BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : AUGUST 28, 2000 ISSUE
THE 21ST CENTURY CORPORATION -- THE NEW LEADERSHIP Write Your Own Title Good-bye CEO. Hello ''Employee #1'' and a whole raft of corporate monickers you've never heard of before The sandals-and-facial-hair style of scrappy Internet startups will continue to infect 21st century corporate culture. Already, musty old firms are taking a stab at enforced fun, putting pool tables in lobbies and littering workspaces with bean-bag chairs. Job titles, too, are changing. ''People want a sense of individuality, they want work to be fun and not bureaucratic,'' says David Petersen, a psychologist with Minneapolis-based Personnel Decisions International. Petersen sees four major changes ahead: -- More people will have two designations: an internal, role-related title and an external, customer-focused one. -- Titles will be more descriptive of one's function rather than one's level. -- People will pick their own titles rather than have them assigned. -- Titles will reflect the company's attitude rather than the actual position. Here's a sampling of what's to come: Hello I am a... Chief Talent Scout Fort Lauderdale (Fla.)-based Xcelerate uses this for the person in charge of recruiting. ''We thought 'Body Snatcher' was going too far,'' says an exec. Hello I am a... Director of Consumer Delight & Loyalty Indicative of the race to become ever more customer-focused. Says the originator of the title, San Francisco-based Reflect.com's Hannelore Schmidt: ''The idea is to delight them so much they become loyal evangelists.'' Hello I am a... Sultan of Sound Bites When one well-lobbed comment on an investment chat board can hammer a company's stock price, these sultans have their work cut out for them. Related titles: Director of Image and Impact & Impressions Manager. Hello I am a... Senior Vice-President of Great People As the labor shortage crunches ever tighter, look for the ego-fluffing of employees to reach new heights. Another title on the rise: Director of Care & Feeding. Hello I am a... Employee #1 Indicates you've got a major chunk of equity. Another advantage: Should you switch from CEO to chairman, there will be no need to ever reprint your business card. Hello I am a... Chief Experience Officer Drummed up by headhunting firm Russell Reynolds Associates Inc. This exec is in charge of the customer's total contact with the firm, mimicking the Martha Stewart ''buy-a-lifestyle'' approach. Hello I am a... Director of Privacy Already established at such companies as DoubleClick to protect customers' privacy as well as the company's own intellectual property. Tensions will ensue, though, since employees want e-mail safe from corporate snoops. Hello I am a... Culture Czar In charge of spending a bit of those profits on employees. Want more catered lunches? Lunchtime massages? This executive is the de facto Director of Fun, ladling out enough soft perks to keep people from jumping ship. By MICHELLE CONLIN _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS The New Leadership The Boss in the Web Age TABLE: The Boss in the Web Age TABLE: Now and Then: How CEOs Will Change over the Next 20 Years See the World, Erase Its Borders TABLE: Going Global: The Growing Importance of Worldwide Markets Up from Bean Counter TABLE: Desired Skills An Executive Whose Time Has Gone From Gearhead to Grand High Pooh-Bah TABLE: Not Just Any CIO Mining a Company's Mother Lode of Talent TABLE: What Does a Knowledge Manager Do for a Living? Hey, Are You Listening to Me? TABLE: What It Will Take to Keep Me as a Customer Perspectives: Getting Rid of Guesswork Wanted: Eclectic Visionary with a Sense of Humor TABLE: A Resume for the 21st Century Write Your Own Title Essential Reading for Modern Managers ONLINE ORIGINAL: Q&A with McKinsey's Lowell Bryan ONLINE ORIGINAL: Q&A with INSEAD's Subramanian Rangan ONLINE ORIGINAL: Custom-Designing the Global Corporation INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

Copyright 2000-2009, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of Use   Privacy Notice