#80 Mystery of Corporate Designations
Who doesn't like getting promoted or climbing up this corporate ladder? But are you actually making your way up or is that just for the records? Find out in today's blog!
Half-yearly appraisals have just gone by and given the shaky market conditions, some of you have heard this classical statement from your reviewers: ‘Hey, we are running on some tight budget, so we couldn’t appraise you much on your CTC, but we recognize your contribution and we are happy to promote you to xxx position now.’
What a smart way of motivating and demotivating the employee at the same time, like within just one statement. As an employee, you would be confused whether to be happy or sad about this promotion. Voila! that’s what this corporate jungle is all about.
We all want to climb up the ladder of success and it is measured by two sure shots ways here: one is the amount you earn and it’s year-on-year jump and second is what designation you hold in the organization structure. Money is material and somehow okay to measure your growth, but what about designations? Are they material too for an individual corporate folk? A couple of you would be thinking it as a Yes becuase apparently they are a measure of your authority, power and also define your responsibility boundaries which eventually translates into the influence you have on your team and so on. But every place has a unique hierarchy (like start-ups usually have a flat one) and culture defining the other aspects of authority and power, then how would an outsider figure out your growth via this parameter?
Oh, wait did you just raise your brow on ‘how would an outsider figure out’? Well, yeah because isn’t that how you introduce yourself to external parties and give them a leeway to get a sense of your power and position. Oh, c’mon, don’t be like you have never used this trick to grab attention or gain some power/ superiority in the external environment. And, we often do that because we are proud of the ladder we have climbed up so far and it has taken some good amount of hard work, time and consistent results to be there. So, why should you shy away from talking about it or reaping the side benefits attached to it and be a lowkey person.
“Designation don’t put the gas in the car. But the gas station attendant is impressed” ~ Anonymous.
This phrase sums up the role of designations for external crowd pretty well. But what about you and your internal folks? That’s what we will face day in, day out right? How you and your peers perceive you; would define the scope and style of the work?
Let’s dissect what’s inside for you?
Many of us would have faced situations where you feel your manager is not good enough, he is not the one you would like to envisage or seek mentorship. This one incident is still afresh in my mind, it was my first corporate stint and I was assigned on a project with just one manager who apparently has been dealing for almost an year with the client. But within a month, I started feeling dejected and dissatisfied with the work and his style, thinking maybe this is not my interest area. The project and perspective took a complete turn, the day project lead showed up and redefined the scope of work. That very day, no matter how naive I was then and maybe now, I dis-associate individual of their designations to form an opinion or work with them.
This might sound bit weird but often your designations are just the results of your time spent at a particular place or just moving up the hierarchy which is determined by your employers. Upskilling and making yourself ready for the position is usually we overlook or compromise on while riding the process of climbing up the ladder. I agree that we won’t learn until we step into the shoes of such a position and everyone does get the opportunity to try but the deal is to hit a four or a six on that ball. If you think responsibly, when you make you way from an Associate to a Manager and then from a Manager to a Lead role, you are not just ensuring your personal growth but also taking care of the growth of 10 other folks working with you. When you will be a Manager, someone like old you will be an Associate, curious to learn and excited to contribute.
You may now think about the current trend of people switching jobs for better designation and pay?
Every individual has it’s own lens to capture the essence of designation and how they draw comfort from it. Some might be drawing by climbing the ladder fast enough, while others want to add value through every position they land up in.
Just a thought out here: Celebrities, Actors and these public figures technically don’t have any hierarchy or designations as such, all of them are still called ‘Actors’ at the end of the day whether they have worked in one film or 100 films. What attracts us to them is not their label or the money they earn but the work they put out.
And at last. here are my two cents on How I am acing this trap?
Early enough, I have realized that neither designations don’t speak about your work (your actions do) nor they give you a yardstick to measure how accountable and responsible you should be for your work (your inner conscience do). Definitely, I understand that when we climb u[p this ladder, it gives a different feeling and add some more layers where you start contributing and I do want to experience that as I progress.
Simultaneously, I also want to make a conscious effort to learn and share the best at each of those positions. I don’t want to be one of those who just merely exist at their place, I want to impact and upskill every folk (as far possible) as I have been during my journey in this corporate jungle. What I hold is not a blocker for me today and will never bound me ever to put out my best foot forward. In the long run, for a practical perspective, we all get what we deserve, a bit sooner or a bit late.
Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It's about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire team-mates and customers. ~ Robin S. Sharma