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itsalwayssunnysomewhere
08-29-2017, 07:06 PM
Need some help here...I'm having a hard time coming up with a proper title for an employee. She is by far one of the smartest people I have met. She wears many hats and we're not sure where we'd be without her contribution. Here's a description of her duties, efforts, and workload. This is a specialty retail environment and a new business.

She's salary and often puts in 50 hours/week. That's in the building, so not including time spent at home researching/making phone calls/answering emails/planning/writing etc. So potentially 60 hours/week. It's safe to say she works as hard if not harder than the owner. Her job includes ordering product, establishing prices, overseeing some operations, some management of other staff, product research, customer service, creating sales, this list actually could go on much longer than that. She's the highest paid person on staff, higher than the owner. She's a critical employee and considered to be an expert in the field. She could easily go somewhere else and make a significantly larger salary in a more organized work environment with less responsibility and stress.

What job title would you give someone like that? I want the job title to encompass all that she does but it's so difficult to come up with something.

Any ideas?

tallen
08-29-2017, 07:19 PM
Have you asked her what she thinks her job title should be? Just curious.....

Fulcrum
08-29-2017, 07:23 PM
Operations Manager?

How about VP of We'd be Screwed if She Left?

Harold Mansfield
08-30-2017, 11:16 AM
What's your title? Do you have any other people with titles? What's the company structure?

Paul
09-07-2017, 03:54 PM
VP may give her some gravitas with vendors etc and she may appreciate the title. Some people really value a title.

Zach_AnyPromo
09-11-2017, 12:33 PM
Product Manager at the least.

Business Attorney
09-13-2017, 03:50 PM
I think in most small organizations, titles are overblown. However, some people are addicted to titles and they often do carry weight when dealing with people outside the organization. In your case, I would invite her to come up with a suggestion and unless it is clearly inappropriate I would accept it.

Harold Mansfield
09-13-2017, 03:59 PM
I think in most small organizations, titles are overblown. However, some people are addicted to titles and they often do carry weight when dealing with people outside the organization.

I totally agree with this. At the moment I'm technically CEO of a new start up. But there's only 3 of us and one is a silent partner so it feels really ridiculous to use that title. I can't bring myself to put it on business cards. But you are correct, when dealing with others..banks, businesses, partners, they want to know who does what and who is in charge.

Even though it may sound silly to have a title internally, externally it sounds even sillier to tell established businesses that you're dealing with "We don't have titles. We all just kind of do what needs to be done." . They'll look at you like you have no idea what you're doing.

MichaelTeamTCA
09-14-2017, 11:06 AM
Operations Manager, Operations Director (Director of Operations), VP of Operations

Any of those would be great.