Essential words for the '90s
English is often described as a dynamic language
with new words being constantly and easily added to cope with
changing situations.
During the recession of the early 1990s many new words were coined
to help UK managers describe business trends and developments
appropriately. A selection of these new words (with an explanation
of their meaning), will equip you with the right "management
speak" in your work.
Audit
Every activity, no matter how trivial, must be accompanied by
an audit. Once an accountancy term, this is now used to lend
an air of importance to the humblest exercise in checking or
measuring (for example, light bulb audit)
Business process re-engineering
A phrase to be used in all meetings. It means looking at how
work is done and attempting to improve customer satisfaction
with results. Lots of audits are needed.
Competencies (also Competences)
Important-sounding way of describing what you can do. Staff
can be judged by checking off a list of (or auditing)
each person's competencies. There are also core competencies,
the belief that companies should concentrate on what they do
best. This usually means downsizing.
Competitive Salaries
Two distinct meanings - not to be confused. Competitive salaries
are low for workers - who must compete against workers' salaries
in the Far East. But they are high for managers - who must compete
against managers' salaries in the US.
De-layering
Sacking middle managers to produce a flat company. Also known
as delevelling.
Downsizing
Firing staff.
Effectiveness/Efficiency
Companies become more effective if they are leaner, fitter and
meaner as a result of de-layering, downsizing,
etc., and more efficient by getting fewer people to do more work.
Empowerment
Employees are empowered when they are able to get on with their
work with the minimum interference from management. Managers
talk about this but are usually not quite ready to deliver it.
Flat
Successful firms are flattened firms. This means they have eliminated
middle managers from their hierarchies to bring organisations
closer to customers.
Human Resources Managers
Used to be called Personnel Officers. The HRM's main task in
the 1990s is to tell the human resources that they are being downsized.
Middle Managers
You may be one of these but you never admit it. In modern business
there are only senior managers. Middle managers are history because
theory requires that they be de-layered, downsized and flattened.
Performance Indicators
Provided you decide how these are calculated, they will always
prove that your ideas are working, or that somebody else's aren't.
Performance-Related Pay
Pay freezes for everyone except management (see competitiveness, performance
indicators).
Portfolio Jobs/Careers
People who are being downsized are
told that jobs for life are a thing of the past and that they
should think of working
for a "portfolio" of several firms or have a "portfolio" of different
careers. In practice, many older, unskilled and unlucky workers
find their portfolios are empty.
Rightsizing
The word downsizing has a negative sound to it so it
is being replaced by rightsizing, which implies that a company
is doing the right thing by sacking people.
Reading for meaning
When you read an article, you can often guess the words you
do not know from the context.
Find words or expressions in the above article which have
the following meanings:
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