Sadistic Manager: Your Business Information Technician
Posted Mar 12, 2009 Uncategorized
∞ Is anyone else as irritated as I am by some of the job titles companies are coming up with? I’ve seen references to research that indicates this is a valuable employee engagement tool, but it still blows my mind. I haven’t seen this research, mind you, which as far as I’m concerned is a good thing. Better yet that I haven’t met the researchers.
As I write this, a meal is being conveyed to me by a “Delivery Expert.” Earlier this week, I interacted with a “Customer Experience Technician.”
Really? Really?!
I have a hard time stomaching “specialist” when it’s used for entry-level people whom companies don’t want to call “representatives.”
Maybe the research shows that this works, but it would never work on me. It all seems too gimmicky and condescending. Others agree - one team I managed complained about the titles assigned to their roles.
I made light of this theory to entertain that team and make a point. One afternoon, my staff and I decided to change our titles on all internal emails we sent for an hour. Line level staff became “minions,” followed by “henchmen” and “villains.” My response to the one inquiry I received about what my team was doing was signed by the “dark overlord.”
The point I made? What we’re called has nothing to do with who we are or what we bring to work every day. If anything, we got more done that afternoon than we otherwise would have, even if only because everyone wanted an excuse to send more email. ∞
