PETALING JAYA: From “care delivery manager” to “diversity and inclusion manager”, job titles have evolved indeed.

       Traditionally, the above job titles were more commonly scoped towards the operations manager and human resource manager roles respectively. These designations have evolved now as companies opt for job titles more relevant to modern times.

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       Such changes also reflect the technological advancements which have resulted in various new job titles in the employment market.

       Experts say these changes are done to channel a more specific scope towards the various newfangled job titles.

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       “Jobs and roles have evolved over the years, and job titles have also changed to reflect the additional responsibilities of the positions,” said JobStreet managing director Vic Sithasanan.

       “What was previously known as service managers has now evolved to become ‘customer success managers’ for better relevancy for the company and clients.

       “There is also less usage of generic titles such as a human resource manager which has instead changed to ‘diversity and inclusion manager’, or from a recruitment manager to becoming a ‘fair practices hiring manager’ in a bid to reflect and emphasise the company’s values and ideals,” he said.

       He also noted how there were instances where the renamings tended to be over-exaggerated.

       Two examples of this would be “first impressions director” (receptionist) and “chief beverage officer” (bartender).

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       “These changes have to be done professionally and be equivalent to the competencies and capability of the individual in the role,” Sithasanan said.

       He said technology had also caused the job market to evolve, thus resulting in the emergence of new roles while more traditional ones were fast disappearing.

       “The focus and emphasis of these roles have changed with these new jobs often having responsibilities straddling across multiple roles and departments,” he said.

       Sithasanan also noted how technology and automation were fast transforming the job landscape, thus exposing the shortage of qualified talent in emerging roles.

       “This provides significant opportunities for today’s employees to evolve into the workforce of the future,” he said.

       Commerce.Asia Group of Companies executive chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah said a good example of job renamings would be the transition from chief marketing officer to “chief growth officer”.

       “This stems from the digitisation of marketing which allows tracking and measuring the effectiveness of marketing spends.

       “Through this, clear key performance indicators (KPIs) can be set, thus making the role a demand-generation one, hence, the term growth or sustainable growth and the new title of chief growth officer,” said Ganesh, who is also the immediate past chairman of the National Tech Association of Malaysia (Pikom).

       He said another example in the gig economy would be the emergence of the “chief innovation officer” or “chief digitisation officer” which was previously known as chief technology officer.

       “In the past, technology was more back end work but it now functions as an enabler for sustainability and growth while being a core part of business due to the digital economy.

       “The redesignation of such a role also expands the positions of either the ‘chief innovation officer’ or ‘chief digitisation officer’ to include marketing with a responsibility of enabling more sales,” he said.

       Meanwhile, a fintech human resource chief, Muhammad Iqbal, said the renaming of job titles was not something new for the employment industry.

       “The renaming of job titles is done to create greater appeal among the public towards jobs such as sales or even customer service positions.

       “This usually happens when employment agencies or departments see there is lesser traction towards the said vacancies, and decide on tweaking the title to get more eyeballs,” he said.

       Iqbal, however, noted that the employer should be transparent on the job responsibilities contained in newfangled job titles.

       “This is crucial and the job details should be clearly stated in the vacancy and subsequent interviews to ensure no confusion occurs once the candidate is onboarded,” he said, adding that a lack of transparency would reflect on the company’s values and moral stand.