What’s in a Title?
It’s time to rethink how we describe the work we do
The grocery store isn’t the only place we’re experiencing inflation these days. In the workplace, title inflation is a growing trend. In order to entice and retain talent, employers are giving out job titles that don’t always reflect the employee’s abilities or experience.
Several managers I coach have recently shared that title inflation causes major problems. They feel frustrated that a team member with a certain title doesn’t have the skills necessary to execute at the level their title indicates. It causes other team members to have to pick up the slack and it sets up the employee for failure when they don’t have the experience to do what the role requires.
Unfortunately, the way we currently structure titles is rooted in ego and hierarchy. Our current workplace systems have a hierarchical structure that only rewards those who want to climb a ladder. And too often titles don’t reflect the actual work the employee does.
While job titles are meant to convey a certain level of experience, responsibility, and authority, too often titles are used to stroke egos, which is the opposite of creating a more conscious workplace focused on helping all team members grow themselves.
The current system can also entrap us with the desire to constantly seek a higher title, which could prevent us from doing work we love. For example, if a Vice President is offered a role at a different company which will pay more and prioritizes work they love, but the title is director-level, their ego may prevent them from accepting the job. Or they may fear that their new title will be perceived as a demotion, which could hurt future job prospects.
Some people even start to believe that their title reflects their value as a person. If they were to lose that C-Suite title, they would feel like a failure. Other people lord their titles over others and think that because they have climbed the hierarchical ladder, they are better than those below them. This ego-trap is unhealthy both for those in leadership and those in the rest of the organization.
So how do we start to solve this systemic problem, which is so entrenched in how we view jobs and work?
I’ve written in the past about Holacracy and its approach to building an organization without hierarchy. Holacracy companies don’t struggle with title inflation because there is no hierarchy. Instead, employees fill a role that accurately describes what they do. Isn’t that what we need to know about an employee? Not the level of promotion they’ve reached, but what they actually do.
For example, Holacracy founder Brian Robertson doesn’t have the title CEO & Founder. Instead, his website bio features the various roles he fulfills at the company. Looking at the website, one might not even know that Brian founded the company, but anyone within or outside the company can know exactly what he does. This level of transparency and humility is astonishing and refreshing in a corporate world that seeks ego-driven recognition.
This week, consider how your organization has structured hierarchy and titles. Is there any title inflation? Do you incentivize low-conscious behavior that constantly seeks promotions based on ego? How would you structure your team in such a way that roles, responsibilities, and results matter more than a title? And how can you help staff grow in their career without the need for a hierarchical title promotion?
It's going to take a fundamental shift in how we view work and how we build organizations in order to change the ego-centric titles quandary. It will require respecting all roles, regardless of who fills them and what they actually do. It means being humble enough to understand that what we do matters more than the labels we use. It will require greater conscious leadership that values all team members and their unique contributions. It’s possible, and it starts with each of us shifting our own perspective on titles and the value of our work.
Work happy. Live happy. BE happy.
Meredith
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The way we work and build teams is rapidly changing. Leaders often feel unprepared to navigate the transition. As a conscious leadership coach, consultant and communicator, Meredith helps leaders and their teams create new ways of working and relating so they can prepare for the future by consciously co-creating it.
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