Kim Jong Il reportedly has 1200 official titles. Photo: Photo: Reuters
One of the most fascinating trends over the last few years has been job title inflation. I have come across receptionists who have had the title Director of First Impressions. They even had business cards telling me this. Why give a business card to a receptionist? Go figure.
It’s a point taken up by The Economist in the Schumpeter blog.
"Kim Jong Il the North Korean dictator, is not normally a trendsetter. But in one area he is clearly leading the pack: job-title inflation. Mr Kim has 1200 official titles, including, roughly translated, guardian deity of the planet, ever-victorious general, lodestar of the 21st century, supreme commander at the forefront of the struggle against imperialism and the United States, eternal bosom of hot love and greatest man who ever lived...," the blogger writes.
"The rot starts at the top. Not that long ago companies had just two or three “chief” whatnots. Now they have dozens, collectively called the “c-suite”. A few have more than one chief executive officer; CB Richard Ellis, a property-services firm, has four. A growing number have chiefs for almost everything from knowledge to diversity."
According to this report, the online job board JobServe.com has found that companies are now advertising for positions that include ‘Chief Executive Twitterer’; ‘Web 2.0 Wonk’; ‘Facebook Fashionista’; ‘Manager of Deep Web Research’, ‘Twitterer-in-Chief’, ‘Social Media Maven’; ‘Pastor of Communications’; ‘Central Interactions Architect’; ‘Skype Scalper’, ‘Virtual World Bureau Chief’, ‘Dynamic Quality Sheriff’, and ‘Lead Micro Dude’.
Writing on the BNET blog, Michael Hess says we might put up with the ‘sandwich artists’ or Chief Happiness Officers if the company can answer three questions:
- Does the title actually say what the person does, or is it vague?
- Does it do anything to reward and motivate the employee?
- Does the title actually do anything to help the company?
The online masters degree website has posted an article, Job Title Stuffing 101: 12 Buzzwords to Inflate a Job’s Importance, which basically identifies the most common inflated titles. A “manager”, for example, is anyone who heads up a project or department, no matter how small and insignificant it may be. A “strategist” is anyone who plans tasks. Anyone who holds the title “senior” has had five-plus years experience in the job. Nothing special about the job but the title makes it sound so grand and important.
Job title inflation has been around for years but it seems to have become more prevalent since the financial crisis. There’s a good reason for that. A fancy job title is cheaper than a pay rise or big salary. It’s all about promotion without compensation.
Still, there are some who defend the epidemic of job titles, claiming it motivates employees. Fast Company blogger William Taylor says it’s about getting employees engaged with their jobs. So what if the title is over the top?
What do you think? How many wacky job titles have you confronted? What have been some of the worst? Have you ever had any? What would be the perfect title for your job? And do you think titles motivate, or is it just promotion on the cheap?
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