Off topic: Title inflation Thread poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
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I’ve just read a very interesting article on last week’s ‘The Economist’ (page 60). As this is only accessible online to subscribers, I’m copying and pasting it here:
“The scourge of job-title inflation
The director of first impressions will see you now
When you enter an unfamiliar office for a meeting with someone who works there, you will almost certainly approach a person sitting behind a large desk. You might think you are about to speak to... See more I’ve just read a very interesting article on last week’s ‘The Economist’ (page 60). As this is only accessible online to subscribers, I’m copying and pasting it here:
“The scourge of job-title inflation
The director of first impressions will see you now
When you enter an unfamiliar office for a meeting with someone who works there, you will almost certainly approach a person sitting behind a large desk. You might think you are about to speak to a receptionist. But in some buildings, you will be dealing with someone far grander: a lobby ambassador.
If that feels absurd, take a deep breath. Plenty of companies now employ a “director of first impressions”, a job whose responsibilities include greeting all visitors at the front desk, almost as if you were meeting a receptionist. At Hudson Yards, a development in midtown Manhattan, advertisements tell candidates for one role that they are expected to “curate experiences” for visitors if they have questions. You might think you are asking someone where the toilet is; in fact, you are having an experience with a brand ambassador.
Title inflation happens for reasons that are perfectly understandable. When money is tight, a bump in title is a way of recognising someone’s efforts cheaply. A more prestigious-sounding role is not just a nice bauble: it may add to someone’s appeal in the wider job market. When a job lacks cachet, renaming it can lessen stigma and signal that an employer takes the position seriously. And when a role is outward-facing, a weightier title might make some clients more willing to take a meeting.
But title inflation also causes trouble. The results can be laughable. “Sanitation technicians” have to be passionate about cleaning; “sandwich artists” do not have to be passionate about art. And once inflation takes hold, it can be hard to suppress. If the lobby ambassador is on holiday, you will soon be seen by the lobby chargé d’affaires. Instead of undertakers, directors of last impressions.
The currency of an inflated title quickly loses value. A senior vice-president is someone in middle management; an assistant vice-president is three years out of university; an associate vice-president has just mastered the alphabet. More and more words need to be added to connote seniority. “Senior executive vice-president” is a title which would not exist if not for the massed ranks of vice-presidents jostling below. Absurdities have to be conjured up to stand out from the crowd—chief evangelist, director of storytelling, chief innovability officer.
There are bigger costs than comedy and confusion. Handing a heftier title to one person can easily cause resentment among others on a team. And inflated titles can have adverse effects on hiring processes. An analysis of tech recruitment in America by Datapeople, a software firm, found that the proportion of women in applicant pools drops as jobs become more senior. Puffed-up titles may put good candidates off.
Title inflation is most associated with specific jobs. But there exists a less-remarked type of naming inflation, which seeks to rebrand entire categories of people. There is, for example, a perfectly good term for buyers of things: “customers”. But lots of companies are not satisfied with taking people’s cash. They want to have a meaningful relationship.
Keen to avoid sounding too transactional, some businesses use the inflated title of “guests” instead. But language that might make sense at a Disney resort sounds very odd if you are in a queue for the checkout at Target; people are trying to leave as efficiently as possible, not settling in for the time of their lives. “Member” is another bogus word. No one is wondering whether their application to pay Amazon an annual fee for free shipping is going to be turned down.
The worst offences in this category are the labels that employers give to their staff. Calling people “colleagues” or “team members” instead of “staff” or “employees” is a common tactic. People who work in Walmart stores are known as “associates”. Baristas at Starbucks are called “partners” because, the firm’s website explains, “We are all partners in shared success.” Tech firms are wedded to cutesy names for their employees. When Facebook rebranded itself as Meta, it announced that its workers would henceforth be known as “Metamates”.
The intent behind this kind of language is again clear: to create a sense of shared endeavour and to disguise the cold reality of corporate hierarchies. But this façade is much easier to maintain when things are going well. Meta is now firing more than 11,000 of its mates, which seems a tad unfriendly. Starbucks doesn’t want its partners to form a union with anyone but itself. A bit of title inflation is excusable. But just like the real thing, it can easily get out of control.”
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Have a great Sunday! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | | ATIL KAYHAN 
Türkiye
Local time: 17:57
Member (2007)
Turkish to English
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| Nice Article | Dec 18, 2022 |
Thank you very much, Maria. I enjoyed reading the article. It shows that companies do not only market their products or services. They also market their positions by giving them fancy names.
By the way, it is sad that Cristiano Ronaldo's team had to quit the World Cup that soon. Looking forward to the final game today, I hope Argentina beats France, and brings the Cup to South America. 
Have a great w... See more Thank you very much, Maria. I enjoyed reading the article. It shows that companies do not only market their products or services. They also market their positions by giving them fancy names.
By the way, it is sad that Cristiano Ronaldo's team had to quit the World Cup that soon. Looking forward to the final game today, I hope Argentina beats France, and brings the Cup to South America.
Have a great weekend!
https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/fifa-world-cup-2022-finals-argentina-vs-france
[Edited at 2022-12-18 13:46 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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May I correct you? It’s not Cristiano Ronaldo’s team, but Portugal’s team, he’s “just” the captain and we have a lot of good young players: João Félix, Gonçalo Ramos, Rafael Leão, to name just a few. I believe that all the fuss around CR7 put more pressure on him and on the rest of the players. Anyway, getting to the quarter-finals is not a bad result, but we had hopes of going further. I will be watching the game and cheering Argentina…
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Thomas T. Frost wrote:
I hope all this vacuous nonsense can be kept out of Portugal.
So far we have avoided it...
| | | | ATIL KAYHAN
Türkiye
Local time: 17:57
Member (2007)
Turkish to English
+ ...
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Some years ago I was doing regular editing work for a company that was gradually taken over by this kind of MBA gibberish. (Note: Please do not think I am accusing all holders of an MBA degree of anything, but I have noted that when you come across this kind of idiocy it usually originates from somebody with an MBA.) Anyway, I noticed that progressively everybody who was employed by this company was becoming a "manager". Or rather, a "Manager".
So somebody who had gone to sleep on W... See more Some years ago I was doing regular editing work for a company that was gradually taken over by this kind of MBA gibberish. (Note: Please do not think I am accusing all holders of an MBA degree of anything, but I have noted that when you come across this kind of idiocy it usually originates from somebody with an MBA.) Anyway, I noticed that progressively everybody who was employed by this company was becoming a "manager". Or rather, a "Manager".
So somebody who had gone to sleep on Wednesday as an Editorial Assistant would wake up on Thursday to find they had become a Text Processing Manager, or something like that.
I made a witty comment on this trend in a mail to my main contact there, but it was not well received.
I also made some suggestions for further job title modifications they might consider. See if you can work them out:
1. Vehicle Allocation Manager
and
2. Vertical Relocation Manager ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Very serious | Dec 19, 2022 |
How lond did your cooperation with them last after the witty remarks and suggestions? This rubbish is always taken very seriously by such companies, often the more serious the more absurd it is.
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| Parkinson's Law | Dec 19, 2022 |
It can all be traced back to Parkinson's Law: 'Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.'
Parkinson explains there are two motive forces:
1. An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals.
2. Officials make work for each other.
Once they have hired more subordinates, as the latter have nothing useful to do, these begin to create tasks just for the sake of it, for example inventing ridiculous titles or implementing usel... See more It can all be traced back to Parkinson's Law: 'Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.'
Parkinson explains there are two motive forces:
1. An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals.
2. Officials make work for each other.
Once they have hired more subordinates, as the latter have nothing useful to do, these begin to create tasks just for the sake of it, for example inventing ridiculous titles or implementing useless 'productivity' programmes requiring everybody to participate in meetings and fill in forms to report back on progress. The useless activities then again make the productive staff less productive so more staff is required to accomplish the same tasks as before the initial additional hires. That way, a bureaucracy and its useless activities keep expanding. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 10:57
German to English
| Blame it on Human Resources (formerly Personnel) | Dec 19, 2022 |
Title inflation started about 40 years ago when the Personnel department decided to call itself Human Resources. New job titles were created to give employees a false sense of self-worth, rather than a real sense of value to the organization provided by an increase in wages. Secretaries became administrative assistants, sales clerks became retail associates. My daughter's last job title was "Vice President, Client Success", by her own admission a nonsensical title if there ever was one. To be fa... See more Title inflation started about 40 years ago when the Personnel department decided to call itself Human Resources. New job titles were created to give employees a false sense of self-worth, rather than a real sense of value to the organization provided by an increase in wages. Secretaries became administrative assistants, sales clerks became retail associates. My daughter's last job title was "Vice President, Client Success", by her own admission a nonsensical title if there ever was one. To be fair she was paid a handsome amount to get her customers to use her company's expensive software to provide the same data obtained by a sophisticated spreadsheet. ▲ Collapse
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Thomas T. Frost wrote:
It can all be traced back to Parkinson's Law
There is also the Peter Principle, which states that in a hierarchy people tend to rise to their level of incompetence. This explains why the higher you go in an organisation, the harder it becomes to find somebody who knows what they're doing.
(To Evgeny, we were already on the slippery slope, but you are right: I was expected to take this stuff seriously.)
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