Business e-mail: a resource and a constraint for employees

The advent of e-mail in the 70s radically changed the world of work. In the workplace, the use of computers and mobile devices has made a major contribution to modernization. For several years now, the Internet has been the leading means of communication between employees, thanks to its simplicity and speed. While some people are no longer able to keep e-mail out of their daily lives, others can’t manage it properly enough to gradually sink into “digital drowning”.

A few figures on electronic messaging

Throughout France, more than 9 out of 10 companies use the Internet as their main means of communication, both internally and externally. 294 billion e-mails pass through networks in a single year. A company employee receives an average of 25 to 30 e-mails a day, and spends 5 to 20 hours a week dealing with them. On average, an e-mail arrives in an employee’s inbox every 12 minutes, and the employee will have to check the inbox 6 times an hour to read its contents. The inconvenience of dealing with e-mail can cost an employee 40% of his or her productivity.

E-mail as a resource for employees and the company

Electronic messaging has two facets. Let’s take a look at its first face as a resource for employees. The use of e-mail in the workplace facilitates the exchange of information. It’s also possible to dematerialize paper media and improve the transfer of important documents to recipients. Electronic messaging increases exchanges between all company employees and makes them more autonomous. It’s also possible for employees to manage their tasks remotely.

On the other hand, for the company, e-mail serves as a link with its external relations: customers, suppliers, service providers, subsidiaries, partners, etc. Thanks to this technology, it can be reached at all times, provided that it has the means to provide high-quality protection to ensure very high availability of the messaging service. Setting up an outsourced messaging security service like Altospam is the answer to this strong requirement for permanent availability.

E-mail as a constraint for employees and the company

The use of e-mail can also become a constraint for both employees and the company. First and foremost, employees are required to control the use of e-mail to avoid any loss of sensitive information. Given that he’ll have to cope with his daily tasks while managing his e-mails, his workload may increase over time. The arrival of an e-mail in the inbox is a source of annoyance for the employee and can disrupt his or her concentration.

Secondly, in the workplace, e-mail does not encourage verbal dialogue. It tends to isolate employees. What’s more, due to the lack of tone and body language in e-mails, it’s quite possible that employees may encounter comprehension errors when reading them. This kind of situation can lead to confusion within the company, and embarrass the players involved.