Job titles

Job titles are as diverse as the jobs that they describe. The same type of job can be given a dozen different titles. There is a line form a Shakespearean play that reads something like this, "What is in a name, would a rose by any other name not smell as sweet?" Well, maybe so, but lets apply Shakespeare's comments to the business world. Does the title of "clean-up crew" have the same appeal as "sanitation specialists"? If you were applying for a position based solely on the title, which of these two job titles seems like the better job? Which one would you think pays better? In all reality it could be either one. Now do you see how you can use job titles to motivate employees and communicate to customers?

If you still need more convincing consider these points...

Motivating Employees with Job Titles:

• Job Titles Define a Job - Most job titles define the employee's circle of responsibility. A Chief Operating Officer is known to be more experienced, responsible and educated versus a Secretary. Likewise a Secretary is more highly esteemed than a Soda Machine Repairman. You would not expect a repairman to take notes at meetings and answer phones. Likewise you would not expect a secretary to conduct a meeting with the board of trustees. You know your boundaries and what is expected. Knowing what you do and do not have to do can give an employee more confidence and security to do their job accurately.
• Define the Company Ladder - You do not have to have met a person to know how important he probably is in the company. You just need his job title. One of the first things you figure out when you start a new job is the chain of command. You want to know who you answer too. In terms of the company ladder being a motivating factor, the job titles can work as stepping stones or rungs of the corporate ladder. You know what the next level is and work to be promoted to it. Regardless of pay difference or environment changes being recognized and labeled as someone higher in the company is certainly very motivating.
• Have Emotions/Expectations Attached - Employees are motivated to do better when there is some reward involved. Yes it is nice to be promoted to manager, but it is even more motivating when everyone knows that the manager gets a certain parking sticker or a fancy name tag. Don't underestimate the power of the low-cost "things" that are associated with different job titles. People like to feel needed, intelligent, important and influential. Attaching intimidating and credible job titles to each of your employees may create a very surprising motivating influence.

Using Job Titles to Communicate to Customers:

• Reflect a Sense of Order/Seniority - Customers like to know what to expect when talking to people in an organization. They need to know that the manager is going to be someone who can help them better with their concerns than the concessions worker could. Not having an understandable chain of command is frustrating to customers and creates doubt as to the workings of that business.
• Connect People to their Responsibilities - When something goes wrong in an organization there should be a clear line to the people responsible. Having titles that define working responsibilities helps to connect people to their responsibilities.
• Shows Complexity of Organization - A small scale business's job titles, as you can imagine, are going to be very different from a large corporation's job titles. There are certainly higher expectations associated with the CEO of a company versus the Bakery owner, even though technically they are both the heads of their respective businesses.
• Professionalism Expectations - Just as more perks are associated with a more respectable job title, so too are expectations higher. The customer expects to be treated differently by the head of a company versus the shift supervisor. In any case, the customer is constantly judging your company, make sure that how you have structured your job titles and responsibilities, does not leave the customer confused or disappointed.

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