wasting large amounts of time going over emails that they felt were offensive or insensitive. At the other, we are seeing a growing number of cases where staff are taking their employers to court or to tribunal and being awarded considerable damages for ill-considered emails that their colleagues or manager sent.
The heart of the problem stems from people using email as a substitute for a simple conversation. Without all the subtlety of expression that face-to-face communication provides, it is easy to misinterpret the meaning of an email. In cases of bullying, harassment and discrimination, the courts are placing far more emphasis on the recipient’s interpretation than the sender’s intended meaning.
New-hires in particular are unlikely to be aware of these developments in business and employment law. Most will have little idea of the consequences of using company email in the same way as their university or personal email accounts.
Once a member of your staff clicks the ‘send email’ button, there is no going back: The server keeps a record of every email that they send. Purging emails from the server and from back-ups will not solve the problem, as tribunals and the courts are now taking such action as an implication of culpability.
Lawyers in the United States and in Europe advise that the employer’s duty of care extends to educating employees in appropriate email use. Without this provision, the courts will likely hold employers at-least partly responsible for emails containing offensive, harassing or discriminatory messages.
High Efficiency Skills will help organisations nationally and internationally with programmes of computer-based and face-to-face induction training. This training educates employees, especially new starters, in their duties and gives them the new skills needed to communicate responsibly and effectively using business email. It reduces the risk to the business of costly and time-consuming lawsuits and boosts productivity by reducing wasted time.
To discuss how you can reduce your exposure to the high cost of inappropriate emails contact us today.