I don't have any management experience, so forgive my naivety, but as one of the wrenches in the toolbox, if we're not talking about different levels of responsibility or different spheres of influence, we already have appropriate titles. They're called names.

Are you currently screwed? You don't need a Staff Engineer, you need Phil, and it's the manager's job to recognize and appreciate that.

I aspire to be like Phil, and I've had enough stupid (not to mention long) titles to drive me up the wall. You know what actually makes me feel valued? When another manager has a problem and asks for me by name because I have a reputation within the organization of getting stuff done.

If I leave the organization and someone says "we need a new Staff Engineer", that would make me feel awful.