Reader Comments (9)

Rating (5):

Job Titles May Help Attract, Retain, Reward in Down Economy

Sept. 10, 2009 — Sometimes it really is the small things that matter: A new survey shows that job titles can play a key role in corporate efforts to attract, retain and reward valued employees.

The Pearl Meyer & Partners survey found that 95% of the 388 respondents said job titles are important, with the survey indicating a variety of uses from conveying corporate hierarchy to recognizing valued employees when funds are limited.

“Flexibility is widely embraced by companies when assigning job titles,” said Beth Florin, managing director and president of Pearl Meyer & Partners’ survey practice. “Managers typically have the autonomy to customize job titles in order to reflect different divisions, regions and employee preferences.”

According to survey results, most respondents said they assign formal job titles to employees but also allow the use of a second title that is more specific to an individual’s responsibilities. However, the survey revealed less flexibility in job titling practices at senior levels of management, where consistency is considered more critical, Florin noted. Nearly half of companies maintain specific criteria for assigning key executive titles like president, executive vice president and senior vice president.

The survey also found that sought-after management titles like manager, director and vice president may be given to employees who lack direct supervisory responsibilities but who do have significant organizational responsibility. According to survey results, among senior management, the most prevalent among 21 titles used for direct reports to the CEO are executive vice president, senior vice president, and president (group/business unit/function). The most common titles for employees two levels below the CEO are vice president, senior vice president and director. There are some differences in industries, Florin said. For example, financial services companies generally use the executive vice president title more, while firms in the industrials and materials sector have more group or business unit presidents.

Regarding the communication of promotions, the survey found that generally the higher an employee in the organizational hierarchy, the more broadly promotions are communicated within the company. At the executive level, 90% of respondents make organization-wide announcements of executive promotions, and 60% said they communicate non-supervisory promotions only to the employee, according to survey results.

In the current economy, with budgets tight, organizations might consider maximizing the reward value of new titles for non-managers by extending announcements beyond just the individual to include the related department, Florin said.

Contents © 2009 WorldatWork. No part of this article may be reproduced, excerpted or redistributed in any form without express written permission from WorldatWork.