Michelle Rodger: Being chief lizard wrangler is no laughing matter

Published on Saturday 12 June 2010 14:22

'SO, WHAT do you do?" used to be a simple question. It no longer commands a simple answer.

Titles such as Information Architect or Brand Policeman raise more questions than they answer, and yet they are just some of the quirky and often confusing monikers invading organisation charts across the country.

Product Supply Champion, Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinator (yes, I know, no wonder we have such high statistics) and Wet Leisure Attendant (lifeguard) raise a smile, as do Company Evangelist, Chief Lizard Wrangler (general manager) and Director of First Impressions (receptionist).

Some schools of thought insist that proper titles are essential for hierarchy and order within a business to communicate roles and responsibilities, and that fun titles are frivolous, inappropriate and give the impression that nothing is being taken seriously.

But do they really matter? Are job titles important enough to get in a tizzy over? I wasn't sure, but apparently so.

If the experts are to be believed, job titles can motivate staff and are an important way of communicating what someone's role is, particularly in jobs where there is direct contact with the public or with customers. Titles are even being used as incentivisation during the economic squeeze.

According to Lesley Garrick of global management consultants Hay Group, when pay rises are not an option there can be a tendency to use job titles as a way of differentiating people in an organisation, with a potential for "job title inflation".

What is important, says Garrick, is making sure that the search for a perfect job title doesn't result in the meaning becoming unclear. Titles are a way of us understanding what someone else's working life is, and how similar or dissimilar that might be to our own.

Garrick advises keeping the title simple and relevant.

Traditional or quirky, it all comes down to the values of the person and the values of the company. Kirsty Mack, self-styled Business Booster and All Round Good Deed Do-er, explains that one of the six major human needs is significance, so an important title can make people feel significant and can be worn with pride.

But at the same time, titles can be limiting. At a company she worked in recently, she heard employees say: "Oh, you can't say that, he is 'the director'," the belief being that the director created an element of fear, meaning that honest communication wasn't possible.

Mack thinks fun titles can often lead to barriers being broken and the opportunity for more open communication, which in business, she says, can only be a good thing.

Titles and organisational charts can sometimes create a hierarchical culture and a more traditional set of interactions. When there are more different "fun" titles, they tend to be remembered and can often lead to more honest and open communication.

Job titles can even be used as a marketing tool; memorable titles mean customers won't forget you. Like calling a senior marketing executive at a bank the "Head of Colouring-In".

Even accidentally memorable job titles have an impact. Mack recalls a business meeting in Hong Kong where she was ceremoniously handed a business card that read "Dick Hung, Executive Director of Hard Goods". Not surprisingly, she hasn't forgotten him to this day.

So titles can be good and can break down barriers, but they can also be limiting and misrepresentative. The key lies in the culture of your organisation, and it's important not to get too hung up on them.

Fiona Irvine of Rainbow HR was once a Senior Human Capital Consultant; not very people-friendly given it was an HR role, she laughs. Irvine believes having quirky job titles is okay in certain fields, but it's not always transferable in the corporate world.

We can get too hung up on them, says Irvine, when what's most important is what the actual role is, its scope and accountabilities.

People regularly grandstand and use euphemistic titles to create an impression of greater status, responsibility or ability – only last week I was told about an Executive Vice President, Western Hemisphere, who worked for an oil company from a portable cabin in Peterhead.

We can laugh, and we do, but ultimately what you contribute is more important than any job title. If you set an expectation in business and can't deliver then you might just wind up as an Employment Opportunity Research Analyst (unemployed).