Your Company is Unique: Shouldn’t Your Titles Be, Too?

Posted on: 06/28/17

Written by: Carleigh O’Connell

Topics: Human Resources

What’s in a job title? For one, it has the ability to convey an employee’s role, responsibilities, and proficiency. However, titles can also have an impact on how your employees view their positions, and how customers perceive your organization.

“Titles can empower employees to do their best work,” explains Dana Clinton, CEO and Founder of Vibrant Cultures, an employee engagement consultancy in Portland, OR. “Employees titles can also communicate your brand—a plus if you are looking to attract and recruit talent.”

MOVING FROM TRADITIONAL
When committing to move away from “traditional” titles and toward titles that better reflect your
organization’s culture, people, and the value you provide to customers, it makes sense to start with the
audience most impacted by the change—employees. Engage them in the process and encourage them to think about the contributions their roles make to internal and external audiences.

“Ask yourself, ‘what are titles I would want for myself in this role?’” Clinton suggests. “If it makes you proud and energized, it will most likely resonate with others. At the same time, it’s also important to ensure that more creative and non-traditional titles resonate with your customers.”

DON’T FORGET CULTURE
Titles can be a powerful way to shape an organization’s culture and to ensure that each employee understands his or her role in fulfilling its vision. However, taking a new approach to titles is merely one area that can set the tone for your company.

“While exciting new titles can be thought-provoking and empowering, they can’t change a company’s culture,” notes Clinton. “Titles can create a feeling, but there has to be a management style and system in place to support it.”

Committing to an intentional culture strategy can be challenging. Professional culture coaches can provide guidance to help ensure that titles reflect your company’s unique personality and the value it delivers to
internal and external audiences.

About the Author: Carleigh O’Connell is an Intern in the publishing department at PSMJ. She is currently a student at Connecticut College.

This article is featured in PSMJ's July 2017 newsletter, Professional Services Management Journal (PSMJ). In today’s fast-moving information overload world, it seems that there is industry-related content everywhere you look, with some nuggets of advice on how you can be more successful. The trouble is that so much content out there is just re-stating what lots of others may (or may not) be doing without making any distinction as to what the most successful industry-leading architecture and engineering firms are doing. PSMJ’s carefully-curated content ensures that you are not getting generic filler, hypothetical fluff, or anything but proven battle-tested advice. Check out a free copy available at the link below.