It's almost like the answers here don't walk things back enough – if badges started in the educational system, standardization wouldn't be an issue. Titles as we know them would just be specific "bundles" of other badges, and would be much clearer at signifying competence/prior achievement/likely career aptitudes and vectors to explore.
That, in turn, may help solidify social hierarchies within companies and across/between compatible industries – when you see you're only 3 badges different from that guy down the hall in marketing, or that you both share a particularly hard-to-get specialized badge, it's a lot easier to create and build off that in and outside of work.
A badge system may also help simplify, rather than complicate pay grade and employment issues – promotions would be tied more around performance at a given job versus how well you "fit" the requirements, plus assessment of the "next rung" position. It would both make the fast but focused-vector climbers more appreciable to their peers, while simultaneously allowing for seemingly-inconsistent hops across disciplines more "explainable" via badge-based skillsets/strengths that carry over to the new area.
In short, I think badges at work would be a great idea, so long as they start in everyone's first job – kindergarten – and form part of a clear life-long work/education/career development continuum. Such a system could effectively enforce standards and enable easier re-pathing for workers, employers, and goverment/NGO/NPO support programs as economic needs and environments change.
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