How HR Can Create Engaging Emails That Employees Love To Open

“Wait… we had a wellness stipend this month? And I could’ve used it for a gym membership? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

If you’re an HR leader, you know emails are the oxygen of your organization’s internal comms. The well-crafted ones do even more—they keep your workforce engaged, motivated, and connected.

But when your emails languish unopened in employee inboxes? The dwindling open rates and lackluster responses are the symptoms and you know that something is broken. 

Case in point: the wellness benefit email. It got glossed over, along with the employee satisfaction it could have generated. 

And we can’t blame employees. 

The relentless notifications from newsletters, updates, company news, IT requests, and spam can make anyone numb to even the most important messages. Plus, 77% of employees are either not engaged or actively disengaged at work. 

That places the responsibility squarely on your HR shoulders. You, the HR, is responsible for creating engaging employee emails. Especially with today’s workforce scattered across physical offices, homes, and coffee shops.

But let’s face it, crafting the perfect employee engagement email demands time you likely don’t have. That’s where professional email templates come in handy. Email templates save time and ensure your email is clear and effective. 

So, let’s find out how professional email templates could be the answer to reaching your engagement goals and transforming corporate comms for the future of work.

5 Types Of Professional Email Templates For Employee Engagement

Create them in-house or get professional email template services by Email Mavlers, following professional email templates should always be in your toolkit. 

1. Onboarding and Welcome 

As an HR manager, you sure want the new recruit to have a seamless employee experience from day one. Onboarding and welcome emails sent a few days before joining help the new hires get familiar with their team members. Both the company’s key employees and those with whom they will work. 

In addition to the “Happy to have you aboard” welcome email, onboarding emails that communicate the following information will get the new joinee feel integrated from their very first day:

• Detailed first-day schedules
• Administrative requirements
• Company culture and mission fundamentals

The current employees can also do their bit by getting involved in the welcome process. Rather, they will appreciate being informed about the newcomer. Such transparent communication will help you attract more participants for team-building activities in the future. 

With professional email templates ready in your HR arsenal, you can craft informative and engaging welcome emails in no time.

Here’s an example:

Image Source: Stripo

This employee engagement email template works because it balances professional messaging with a friendly tone. 

Notice how the template starts with a warm greeting featuring the HR representative’s profile. And the headline that creates a sense of excitement and belonging. We also think the background image in the header sets a professional yet visually engaging appearance. 

2. Learning And Development

All your employees are doing their best to bring some success to your organization. However, building a productive and engaged workforce is an ongoing process. 

That’s where your role as an HR manager shines—you encourage employees to enhance their skills and grow. A creative and compelling training announcement email template can help you boost training participation and maximize the benefits that employees gain. 

Using professional templates to promote development opportunities signals that your company genuinely invests in nurturing talent.

HR personnel can use these pre-built templates and customize them to tailor them to their specific announcements related to training. 

Some ways to plan professional email templates for employee training and development:

• First training session during onboarding. 
• Hands-on and interactive training sessions. 
• Webinar or workshop invites. 
• Training for tools used. 
• Workspace and cyber safety training. 

You could always follow the following example of an email template:

Image Source: Beefree

Of course, this is just one possibility. There are many ways to customize this template that only end with your imagination. 

3. Birthday Wish 

It takes a small gesture to make your team feel special. And birthday is the best time to do that. A personalized birthday greeting email shows your employees how much you value them.  Feeling valued and acknowledged enhances their job satisfaction. 

Many human resource personnel use personalized email templates for birthdays as a way to enhance employee well-being, resulting in higher retention rates. 

Image Source: Stripo

When crafting a personalized birthday email template for employees, remember these tips:

• Address the employee by name.
• Show your genuine appreciation for their contributions to the team.
• Learn about the employee’s interest and mention specific details about it. 
• Customize the email design and copy to match the employee’s personality. 

4. Employees Wellness Newsletters 

A healthy workforce is an engaged workforce. HR managers striving to create a happier and more productive work environment should prioritize employee well-being. 

One of the effective tools to get the ball rolling in this direction is sending your employees a weekly wellness newsletter. It broadcasts vital information and fosters a culture of healthy lifestyle choices among employees. 

Basically, these email newsletters are friendly guides offering useful tips on various aspects of wellness. Do it regularly, and you will encourage them to try out the suggestions you have shared.

Check out this Stripo email template example to spark your creativity around wellness email templates for employees: 

Image Source: Stripo

• The template focuses on International Yoga Day. But HR can adapt this approach to promote various wellness initiatives. Think of mental health awareness, fitness challenges, or mindfulness programs. 
• Notice the use of engaging visuals of yoga poses. They are perfect for readability. 
• The email speaks directly to the recipient with inclusive language. To make the email template personalized in the true sense, segment employees based on interests (e.g., fitness enthusiasts vs. beginners) or roles (remote vs. on-site workers).

Ensure accessibility by offering diverse options, such as different workout tips, nutrition and diet guides, remote work wellness, work-life balance, etc. Adopt this inclusive approach even when designing content. You want to ensure all employees feel represented and included in wellness programs.

5. Feedback And Surveys

Employee feedback is not just a box to check. It’s a powerful tool for growth and engagement. Research shows 80% of employees receiving meaningful weekly feedback are fully engaged.

Well-crafted, professional email templates for feedback foster open communication. Structured yet personalized templates for different scenarios—performance reviews, training assessments, or workplace improvements—let HR professionals create consistent touchpoints that make employees feel valued and heard.

A good example to draw inspiration from and create your own:

Image Source: Stripo

Wrapping Up 

Professional email templates give HR teams a powerful engagement toolbox. These templates can be a great starting point. Add your brand color palette, font systems, buttons, and icons.  And you will have an easy start to your email design that ensures your messages are both clear and impactful.

Guest writer