What do you call a person like Maria? Naming new roles as talent evolves

How do we deal with people in the workplace whose roles are evolving, and they need a new title, AND they're a hybrid professional?

I have a new case study for you!

Recently, while consulting for a marketing agency, I met Lindsey—a standout employee juggling multiple roles. Officially, her title was Office Administrator and Account Manager, but that title barely scratched the surface.

Lindsey was doing everything: HR, accounting, systems management, client support, and more. Her skillset was impressive, but her workload was staggering. She was teetering on the brink of burnout.

When I spoke with the CEO, he acknowledged Lindsey’s value.

“She’s a stellar team player, someone we’d hate to lose,” he admitted.

But her roles and responsibilities were so tangled that it was time for a reset.

Together, we mapped out a transition plan tailored to her strengths and future aspirations, including a shift toward becoming a Paid Media Specialist while shedding her administrative tasks.

That’s when we hit a fascinating roadblock: what do we call Lindsey’s new role?

The Struggle of Naming Roles and Identities

Lindsey’s new responsibilities didn’t align neatly with any single title.

Her current title of Office Administrator had already caused confusion—clients wondered why someone with that title was handling their account management. To address this, the company had removed her title from her email signature. But now, as her responsibilities evolved again, the question loomed larger:

• How should her role be perceived internally?

• What would clients think?

• How would this title look on her résumé if she sought opportunities elsewhere?

Lindsey’s situation isn’t unique.

Many professionals, especially in today’s rapidly changing workforce, find themselves playing multiple roles—far beyond the scope of a single job title. These individuals, often described as "workplace chameleons or jacks-of-all-trade or hybrid professionals," are critical to organizational success but are often undervalued or misrepresented by their titles.

The Bigger Picture: A Workforce Problem

The problem extends beyond Lindsey and this company. Across industries, organizations struggle to define roles that capture the complexity of what their employees contribute. The workforce is still stuck in a paradigm that values rigid job titles and clear hierarchies, leaving little room for people who wear many hats.

As a result:

• For employees: They feel unseen and stretched too thin, like Lindsey.

• For managers: It’s hard to align roles with titles and ensure work is evenly distributed.

• For industries: Misaligned titles make it difficult to assess skills and potential during recruitment.

A Solution: Aligning Titles with Hybrid Professional Identity

This challenge requires a more thoughtful approach that's about professional identity as a core factor. In fact, we have to start with professional identity first and build from there so the job honors the person, not the person fitting the job.

Remember, professional identity is about how you see yourself in your work, not what your job title is.

When navigating situations like Lindsey’s, I ask questions like:

• What does the employee want to be known for? Titles are not just labels; they shape how we see ourselves and how others see us. How do you want to be seen? How do you see yourself in your work?

• What’s the company culture around titles? Does it allow for creativity, or is it strictly hierarchical?

• How does the industry interpret roles and skills? Sure, job titles can impact career mobility and transferability, but in today's world, your career story and how you talk about who you are in your work matters even more because job titles are limiting and generic from company to company. They are NOT apples to apples comparisons.

For Lindsey, we ultimately devised a dual-title solution: one formal, aligned with industry norms, and one more creative and reflective of her contributions internally.

She became a Junior Paid Media Specialist to align with company culture and levels of responsibility while also being recognized as the “Insight Anthropologist” within the team—an acknowledgment of her ability to synthesize complex systems and work with qualitative data.

The Universal Lesson

Lindsey’s story is a microcosm of a larger trend: the rise of hybrid professionals. These are individuals who integrate multiple professional identities, excelling at the intersections of their skills.

Without clear ways to name and value these roles, employees like Lindsey, risk burnout and feeling unseen and misunderstood, and companies miss out on fully leveraging their talents.

As leaders, teammates, or hybrid professionals ourselves, it’s time to rethink how we label the work we do, especially as we evolve.

Job titles aren’t just about optics, they’re about belonging. They’re about being seen, known, and valued for the full range of what you bring to the table—not just a fraction of it.

If you’re navigating similar challenges on your team or in your career, let’s have a conversation. The workplace is evolving. How are your job titles keeping up? How do you want to be seen in your work?

Ready to explore professional identity and transform your workforce or career? Let’s connect.