We are being tested as we try to survive the post-Covid staffing tsunami. (And who knows? Possibly another wild wave known as the Covid variant that's out on the horizon.) Will we play by the rules that kept things ticking along in the good times, or give in to today's pressure by slipping in some policy workarounds?
Titles are often the first to give. After all, if you can placate an employee with a souped up title, haven't you come out pretty clean? You might have to increase the salary, too, but the new title gives the employee immediate social acknowledgement. This psychological boost can go a long way to recementing a potential resignee's commitment to your company. (At least for the short term.)
The thing is, loosening up your titling guidelines has been repeatedly tried and repeatedly proven a real troublemaker. Even if things in staffing are desperate, you can run into immediate problems. One moment's weakness with just one employee's title can cause instantaneous issues with other employees in the same department, and then their friend's department, and so on.
In the medium term, playing loose with titles can cause salary structure alignment problems that can affect your data analyses, pay equity being just one example. In the long term, you'll find that you will have to recreate the salary structure and policies eventually. Just ask any consultant, who will have a long list of costly projects that ensued from clients' panicked titling practices.
You don't have to take my word for it, though. As ever, Compensation Cafe has resources that can help you think and work your way through the pressures you face when times are tough.
Ann Bares wrote, "Job Titles: Are They Really Free?" during the last recession, which was another time for panic. While she cites data illustrating that titles are a common negotiation item, Ann cautions, ". . . we'd better go into the practice with eyes wide open as to the eventual implications and costs of such a move."
And for a detailed exposé of what title juggling can do to your salary structure and administration practices, read Chuck Czimar's, "It's Only a Title, Right?"
Margaret O'Hanlon brings deep expertise to discussions on employee pay, performance management, career development and communications at the Café. Her firm is re:Think Consulting. Earlier, she was a Principal at Willis Towers Watson. A former Board member for the Bay Area Compensation Association (BACA), Margaret coauthored the popular eBook, Everything You Do (in Compensation) Is Communications, a toolkit that all practitioners can find at everythingiscommunication.com. She is a member of U.S. Masters Swimming.
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