PEOPLE LANGUAGE TASKFORCE
The Colleague Classification Program
Associates or colleagues?
The case for intervention
Associates sounded connected. Colleagues sounded equal. Employees appeared in the payroll system and therefore required a separate conversation.
The work undertaken
Twelve regional panels reviewed 37 possible greetings. The six-week consultation lasted nine months after Associate Colleague was introduced as a transitional category. Payroll retained employee because the field was already linked to tax reporting.
The approved outcome
Colleague was approved for conversation; employee for systems; associate where contractually or historically appropriate. Three populations were announced without hiring anyone.
What stayed with people
“COLLEAGUE. PENDING CLASSIFICATION.”
Find the line on a desk plate in the Company Store.
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