Any Problem with New Job Titles?
CEO, marketing director, lead writer, sales associate… Employees’ roles have generally been defined with these straightforward terms. They communicate essential employee details such as job function and seniority and make sense to employees and employers alike. But now new titles are found in the changing world of work. Fancy but unclear labels like “chief visionary officer” or “business development guru” come into our view, making the traditional system seem rigid. Will there be problems?
In general, traditional job titles are clear and indicative of the employee’s seniority and responsibilities. For example, it’s largely accepted that assistants are below associates, who are below directors, who are below vice (副的) presidents, who are below CEOs. But these new job titles are meaningless outside an organization, at least in some people’s view. A recruiter (招聘人员) may not be able to identify the right candidates based on their previous working experience. Besides, having an extremely uncommon word in a title may give a job hunter difficulty in explaining his past job to future recruiters, according to Adrjan, director of an economic research. That means both employees and employers could suffer.
Yet, from another perspective, altered job titles can help make an employee feel more valued and better empowered in a company. “They massively boost your confidence,” says Hughes, who works as “head of hype and culture” at an advertising agency. “They put faith in your competence, creating an environment in which you can grow and develop.” And from the companies’ standpoint, they want to convey the message that they are trying to treat their staff in a more respectful way. For example, if they use “people” instead of “human resources” in a title, they signal that they value individuals as customers and partners rather than resources to exploit.
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1.
| A．A training coach. | B．A market supervisor. |
| C．A senior psychologist. | D．A financial trader. |
| A．He can save on living expenses. | B．He considers cooking creative. |
| C．He can enjoy healthier food. | D．He finds a take-away tasteless. |
| A．It can be a pleasant thing. | B．It is frustrating sometimes. |
| C．It takes patience to manage. | D．It is hard to use correctly. |
| A．The man has great difficulty in escaping the markets. |
| B．The man seldom cares about emotional management. |
| C．The man considers stress in financial market unbeatable. |
| D．The man often gets relaxed by exercising in the evening. |
3 . When Liam McGee departed as president of Bank of America in August, his explanation was surprisingly straight up. Rather than cloaking his exit in the usual vague excuse, he came right out and said he was leaving “to pursue my goal of running a company.” Broadcasting his ambition was “very much my decision,” McGee says. Within two weeks, he was talking for the first time with the board of Hartford Financial Services Group, which named him CEO and chairman on September 29.
McGee says leaving without a position lined up gave him time to reflect on what kinds of company he wanted to run. It also sent a clear message to the outside world about his aspirations. And McGee isn’t alone. In recent weeks the No. 2 executives at Avon and American Express quit with the explanation that they were looking for a CEO post. As boards scrutinize succession plans in response to shareholder pressure, executives who don’t get the nod also may wish to move on. A turbulent business environment also has senior managers cautious of letting vague pronouncements cloud their reputations.
As the first signs of recovery begin to take hold, deputy chiefs may be more willing to make the jump without a net. In the third quarter, CEO turnover was down 23% from a year ago as nervous boards stuck with the leaders they had, according to Liberum Research. As the economy picks up, opportunities will abound for aspiring leaders.
The decision to quit a senior position to look for a better one is unconventional. For years executives and headhunters have adhered to the rule that the most attractive CEO candidates are the ones who must be poached. Says Korn Ferry, senior partner Dennis Carey: “I can’t think of a single search I’ve done where a board has not instructed me to look at sitting CEOs first.”
Those who jumped without a job haven’t always landed in top positions quickly. Ellen Marram quit as chief of Tropicana when the business became part of PepsiCo (PEP) a decade ago, saying she wanted to be a CEO. It was a year before she became head of a tiny internet-based commodities exchange. Robert Willemstad left Citigroup in 2005 with ambitions to be a CEO. He finally took that post at a major financial institution three years later.
Many recruiters say the old disgrace is fading for top performers. The financial crisis has made it more acceptable to be between jobs or to leave a bad one. “The traditional rule was it’s safer to stay where you are, but that’s been fundamentally inverted,” says one headhunter. “The people who’ve been hurt the worst are those who’ve stayed too long.”
1. When McGee announced his departure, his manner can best be described as being _______.| A．arrogant. | B．frank. | C．self-centered. | D．impulsive. |
| A．their expectation of better financial status | B．their need to reflect on their private life |
| C．their strained relations with the boards | D．their pursuit of new career goals |
| A．top performers used to cling to their posts |
| B．loyalty of top performers is getting out-dated |
| C．top performers care more about reputations |
| D．it’s safer to stick to the traditional rules |
| A．CEOs; Where to Go? | B．CEOs: All the Way Up? |
| C．Top Managers Jump without a Net | D．The Only Way Out for Top Performers |
| A．John will deliver a presentation tomorrow about a new electronic device. |
| B．The clients are very nervous about the quality of the new car. |
| C．Tracy’s presentation is about a type of new electric car. |
| D．Tracy is nervous because this electric car hasn’t received positive feedback before. |
| A．Mr. White’s new appointment. | B．Mr. White’s vacation. |
| C．An important vacant position. | D．How to apply for a job. |
| A．Because her boss will return her the money after seeing the receipt. |
| B．Because her boss asks her to buy a lot of things. |
| C．Because she wants to establish a standard procedure in her company. |
| D．Because she wants to check everything she has bought. |
Quiet Virtue: The Conscientious
The everyday signs of conscientiousness(认真尽责)—being punctual,, careful in doing work, sef- disciplined. and scrupulous(一丝不苟的) in attending to responsibilities—are typical characteristics of the model organizational citizen, the people who keep things running as they should. They follow the rules, help out, and are concerned about the people they work with. It's the conscientious worker who helps newcomers or updates people who return after an absence, who gets to work on time and never abuses sick leaves, who always gets things done on deadline.
Conscientiousness is a key to success in any field. In studies of job performance, outstanding effectiveness for almost all jobs, from semi-skilled labor to sales and management, depends on conscientiousness. Among sales representatives for a large American car manufacturer, those who were most conscientious had the largest volume of sales.
Conscientiousness also offers a buffer(缓冲) against the threat of job loss in today's constantly changing market, because employees with this quality are among the most valued. For the sales representatives, their level of conscientiousness mattered almost as much as their sales in determining who stayed on.
But conscientiousness in the absence of social skills can lead to problems. Since conscientious people demand so much of themselves, they can hold other people to their own standards, and so be overly judgmental when others don't show the same high levels of model behavior. Factory workers who were extremely conscientious, for example, tended to criticize co-workers even about failures that seemed unimportant to those they criticized, which damaged their relationships.
When conscientiousness takes the form of living up to expectations, it can discourage creativity. Success in creative professions like art or advertising calls for a balance between wild ideas and conscientiousness. Without enough conscientiousness to follow through, people become mere dreamers, with nothing to show for their imaginativeness.
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