During the HR Technology Conference, I was chatting with someone about job titles. She had heard the most interesting title – Vice President of Employee Success. It didn’t sit well with me then and the more I think about it…it still doesn’t. My apologies if this is your job title, but I do have to take exception to this one.
When a person has the job title Vice President of Employee Success, that takes responsibility for achieving success away from:
1) The organization
2) The managers, and most importantly
3) The employees.
Creating an engaging and productive workplace is everyone’s job. It’s not just one person’s job. Or one department’s job.
Now someone might say – hey, it’s just a job title. No big deal. But think about it – what’s the purpose of a job title? It’s to market our responsibilities – whether that’s internally or externally. If titles were really “no big deal” then why have them in the first place? I can buy into the idea that titles might not matter much inside the organization, but externally, they do matter.
Especially in recruiting. Let’s say I’m applying for a job and scheduled to interview with the Vice President of Employee Success. Does that mean this person is going to help me become successful? They don’t even know what success means to me. What if they can’t help me become successful? Can I hold them accountable for failing? There are just way too many questions.
I get it. Organizations want their employees to understand that they are vested in the employee’s success. The way to achieve that is by hiring great people, giving them the right tools, offering good benefits and competitive compensation, rewarding and recognizing excellent work, and providing them with future opportunities. It’s not by creating an Employee Success Department. Actions speak louder than words, or in this case, job titles.
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Job titles should tell the world what you are responsible for. More importantly, they should reflect what you are held accountable for. It shouldn’t be “Employee Success”. Because you know who should be responsible for employee success? That’s right – the employee! Everyone else is responsible for helping, coaching, supporting, advising, etc.
Employees need to own their success. They defined their own version of success. They worked hard to achieve their success. Don’t minimize it with a job title that gives employee success to someone else.
Image Courtesy of My French Country Home
Bill Kutik (@billkutik) says
I’ve long loathed the euphemisms of business-speak: “challenges” for “problems” and “partners” for “customers.”
You point out the latest wave of it: the “Success Officer.” It’s not just in HR. Can’t tell you how many “Customer Success” executives I’ve seen in software companies lately, which can mean Head of Sales (when not called “Chief Revenue Officer”) or Head of Customer Support.
Stamp it out wherever you see it, Sharlyn. It degrades the English language and makes business less transparent.
Samara Parker says
I really and truly love this blog post. I am currently in serious need of a job title change and your insights are inspiring.
Thank you kindly 😀
Raluca Bodkin says
Yes, it might seem a bit weird and yes, we all should be responsible of the company’s success, but I don’t find this job irrelevant or poorly named. It’s just that being successful is the thing that’s in the back of our minds always and you’d think we’d always act having that in mind. But sometimes we’re too wrapped up in our own little world and tasks and projections, that we keep the “success “in the back of our minds and not as the solely purpose of what we’re doing. This is why I do think that it’s good to have someone with a well reports – rested mind come into the picture and make us remember what our goal is.
Sharlyn Lauby says
@Bill – Thanks for the comment. I’ve always been a fan of simple, plain English.
@Samara – Thanks for the comment!
@Raluca – I agree that sometimes we get bogged down in the day-to-day and forget the big picture. But I think it’s the responsibility of management to keep us focused on both the short-term and long-term.
Kristy Lopez says
I have to agree with you on this job title. At my former company we had an employee engagement committee where individuals from almost every area of the organization came together to aid in employees success. But just one person? Hhhmmm… Then again, I’ve held some titles that really didn’t promote what I did within the organization. As an example, I’ve held the title of Project Coordinator, but I actually managed projects, I worked with HR, marketing, and IT on a consistent and ongoing basis, etc. When I requested to change my title (giving lists of what I did for the organization, possible title solutions, and even letting them know I was willing to accept a new title without a raise), I was met with great resistance. Nothing ever changed.
Sharlyn Lauby says
@Kristy – Thanks for sharing your experience. I believe job titles are important. I’ve seen companies disengage employees by treating their job title as insignificant.