Job titles can provide direction to employees and help businesses organize their staff. However, titles aren’t always accurate to the actual jobs that specific employees carry out. If you’re organization is having issues filling an open position, it may be beneficial to tweak the job title to help fill it.
What Makes a Job Title?
Depending on your position, you may be a “director,” “vice president” or “manager.” Additionally, your function may make your job title more specific. Take accounting, for example – if you work within this area, you may have “accountant” somewhere in your position name. However, even the most accurate words used to describe your job may cause problems for you and your colleagues.
Let’s consider the title of vice president. When a worker is moved into a position that includes “VP” in his or her title, other employees may develop resentment, according to Inc magazine. This could be especially true if others do not feel that he or she is worthy of the “VP” title.
“One way to avoid such headaches is to standardize the qualifications necessary to ascend to a certain title,” Scott Westcott wrote for the news source. “If possible, reward restless stars with perks like cash or extra days off instead of new titles.”
The Inefficiencies Surrounding Job Titles
Inefficiency is another issue that may arise as a result of titles in the workplace. Depending on who has the title of “manager,” for example, other individuals may shy away from certain responsibilities with the attitude that it’s “someone else’s job.” Meetings may be more difficult to hold due to a lack of specific-titled individuals in the room. These breaks in communication can quickly decrease the productivity of a team in its entirety.
Title Entrapment
Even in a professional setting, titles are still just titles – names given to individuals to designate their position in a group. In some cases, this may be detrimental to workers who feel “trapped” or tied to their title. Take the position of “manager,” for example. An employee who has this title for an extended period of time may feel boxed in. He or she might start to think that a higher position and title, such as “vice president,” is out of reach.
Because titles can create feelings of restriction, some companies choose eliminate them altogether. The Richards Group is one company that decided to do so for its staff of 560 employees, according to Inc magazine. Now, the company states that employees are more focused on doing their job, rather than reaching for higher titles.
There is no right answer when it comes to taking on the challenge of job titles. Some companies may be better suited for titles than others. However, it never hurts to take employee input or recruiting experts into account during the process.
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