Fancy job titles can raise workers’ morale

[Source: mypaper, 21 Dec 2009]

I REFER to Mr Jeffrey Law Lee Beng’s letter, “Dump fancy, meaningless job titles” (my paper, Dec 18).

It has long been acknowledged that many Singaporeans shun certain jobs because of poor pay, drudgery and lowly status.

Many who hold such jobs would not be keen to share their designations with friends and family, as they bear negative connotations.

While a fixation on status has led to an increase in the number of fancy job titles, such as “sanitation officer” for toilet cleaners and “customer- service executive” for sales staff in shops, there is really no harm in conferring such titles on employee

As Mr Law admitted, such designations could instil a sense of dignity in workers and spur them to provide better service.

After all, if such titles could alter employees’ mindsets, they would perform better than if they had no pride in their jobs.

And using fancy titles, though a small gesture, is a painless effort that could reap significant dividends if Singaporeans become more accepting of such jobs and do them well.

The salaries for such positions are low and there are few rewards and benefits.

Let us not begrudge those who take them up their fancy titles.

MR ADAM LEO ISIDORE TAN

First Post, First Call.

I don’t want to make a big fuss out of the “virgin post” on this blog other to explain how I hope this little project can help people who are unemployed find jobs through the very simple concept of using a system of free referrals to link up employed individuals and job opportunities.

Basically all that is required is this: if you know someone who is in need of a job, or if you know of any hiring opportunities that may be of help to someone who is unemployed, let us know by dropping an email to sponsorajob@asia.com and we’ll broadcast it (blog, Facebook, Twitter etc). Or you can broadcast it yourself on the Facebook and Twitter sites if you already have access.

Unfortunately, we are also aware of bogus cases out there that may try to take advantage of things, so at this point, we will actually screen through the referrals (we’ll work around that eventually!)

It doesn’t take a lot, and neither would it cost anything, but if you only took the time to do it, it could make a huge difference to the life of that someone and his/her family because they managed to find a job again.

So for the time being, get the referrals going, and help us make this project a success!