What's in a name?
Everything, say some...
IF YOU ARE the kind who think a rose by any other name smells as sweet, think again, or so say a growing number of corporate houses and executives who prefer a pinch of poetry, a dash of humour and a healthy dose of ambiguity to ho-hum, staid, straightforward job-titles. So we have a Chief Executive of People and Culture, a Grandmaster of Client Satisfaction, a Crayon Evangelist and a Word Carver (for the uninitiated dilettantes, that's Head HR, customer service representative, graphic designer and content writer respectively).
The good old days were when the boy who supplied tea was simply the tea-boy, and the person who guarded your office was a friendly watchman. Today, the `boy' is likely to look askance if you call him anything but `beverage consultant' in reverential tones, and the hefty Security Consultant at the door will probably throw you backwards on the pavement if you dare call him a watchman.
There's more. Sanitation engineers (the janitor), Table tenders (waiters) Cleanliness connoisseurs (housekeepers), and Dairy distribution realisers (the ubiquitous tea boy again) rub shoulders with organisational psychologists, change makers, growth engineers, process innovators, knowledge facilitators and transformation specialists. Then there are the People directors, Electronic Resources executives, Mission critical support consultants, IT problem resolution specialists, Learning solution consultants and Knowledge officers who are hopefully doing jobs that are as important as their titles make them out to be.
It has also come to our attention that there is a growing fashion for titles that have somewhat of a royal or religious flavour. So we have titles like Technical Kingpin, Queen Bee- Creation, Tech Guru, Cultural Czar and Transition Evangelist.
The emphasis on knowledge-based work has given rise to opportunities and in their wake, impressive new terminology for people who don't want to spend their time working in the office from nine to five, or be tied to a single employer.
These people are now being referred to as 'Open-Collar Workers' or 'Permalancers' - the former work from home or the office as it suits them and, as a rule, don't wear ties. The latter freelance on a permanent basis.
While some of the titles have been around for a while, new titles emerge daily, confounding the already confused hoi polloi, and with bizarre noms de plume like Director of Vagary Actualisation and Co-ordinator of Chaos, things are getting a tad out of hand in the realm of job titles. Even hard-line industry analysts and long time recruiters are having a hard time keeping up with the new terminology.
Incredible as it sounds, there is a method to this madness. Globalisation has had a strong influence on this crazy rush for titles. As women began to take an equal place in the workforce, titles became gender neutral. So titles like Air Hostess and Chairman morphed into Flight attendant and Chairperson. Also, many feel that there may be a valid need for more descriptive titles- with jobs becoming more complex they have outgrown more traditional titles.
`It is getting more challenging to name jobs because there is a more diverse range of roles,' says an industry watcher. `It is all the more important for organisations to properly define the roles played by its staff. Hence the need for more descriptive titles.'
While some industries conspired to put words such as "professional" in their title (such as IT professionals) in others, even the receptionist is a Director of First and Last impressions! And with the dot com boom, cutting-edge titles went over the edge, resulting in quirky, innovative and even bizarre titles like Internet Evangelist, iCEO, Chief Yahoo!, and even a corporate seagull!.
Funky job titles are fine for a while, but once their shock value fades, they seem ridiculous. Do remember that it is easier for a company to give somebody an important sounding title without incurring the expense of a major jump in pay or authority. In the end, the titles won't win you jobs anyway; it is what you do that counts!
BINDU SRIDHAR
faqs@cnkonline.com
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