What’s in a name (or a title)?

by Richard Klein:

I’ve been an internal communications professional for years. I’m accustomed to being involved in all manner of situations affecting teams with which I work. I get calls from executives, HR, finance and IT, sales and marketing, and every other corner of any of the organizations I’ve worked for. I know how to get the job done well and I know how to treat people for long-term success. Let’s step away from that and ask, who is our audience and why does it matter?

In my very first corporate job, I was excited to get the offer letter, but confused when it arrived, saying that I was working for associate communications. I wanted to be a full-fledged employee. To me, “associate” meant that I was working with people adjacent to employees; they were associated with but not part of.

It didn’t take long to learn that the group of people with whom I work, who take a paycheck for contributing, might be called staff or colleagues or employees. Other clever companies call their employees (what else are they, really?) team members, partners, champions, or, my favorite, geniuses (I’d bet a nickel that most readers can identify this company).

Does it matter? In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare geniously said (see what I did there?) “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” What’s in a name? I’ll start by saying this: to a certain degree, it’s just a word. I got very used to calling my colleagues associates. Later, at my next gig, I grew accustomed to calling them staff, and then team members, or whatever other nomenclature seemed to matter to the organization. Some of these terms were defined by the executives and imbued with meaning. Others seemed to come about more organically. The nearly 2,000 people who work for my current employer are staff. We’re doers. Would I rather be a partner? What if I really was a genius? I mean, I do have some real expertise, but genius takes it to a whole other level.

There really is a bottom line to this. Two bottom lines, in fact. Though I’ve never talked to a CEO or CHRO about these terms, I have every confidence that they are intended to instill some meaning. “We want you to think of yourself as a true [fill in the blank].” That is, our dozens, hundreds or thousands of employees are more than just employees. They really are here to fill a unique role that has special meaning to our organization. Whether or not the employees actually feel that way is a very different question.

The bottom bottom line is that these terms may grow to have some meaning to the employees. After time, whatever term is used may just be another word, but it may really have meaning. That meaning comes from how people are treated. Language doesn’t drive culture. A deep set of relationships and behaviors really determines whether any of this matters. Was I seen as a partner? Are we treated like just the staff? Was I an associate or a true team member? Or are we seen as geniuses who enable the organization’s success? A rose, after all, by any other name.

Written by: Editor