Is this too pedantic?

[abcdeeebygum]

An employee in my small friendly team always writes "hope your well?" at the start of all her professional emails to clients and freelance staff. She's a gem and absolutely first class employee who I greatly value, and we get on well on a friendly level. Shall I just ignore it? I can't think of a way to raise it without coming across as a pedant- probably because I am one!

Is it your own business? If so, I would tell her, quite straightforwardly, just ‘you’re using the wrong form of your/you’re in your emails, could you change please’.

If you work for a bigger company, I would leave it.

I used to share an office with someone who would introduce herself on the phone by saying "My name is called..." I hadn't heard that since childhood. She wasn't my staff and we weren't close friends so I never mentioned it.

If you work in an office you could print off a coloured sign with common errors and stick it to the wall.

Definitely correct her. It reflects badly on the organisation.

I would simply reply every time "yes I am well thank you and I hope you're well too" and she may notice the difference

lifestooshort123

Just say, "I have spotted a typo - it should 1be you're not your".

This.
No, it's not being pedantic as it's an elementary error that should be corrected - the longer it's allowed to go on, the more humiliated she will feel. Point it out and move on.

Exactly. Perhaps you could make it look as though you'd just spotted the typo on the latest example of it rather than saying you've noticed it every time.

Like you I'm surprised that so many people don't think this is an issue in a professional email and, obviously, you'll be concerned with the impression it gives about your business.
However, I'm always surprised by some of the aggressive responses to pedantry here. You certainly don't sound like a "bitch" or socially awkward to me.

I might be tempted to tell her she shouldn't abbreviate - when I did a secretarial course (20 years ago...) we were taught that you didn't abbreviate in official correspondence and I am inclined to still agree with that.

So ask her if she could start with "I hope you are well" and avoid the your/you're issue entirely! (You could even start with "I know it's pedantic, but ...).

Please tell me she doesn't end it with a question mark (I hope your well?), that really would be too much...

It most definitely should be corrected on a professional email. Nothing pedantic about that.

Can you send her this?

@Janek

I might be tempted to tell her she shouldn't abbreviate - when I did a secretarial course (20 years ago...) we were taught that you didn't abbreviate in official correspondence and I am inclined to still agree with that.

So ask her if she could start with "I hope you are well" and avoid the your/you're issue entirely! (You could even start with "I know it's pedantic, but ...).

Please tell me she doesn't end it with a question mark (I hope your well?), that really would be too much...

That is a really great idea

It's a spelling mistake, needs to be corrected in a professional environment.

Pulling other people up on their usage for rules that aren’t part of accepted correct grammar is a really special kind of social awkwardness.

Is you’re vs your not part of accepted correct grammar? Or was this comment aimed at something else?

I don't understand why you are feeling so awkward about this if it is an employee/employer dynamic. You need to exert some authority. Would be different if she was a colleague.

Just reply and say something along the lines of:
"Hi [name], I've just noticed you have put "your" instead of "you're" in external emails. Please can you ensure that you write "hope you're well" going forward as that is grammatically correct".

That will initially be awkward but, if she is a pleasant and professional person, she will reply and acknowledge your reasoning. You can reply saying "no problem" etc. Job done. Awkwardness over.

Phew, just had to check my emails, as I do that, but I put hope you are well.
So I'm ok

Not pedantic at all! I couldn't let this slide so if it were my employee, I would need to say something. Grammar and spelling are fundamental when sending any kind of professional communication. I think it looks bad to have such errors, albeit others might not deem it to be a big issue.
I'll admit to dismissing some potential candidates for roles purely on the basis that there are spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors on their CVs or covering letters. It looks careless and sloppy.

Thanks @LaMarschallin appreciate that Trying not to be one!

I would simply reply every time "yes I am well thank you and I hope you're well too" and she may notice the difference
Funnily enough I did try this but she has clearly not noticed!!

What about my well?

I'd point it out. I like the idea of suggesting it should not be an abbreviation.

If I received a mail starting with "hope your well" I'd probably be thinking about your vs you're, rather than the actual content the sender wants me to think about.

This would bother me too. But then I have pointed out to colleagues that they shouldn't capitalise both words when signing off emails 'Kind Regards'

I would pretend that I'd only just noticed, and say "Hey Jill, autocorrect has mangled your letter! It's 'you're' not 'your'."
That way she gets to save face.
That said I recently received an email, which flashed up as a banner on my phone, with the opening sentence "I trust you and your loved ones are well." I nearly deleted it as spam before realising it was indeed an important email from a professional company.
Maybe templates are the way to go.

You are her manager, so yes, you should point it out. It reflects badly on your company. I think best done in person (if you're not WFH) - next time she's near your desk, pull up the email, beckon her over and in a quiet, conspiratorial tone, say "small thing - I've noticed a few emails going out with this typo - it should be y-o-u-apostrophe-r-e - can you watch out for it?". She shouldn't take offence.

Can we just drop the "I hope you're well?" bit from all emails - I get emails from someone who does occasional work for me, and every email I receive starts off with this line .... and then delivers the punch which is an unexpected bill. Just give me the message and don't bother wrapping it up in fluffy words - the sender has zero interest whether I'm well or not, as I'm sure I am when I email people (in a professional capacity).

Definitely should be mentioned. The "your" and the question mark too.

@GirlCalledJames

Pulling other people up on their usage for rules that aren’t part of accepted correct grammar is a really special kind of social awkwardness.

Are you saying that "your" and "you're" mean the same thing then? they don't

Depends on context - informal communication/internal communication then I'd leave it. If it was going out to a client or similar then I'd find a way to point it out politely.

Years ago I worked with someone who was PA to one of the big cheeses at the workplace. She was sending an email to a client on his behalf which included the phrase "We should of got this organised by XXX [date]". I did point out to her (very nicely) that it was "should have". She had no idea that what she had written was wrong. The company we worked at was a well-known one and it would have reflected badly on big cheese and the company.

I’ve experienced exactly this.

I dealt with it by always replying,

“I’m well, thank you. I trust you’re well too?”

And

“Recovered well from the tummy bug thank! I hope you’re doing great and your family too.”

It wasn’t rude or pedantic, but he figured it out eventually.

No idea how to tackle my friend who always thinks we should “defiantly” have a coffee and that we “defiantly” need a good catch up. “I agree, it’s definitely overdue!” isn’t getting through!