DESIGNING DESIGNATIONS

 What's in a name? Apparently a lot, when it comes to workplace designations

                  Studies show that motivation levels of employees can significantly go up or down with change in their official designations. No wonder workplaces today are coming up with interesting roles like Chief Fun Officer or Evangelist, and so on.

                 Looking at it relatively, how important are designations when placed against other factors like pay package, relationships with peers, overall work responsibilities, etc. in modern day organisations? "Designation is the most important thing in an organisation structure as it determines to whom you will be reporting and in turn who will report to you. Additionally, it is also a morale booster. In some sectors designation is pivotal to an organisation's existence where in the lower strata of the organisation is at a customer facing front. Most service sectors such as telecom, banking, hospitality, retail, etc. has a lot of people working in areas where they directly have to deal with customers or clients at such times if the designation is attractive as it instills confidence in the individual and equips him/her to handle the situation with confidence. Also with designation there is a certain level of authority that is given and the individual feels elated to work with that kind of authority," says Debasis Chatterji, CEO, Netxcell.

          If flattering designations can be such morale boosters, HR heads must gauge their impact on employees closely. This will help understand situations in which designations can motivate against those where it is just a hygiene factor. Views differ. "Designations are both hygiene and motivational factors. Nobody likes to go down with their designation. A president would not want to be given the designation of vice president even for a higher pay. Candidates are conscious that designations are an improvement over their previous ones," says Ronesh Puri, managing director, Executive Access.

                  At the same time, many agree that if used in the right way, designations do motivate people at work. "An appropriate designation empowers the employee and is a signaling mechanism. From an employee's perspective, designations help manage the team and are a clear signal to the outside market, not just the role, but also the responsibility," says Professor Shalini Urs, chairman and founder – MYRA School of Business| Executive Director and Professor, International School of Information Management.

            So, how can HR managers use the concept of designations to motivate people? "People like to feel that they are making progress in their lives. At times it is not possible to match the financial expectations of the employees. Designations don't cost organisation any money. So they can be used creatively to motivate employees who are performing for the organisation," says Puri.

               Shalini further concludes, "Designations can be used in various creative and strategic ways to keep the employees engaged. Mentioned below are some examples:

•  Role based designations aligned with the impact /authority of the position (e.g. Domain leaders instead of manager/senior managers);
• Flexibility in designations primarily for customer facing roles (sales/procurement etc.) to develop the credibility with the external customers;
• Creating various levels, primarily in junior roles (junior sales executive, sales executive, senior sales executive) – this leads to a perception of pseudo growth."

-By  Unnati Narang in http://www