TWC Group :: Press Archive

Collegeville, PA (April 2, 2001) – Companies are becoming more creative in developing new job titles to better reflect an employee’s role within the organization, according to T. Williams Consulting, (TWC), a national human capital solutions company. However, titles like iCEO, Head People Officer, and Chief Evangelist may confuse some job hunters who are used to applying for positions formerly listed as Chief Executive Officer, Director of Human Resources, and Marketing Director.

“Companies are using these innovative job titles to boost employee enthusiasm and to encourage personal growth,” says Aaron Brown, Managing Director, TWC. “As these new titles become more established, it will become less confusing to job hunters scanning the job marketplace.” In today’s tight labor market, organizations are becoming more responsive to employees who want to assert their individuality. One example is the new title, CXO, where the “X” is a variable and can stand for CIO (Chief Information Officer), CFO (Chief Financial Officer), COO (Chief Operations Officer), or CEO (Chief Executive Officer). In fact, many CXOs carry multiple roles within an organization and this helps to broaden their scope of responsibilities. Innovative titles are increasingly common in the worlds of IT and new business start-ups. “To many professionals, their job title may not matter,” noted Brown, who said that employees are placing more value in the overall package, which includes competitive base pay, incentive compensation, flexibility, stock options and equity.

“New titles can be helpful in today’s e-business climate, where we are creating new kinds of jobs, while also changing the scope of many traditional ones,” he said. “There is a new informality to the workplace, with more free agents working in a service economy. This requires more expansive thinking, so that employees aren’t necessarily locked into a singular job role. Creative titles encourage personal and professional growth and are a reminder of the role the employee plays in the organization.”

Brown cautions companies against one danger of creative titles, however. “When you’re recruiting, a creative title can be unclear to a job seeker. For example, just what does a ‘minister of order and reason’ do? It is absolutely essential to develop clear job descriptions for each position and to post and communicate those to potential applicants. Otherwise, you may encounter frustrated job seekers and a public relations problem.”

TWC has compiled this list of innovative job titles that are gaining in popularity:

CXO - an acronym for a member of top-level management

iCEO – Internet chief executive officer or information technology CEO

CEO – Chief Enthusiasm Officer

CTO – chief technology officer, usually ranks below a chief information officer, or CIO

Chief Imagination Officer - Creative Director

Chief Evangelist – marketing and promotions

Minister of Dollars and Sense - Chief Financial Officer

Ethical Hacker – programmers who test the security of computer systems by trying to break into them

Head People Officer – formerly known as director of human resources

Information Architect (also called Usability Advocates) - web-based editors

(The) Pacesetter – the CEO

(The) Pathfinder – senior consultants

Sleuths - analysts

Founded in 1996, TWC is a world-class management consulting firm specializing in human capital solutions. With headquarters in Collegeville, PA, and offices in Washington, DC and Phoenix, AZ, TWC provides staffing assessments, on-site project staffing, mission critical retained staffing, and staffing process and systems consulting to emerging growth companies in a variety of industries, including eBusiness, Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Telecommunications, and Financial Services. Additional information about TWC may be found at www.twcgroup.com.