Gender pronouns in email signatures: A practical guide for IT and HR teams
1 June 2026
0 min read
TL;DR
Gender pronouns clarify how someone wants to be addressed. Including them in email signatures (he/him, she/her, they/them, or others) removes the guesswork.
HR owns the policy, IT owns the rollout. Pronouns in email signatures only work when both teams plan the workflow together from the start.
Participation must be optional. Encourage employees to add pronouns. Don't make it a requirement.
Self-service is what keeps signatures accurate. Pronouns are personal data that changes. Without a way for employees to update themselves, the rollout goes stale within months.
Centralized email signature management makes this work at scale. Manual CSV imports and one-off scripts don't.
Someone in your team updates their pronouns. Six months later, their email signature still shows the old set. They have to notice it themselves, flag it, and wait for someone to fix it. HR knew about the change. IT was never told. That kind of gap is common, avoidable, and exactly what adding pronouns is meant to prevent.
Pronouns in email signatures only work when HR and IT own the rollout together. HR sets the policy and runs the conversation with employees. IT handles the templates, the data, and the ongoing maintenance. Without both, a well-intentioned project goes stale within a year. Worse, it sends the wrong message to the people it was meant to support.
This guide covers the policy, the sensitivities around collecting the data, the joint workflow, and what to do when someone's preferences change later.
Best practices for pronoun rollouts |
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What are gender pronouns?
A gender pronoun is the word someone uses in place of their name when they're referred to in the third person.
He, she, and they are the most common, and other pronouns exist for people whose identity isn't reflected in those sets. Sharing your pronouns is a way of telling colleagues and external contacts how you want to be addressed, without anyone having to ask or assume.
In email, where you often won't have met the recipient, this matters more than it does face to face. There's no body language, no name to put a face to, and no quick way to clarify. Pronouns in an email signature do the clarifying for you.
Key takeaway: Gender pronouns are words used in place of someone's name, and sharing them in email signatures removes the need for recipients to guess how to address you.
Why include gender pronouns in email signatures?
Including pronouns in an email signature removes the guesswork from how someone wants to be addressed. Email frequently connects people who haven't met in person, and a first name often doesn't tell you anything about a person's gender identity. Pronouns in the signature prevent misgendering before it happens, especially in first interactions with clients, candidates, and new colleagues.
Misgendering someone in writing, especially early in a relationship, is a small but lasting harm. People remember it. Pronouns take that risk out of the exchange. Colleagues, clients, suppliers, and candidates all see how the sender wants to be referred to, before they reply. It removes a small friction that, multiplied across hundreds of emails a day, compounds.
Consistency across the company matters here too. Outbound email that uses pronouns in every signature tells recipients that inclusivity is built into how the organization communicates by default. Inconsistent application sends a weaker signal, and can give the impression of a policy that was rolled out and then forgotten about. Both the policy and the rollout need to be planned together.
It's also one of several ways you can use your email signature to celebrate Pride and promote inclusivity.
Key takeaway: Including pronouns in email signatures prevents misgendering, signals organizational commitment to inclusivity, and removes guesswork from professional communication.
Examples of commonly preferred gender pronouns
The table below shows common gender pronoun sets used in email signatures. Each column represents how the pronoun is used grammatically: subjective (used as the subject of a sentence), objective (used as the object), possessive adjective (showing ownership), and reflexive (referring back to the subject).
Common gender pronoun sets used in email signatures:
Subjective | Objective | Possessive adjective | Reflexive |
He | Him | His | Himself |
She | Her | Hers | Herself |
They | Them | Theirs | Themself |
Ze | Zir / Hir | Zirs / Hirs | Zirself / Hirself |
Hu | Hum | Hus / Hus | Humself |
However, this isn’t a comprehensive list, and individuals in your team may identify with different gender expressions. So, asking for their input before rolling out custom email signatures is essential.
Examples of common definitions relating to gender pronouns
These terms come up regularly in conversations about gender identity. The definitions below are a starting reference, not an exhaustive list.
Preferred gender pronouns
The pronouns a person chooses to be addressed by, sometimes called personal gender pronouns or PGPs. Sharing them removes the need to guess.
Cisgender (cis)
A person whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth. Someone assigned male at birth who identifies as male is cisgender.
Transgender (trans)
A person whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. A transgender woman, for example, was assigned male at birth and identifies as female.
Non-binary
A person whose gender identity doesn't fit within the categories of male or female. Also known as genderqueer. Non-binary people often use they/them pronouns.
Agender
A person who doesn't identify with any specific gender. Some describe themselves as gender-neutral or genderless.
Create inclusive, professional email signatures in minutes
How do HR and IT teams work together on pronoun email signature rollouts?
A pronoun rollout that lands cleanly is almost always one where IT and HR plan it together from the start. The work breaks down naturally between the two functions, but only if both teams know which pieces are theirs.
Exclaimer's State of Business Email 2025 report found that 35% of IT teams say email signature management is one of their two most time-consuming tasks. Pronouns add another layer to that work. Without clear ownership across IT and HR, the rollout becomes another job that lands with IT by default, then slowly drifts out of date.
What HR owns
HR is closest to the people side of this. That makes them the right team to:
Set the policy. Define what's being asked of employees, why, and what the boundaries are around participation.
Run the conversation. Communicate the rollout to the wider company. Explain that participation is voluntary, and how to opt in or out at any point.
Handle sensitivity. Make sure the survey, the messaging, and the data collection respect the personal nature of what's being asked.
Maintain the policy over time. Pronouns aren't a one-off announcement. HR keeps the conversation open and the policy current as the workforce changes.
What IT owns
IT controls the systems that make pronouns actually appear in email signatures. Their job is to:
Build the email signature template with a pronoun field that can be populated, edited, or left empty depending on the individual.
Manage the data. Decide where pronoun preferences are stored, who can access them, and how they sync with directory and signature tools.
Roll out the change across the organization so it works on every device and email client.
Keep it running. Make sure pronoun fields stay accurate when someone updates their preference, joins, or leaves.
Where the handoff usually breaks
Most pronoun rollouts go wrong at the handoff, not the planning. HR runs a survey, collects responses in a spreadsheet, and emails it to IT. IT imports it into the signature platform. Three months later, an employee has updated their pronouns and nobody has updated the system. There's no clear process for the change, and the data no longer matches reality.
To prevent this, both teams should design the workflow around change. Agree upfront how updates flow through the system once the launch is done, who handles each step, and how often the data is checked for accuracy.
Key takeaway: Successful pronoun rollouts require HR and IT to plan together from the start, with clear ownership of policy, communication, technical implementation, and ongoing maintenance.
How to roll out pronouns in email signatures
Follow these steps to implement pronouns in email signatures across your organization:
HR and IT align on scope and ownership. Meet to define who owns the policy (HR), who owns the technical rollout (IT), and how updates will be handled after launch.
HR drafts and publishes the policy. Create a clear policy stating that participation is voluntary, explaining how data will be stored and accessed, and how employees can update or remove their pronouns.
HR runs a voluntary survey. Collect pronoun preferences using a survey that includes equal options for common pronouns, "Other set," and "Rather not say."
IT builds the email signature template. Add a pronoun field to the central template that can be populated, edited, or left empty, ensuring empty fields render without visible gaps.
IT populates initial data and enables self-service. Import survey responses and configure a self-service portal so employees can update their own pronoun field directly.
Both teams communicate the rollout. HR announces the policy and survey; IT provides guidance on how signatures will appear and how to make changes.
Establish an ongoing maintenance process. Define how new joiners are onboarded, how preference changes flow through the system, and schedule regular data accuracy checks.
How should companies collect employee pronoun preferences for email signatures?
The data collection step is where most rollouts win or lose employee trust. Asking people about their pronouns is asking them about their identity. The way the question is framed, who can see the answers, and how the data is stored matter as much as the question itself.
A short survey, run by HR, is the standard approach. A few principles to follow.
Make participation voluntary, and obviously so
The survey itself should make it clear that filling it in is optional, that any answer is acceptable, and that an employee can change their mind later. A "rather not say" option should sit alongside the pronoun choices, not at the end as an afterthought.
Presenting it as a fifth equal option, with the same weight as the others, takes the awkwardness out of opting out for anyone who'd rather not share.
A simple survey question looks like this:
Would you like to include gender pronouns in your email signature? Participation is voluntary and you can change your answer at any time. |
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Including "Other set" and "Rather not say" as visible, equal options keeps the survey genuinely inclusive and prevents anyone from feeling singled out by their choice.
Be clear about who sees the data
Employees are more likely to share accurate information when they understand exactly where it's going. Before the survey opens, HR should be able to answer:
Where the data is stored
Who can access it internally
Whether managers can see individual responses
How the data flows into the email signature system
How an employee can update or remove their pronouns later
The last point is the one most companies forget. Without a clear answer to "how do I change this later," the survey turns into a one-shot data collection exercise that goes stale the moment someone's preferences change.
Only collect what the email signature actually displays
The survey should ask for pronouns and nothing else related to gender identity. Asking for additional information, such as transition status or anything beyond the pronoun set, turns a reasonable workplace question into something more intrusive. Stick to what shows up in the email signature.
Publish the policy alongside the survey
A survey on its own can feel like a request for personal data without context. HR should publish the pronoun policy when the survey goes out, covering the voluntary nature of participation, how the system works, and how an employee can update or remove their pronouns later. Employees who see the full picture from the start respond more honestly, which means HR ends up with better data and IT has less cleanup work later.
Once HR has the data, IT needs a way to keep it accurate over time, including when employees change their preferences months or years later.
Key takeaway: Sensitive data collection requires voluntary participation, clear communication about data handling, and collecting only what's needed for the email signature.
How do you keep pronoun email signatures accurate over time?
Email signature pronouns stay accurate when employees can update their own pronoun field through a self-service portal, rather than waiting for IT or HR to make the change. A centralized email signature management platform with a self-service field editor lets the data update at the speed of the employee, which is the only sustainable approach long-term.
This is where most rollouts fall over. The pronoun data goes stale, and the policy starts undermining the inclusivity it was designed to support.
Exclaimer's State of Business Email 2025 report found that only 18% of organizations use centralized email signature management, while 80% still rely on manual methods or user self-service. For pronoun rollouts run on spreadsheets and one-off scripts, the maintenance burden falls on IT, who already report email signature management as one of their two most time-consuming tasks.
Removing IT from the update loop is what makes the rollout sustainable.
Self-service is the modern answer
When an employee can update their own pronoun field directly, the system stays accurate by default. There's no ticket to raise and no approval cycle for an employee to make a personal change about their own identity. Updates happen at whatever pace the employee chooses.
Exclaimer's User Details Editor is built for this. Employees can update specific email signature fields chosen by their company, including pronouns, working hours, direct numbers, and certifications, through a self-service portal. IT keeps control over which fields are editable and which stay locked. HR retains ownership of the policy. The employee gets the autonomy to keep their own identity information current.
What good looks like
A well-designed pronoun setup answers these questions clearly:
Can an employee change their pronouns at any point without involving IT or HR?
Can they remove their pronouns at any point, equally easily?
Does the change appear in their email signature within minutes on every device?
Is the original survey data still being used, or has it been superseded by the live self-service field?
Does HR have visibility into participation rates without seeing individual responses?
When the answer to any of those is "not without involving IT," the setup has been designed for launch day, with no thought to ongoing use. Pronoun preferences shift over time, people join and leave, and the system needs to absorb that quietly in the background.
Key takeaway: Self-service portals are essential for keeping pronoun data accurate over time, removing IT from the update loop and giving employees control over their own identity information.
Where do pronouns go in an email signature and how should they be formatted?
Once the policy is in place and the data is being kept current, the display step is straightforward. Pronouns sit alongside the rest of the contact information in the email signature, usually next to the person's name. The goal is to keep them clear and unobtrusive.
Where to position pronouns
The most common placement is directly after the name, in brackets. This is what most readers expect, and it keeps the pronoun visually attached to the person it refers to. Some companies place pronouns on the line below the name. Both work. Consistency matters more than which option you choose.
Senders usually include examples of their preferred gender pronouns – like ‘he/him’, or ‘she/her/hers’ – and this usually appears next to, or underneath, their name.
Formatting conventions
A few small rules keep pronouns clear and easy to read:
Separate sets with slashes. "he/him" or "she/her/hers" is the standard convention.
List pronouns in order of preference. If someone uses two sets, the first set is the primary.
Use "or" when an employee uses multiple distinct sets. For example, "he/him or they/them." This is clearer than chaining sets with slashes.
Don't bold or color the pronouns separately. They should match the formatting of the surrounding contact details.
Examples
For example:
John Doe (he/him) Managing Director Exclaimer +44 (0)1234 567890
Jane Doe (they/them) CEO Exclaimer +44 (0)1234 567890
For employees who'd rather not include pronouns, the signature omits the field. A central email signature management platform can do this automatically. When the pronoun field is empty for a given user, the signature is rendered without it, with no visible gap and no indication of opt-out status. That protects the privacy of employees who've chosen not to participate.
Key takeaway: Display pronouns in brackets after the name, use consistent formatting across the organization, and ensure empty fields render invisibly to protect employee privacy.
Can employers require employees to put pronouns in their email signatures?
No. Pronouns are personal information, and mandating their disclosure removes the consent that makes the policy meaningful. An employee who's required to share their pronouns hasn't really shared them at all.
There's also a practical risk. For some employees, particularly those who are non-binary, gender-questioning, or trans and not publicly out, being required to declare a pronoun set in their email signature can force a disclosure they aren't ready to make. A policy meant to support those employees can end up doing the opposite.
The right approach is to encourage participation and make it easy. HR communicates the policy as voluntary. IT builds the system so that empty pronoun fields don't display, and so that updates can be made at any time. That combination produces genuine participation and avoids the harm a mandate would cause.
Key takeaway: Employers should never require pronouns in email signatures; voluntary participation with easy opt-out protects employees and produces genuine, meaningful inclusion.
Manage pronouns at scale without the manual overhead
The workplaces that handle pronouns well in their email signatures treat the rollout as a joint IT and HR project from the start. The system is designed to absorb ongoing change, with employees given direct control over their own pronoun field.
That's the model Exclaimer has built for over 80,000 organizations worldwide, across more than 20 years in email signature management. The platform gives IT a single place to manage email signature templates, lets HR control the policy and what fields employees can edit, and gives employees a self-service portal to keep their own pronoun field accurate. The rollout works on day one and stays accurate as the workforce changes.
Book a demo to see how Exclaimer handles pronoun rollouts and ongoing email signature management.
