Employer insisting on name change

lisa110rry

Insulting, appalling, and downright stupid. I am in my 60th year and have never met another Lisa who is older than me, I consider myself the first! :rotfl: I simply could not cope with remembering that I must answer to another name, and like some of the others I would choose a really difficult name or a silly name to point to the silliness.

Aishling (pronounced Ashlene)
Springs to mind. The above is a copy and paste from one of my company ledgers to remind me how to pronounce my opposite number in another company's name when I call her.

Names are very personal things and should be respected.

MacMickster

It all sounds horribly American to me. Your friend should probably call herself something along the lines of Billie-Mae and start looking for another job immediately. I doubt that a company that doesn't respect her identity will give her much respect in any other way either.

Mrs_Boo_Boo

Bit odd. My boss and I have the same name and despite alternative spellings it is spelt the same too!!! Sometimes people go into full flow because they hear the first name and I have to stop them and let them know they need the other one. Haven't encountered any problems whatsoever. When we want to make it clear we just use the first letter of our surnames. We joke that people get two for the price of one!!!!
Sounds very odd.
I know people sometimes have pseudonym at work if it is in a sensitive area,but not just because they have the same first name.

tykesi

MacMickster wrote: »

It all sounds horribly American to me. Your friend should probably call herself something along the lines of Billie-Mae and start looking for another job immediately. I doubt that a company that doesn't respect her identity will give her much respect in any other way either.

This and the previous poster's comment about it being insulting are my thoughts exactly. She was heading in this morning to suggest a name which rhymes with her surname, it amused us for a second!

It's disappointing to have to leave for something so ridiculous, she was looking forward to the job otherwise.

LE3

I can sort of see it in some situations - a girl who used to cut my hair years ago was always Emma - didn't realise for a few years that her real name was Claire but they already had 2 other Claire's and she'd offered to use her middle name to make it easier for customers
My cousin Elizabeth started a new job in a small customer facing team where there was already a Liz so she agreed to be called Libby at work, again to make it easier for everyone - but that was her choice not foisted on her by the company

If the company really can't cope with multiple people having the same name, maybe they need to advise at interview or job offer stage that the company policy is for each employee to have a unique name & ask what they wish to be known by (currently taken names being X, Y & Z) ... odd policy though!

BigAunty

I had a job in a large organisation where I shared both first and surname with another person. Our email addresses were changed to flag up our different departments. We still occasionally got emails intended for the other person. She worked in HR which meant that she could potentially receive very sensitive employee information and I worked in IT and was notified about sensitive information management issues. Nobody made us change our names.

Currently I share a forename with another colleague who has the same skillset. When our boss sends us occasional emails listing work to do with both our forenames against the task list, we just say 'Hey boss, which of us are doing which task on your list, we can't tell'. It's really no issue.

BlueEyedGirl

There were 3 Laura's were I once worked, and they were known as LauraA, LauraP and LauraS - no need to change their Christian name!

[Deleted User]

spookyhelen wrote: »

I cant believe anyone would be upset enough about this to be looking for another job, its a mild inconvenience, its an odd way for the company to go about it but to be so upset you had to leave.

I would like to see how you felt responding to someone call you something else.
I found out about the horrible game when a customer called in asking to speak to so and so... the cold shudder that passes through you - perhaps I should have purchased a wig too
though I did wonder how complaints were traced and assigned exactly.....
:eek:

kitrat

Tbh I don't even know why they bother assigning new names, why don't they just give everyone a randomised 5 digit number to be identified by? On your induction day you'll have it tattoed on the inside of your left arm so you'll not forget it and you can be identified correctly at all times.

vegasvisitor

Mista_C wrote: »

If they really want to enforce this I'd be adamant that my name on all company literature is to be Adolf.

My first thought was what about Santa. That would make them think about how silly it is. Come to think of it, I used to have dealings with a 'Santa' through work, I remember feeling really silly when emailing them....'Dear Santa' or 'Hi Santa'.

As for folk having to find a different name, utterly rediculous! Wonder what other nonsense your friend will come across if they work there for a while.