Companies are desperate to attract millennials - and they're rebranding job titles as 'ninjas,' 'rock stars,' and 'evangelists' to do it

Mikhail Mokrushin/Strelka Institute/Flickr

"Wait - did you say you're a data ninja?"

• "Rock star" and "ninja" are becoming increasingly typical job titles.
• Companies across America are bidding farewell to terms like "associate" and instead introducing ones like "evangelist" as a way of attracting younger employees.
• Research backs up that a new job title can reframe how you think of your purpose in the company at large.

Would you be more likely to apply for a job as a "marketing brand manager" or a "brand evangelist"?

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Companies seem to think most folks would prefer the latter job title. The Wall Street Journal's work culture reporter Te-Ping Chen reported in a recent article that more and more companies are adding some pizzazz to their job titles. That move will, they believe, attract new applicants and freshen up a staid corporate image.

These sort of zesty job titles are nothing new, particularly in the tech world, where roles like Chief Inspiration Officer or Chief Rock Star have been around for a decade.

But the practice seems to have trickled down to, say, OneAmerica, an Indianapolis-based financial services firm.

The company just changed their humdrum role of "data analyst" to "data wrangler," for instance. Todd Shock, vice president of data and analytics at OneAmerica, told the Journal that change demonstrates to young applicants how the firm is risk-taking and innovative, rather than "old and crotchety."

"If I can put 'data wrangler' on a guy's business card, and that's what gets him here and excited, why not?" he told the Journal.

Read more: More companies are offering promotions, but without the pay bump

Workplace research indicates that your job title plays an important role in how you feel about your work.

In a Wharton-led study from 2014, employees of the Midwest chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation received new job titles. The researchers found that 85% of employees who received a new job title benefitted emotionally from the change. As the researchers wrote:

Our findings highlight a novel, practical process that enables employees to play an active role in reducing their own emotional exhaustion ... (W)hen leaders encourage employees to reflect on - and then reflect out - their unique value through personalized titles, employees are able to express their identities in ways that contribute to a sense of affirmation and psychological safety, reducing emotional exhaustion.

In other words, a change in your job title affects how you feel in your daily role. The Journal reported that a Philadelphia-based shoeshine chain now calls its shoeshine workers "shine artists." According to the Wharton research, that might boost employees' self-image as they see their work as interactive and creative rather than bland labor.

Read the entire Wall Street Journal article here.