By Shanique Brophy | Marketing
It seems that the latest trend in large organizations is to request that staff individually remove their gender pronouns from their email signatures. It started with Trump, when the administration mandated that federal employees across various agencies eliminate gender pronouns from their email signatures by 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, 31 January 2025. Then NASA employees were asked to implement these massive changes in work communication after Trump’s executive order & now Deloitte US has instructed employees working on government contracts to remove gender pronouns from their email signatures, while also discontinuing its broader diversity and inclusion initiatives.
A big email signature management surprise
Whilst debate will continue over whether and how to use gender pronouns in email signatures, a further surprising issue caught our attention: are these agencies implementing this policy by instructing (and expecting) individual staff to remove their pronouns from their own email signatures?
After all, can you really rely on individual employees to amend and update their own email signatures correctly in line with organizational policy? In our experience, this so-called “trust system” is rarely effective, as many employees lack the technical skills to make these updates correctly or may simply be unwilling to implement changes if they disagree with the policy. The result? Corporate email signatures that are inconsistent, outdated, and off-brand and, in this case, displaying information that, rightly or wrongly, doesn’t align with the new administration’s values.
One comment from a federal employee perfectly encapsulated the issue:
“In my decade-plus years at CDC, I’ve never been told what I can and can’t put in my email signature.”
That’s a big surprise, and highlights a key issue: company email signature is not an employee’s personal property, They are part of an organization’s official communications and should align with company policy.
Relying on Individual employees: the risks
When individual employees have control over their own email signatures, the results are unpredictable and the risks are clear:
- Inconsistency in Branding – Employees may use different fonts, colors, or formats, leading to a lack of uniformity in official communication.
- Non-Compliance with Regulations – Some industries have strict rules for email communication, which individual customization could violate.
- Security Risks – Employees might accidentally include unauthorized links, images, or personal details, increasing phishing and cyberattack risks.
- Legal Liability – Personal statements, pronouns, or disclaimers added by employees could create legal issues or misrepresent the organization’s stance.
- Administrative Burden – IT and management teams may struggle to enforce updates (e.g., title changes, disclaimers, or new policies) across the workforce.
- Push back – Some employees may resist email signature policy changes – seeing restrictions as an infringement on personal expression.
- Reputational Risk – Unprofessional or controversial additions to signatures could harm the organization’s image or cause public relations issues.
- Lack of Control in Crisis Situations – In emergencies, organizations may need to update disclaimers or legal notices instantly, which is difficult if signatures aren’t centrally managed.
The solution? Centralized email signature management
By using a centralized email signature management platform like Rocketseed, all these risks are eliminated and the benefits are clear:
- Guarantees brand consistency – With all company signatures being ‘tamper-proof’ so individual employees cannot alter font, colors or images.
- Enforces policy effortlessly – once your email signature designs and policies are agreed, central management ensures they are automatically enforced.
- Ensures accuracy – all job titles, contact details are automatically kept up to date via synchronization with your company user directory.
- Saves IT time – all company-wide changes, are made centrally and instantly without need for supporting individual manual updates.
- Improves Legal Protection – Ensures required disclaimers and policies are always included, correct and compliant.
- Enhances Employee Experience – Removes the burden of managing signatures individually.
- Centralises Marketing Campaigns – Enables organization-wide promotional links and co-ordinated email banner campaigns for effective email signature marketing.
In the context of the current gender pronoun debate, whether your organization chooses to include, exclude, or make them optional, central management ensures your chosen policy is implemented effectively and efficiently.
Why centralized signature management is essential
The bottom line is, If you want full control over what appears in your employees’ email signatures you need to implement centralized email signature management.
Company email signatures are not a free-for-all. They are a corporate asset. Managing them centrally is the only way to ensure they align with your organization’s policies—whatever those may be.
From 100 to 10,000 employees, take central control of your company email signatures with Rocketseed. Talk to us today.
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