Dear Margaret: I'm middle management and am having problems with employee e-mail etiquette in my company. Even more than etiquette, just plain old common sense seems to be lacking in some of the younger staff members. For instance, one young man emailed the president of our company to ask if she knew what account should be charged for work performed on a project. (Instead of simply asking, "What account should I charge…" Of course she KNOWS what account!) Also, his salutation on the email was "Hey!"  And then there's the issue with global emails sent to individuals without a need to know. In addition, when I send tasks or appointments to junior subordinates, I seldom receive a response. What are they teaching, or better yet, not teaching in school? I've been correcting them on a case by case basis, but this is bothersome and a waste of time. Is there a fix for this?
Challenged by Non-Communicators
Dear Challenged by Non-Communicators: It seems that your hiring criteria and procedures need to be tightened. Requiring a sample of a business communication in the form of a letter, email or other appropriate document would help weed out individuals that are unsuitable. If current employees have redeeming qualities making them valuable assets to the company, you might want to require they take a business communications course, either online or at a local community college. Learning basic language skills in writing can help them produce crisp, clear, concise communications that will benefit your company as well as customers with which your employees may be corresponding. What is aggravating for you could be embarrassing when their errors are exposed to a valued customer. Any associated dollars spent for sharpening their communications skills would be well worth the cost.

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