Title inflation
By Patrick Kelley
Originally published 01:48 p.m., March 6, 2008
Updated 01:49 p.m., March 6, 2008
The consultant's report on city compensation on job classifications will probably keep the Emporia City Commission busy for a few months. In a complex organization, questions of pay and job descriptions are accordingly complex.
The city has tried before to get a handle on the problems, but a real solution has always slipped away, lost in the confusion of departmental habits, special circumstances and inadequate information. If it has been done well, the consultant’s report should clear away some of the confusion and allow the commission to see matters clearly.
One of the problems noted in the report is epidemic in society — “title inflation.” If an organization lasts long enough, it begins to create new titles to reward longtime employees or to justify pay raises outside policy guidelines. Sometimes, titles are just conferred to communicate the appearance of concern over new problems that arise.
Just as the federal government has created drug czars, homeland security czars and intelligence czars, smaller organizations create compliance officers for this or that, workplace environment managers or ergonomics managers.
The problems represented by those titles may be important — they usually are — but the creation and assignment of the titles can become an end in itself. Too often, new titles carry an aura of responsibility but no corresponding authority.
A suggestion to the city commissioners: Determine what work should be done and who should do that work. Use that information to define job descriptions and titles and set clear lines of responsibility.
Do not confuse titles and pay. In all classifications, the pay scale for city workers should leave room to reward employees for experience, expertise and job performance without the necessity of creating new titles or misleading job descriptions to justify reasonable compensation.
Emporians are justly proud of their city employees. From the sewage plant on the Cottonwood River to the water plant on the Neosho and all points in between, city workers are known for their helpfulness and competence. They deserve fair pay and a clear idea of their expectations.
If new job descriptions and a new pay plan can do that, the city should get along just fine and never have to create any new officers, managers or czars.
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
very well said. now, the question is, what do we do with all the "underpaid" employees? hopefully the commission will follow through and compensate the employees who need compensating and categorize those who need categorizing. if not, the city has just wasted another bulk sum of money
March 6, 2008 at 2:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )