Euphemism for the sack

Yesterday I was editing an annual report for a small company, and came across these sentences in the “People” section:

Some business restructuring also occurred across [the organization] to manage costs in response to the economic recession leading to an increased proportion of non-voluntary turnover on previous years. Management is closely monitoring turnover in line with our objective to maximise commitment and retention of our people.

Um, hello? Isn’t ‘non-voluntary turnover’ a euphemism for the sack?? And if management forced some people to lose their jobs (i.e. sacked them), surely they have a hide to state that their objective is to ‘maximise commitment and retention of our people.’

There’s nothing like a few ‘non-voluntary turnovers’ to make those that remain more committed and more likely to be retained. NOT.

And that paragraph was then followed by this one, which is a nice gobbledegook, ‘weasel word’ one, if ever I saw one:

As [our] systems for capturing employment data improves so too will our ability to monitor and report on voluntary versus non-voluntary turnover and consequentially [sic] to improve management response strategies.

Huh?

Priorities

@africankelli tweeted this the other week — I couldn’t agree more!

Our libraries, not our Wal-marts, should be open 24-7.

Canadore College Education Center Library

Accolades

When I was in Perth earlier this week to do some training with Chevron Australia, I received some nice accolades for being part of the HES team that made the Gorgon Project (Australia’s biggest ever resources project) a reality. I was presented with a framed certificate of appreciation, a specially minted gold-plated coin from the Perth Mint, and a silver engraved Cross pen; the rest of the team were presented with theirs at two special functions that I was unable to attend. And I was given personal thanks from my boss, the Environmental Team Lead.

We had some horrendous deadlines in the final few weeks prior to the Final Investment Decision, but we got there. It was an amazing journey and I was (and am) very proud to be part of it.

I also know a lot more about marine turtles, corals, subterranean fauna, geosequestration of carbon dioxide, and liquefied natural gas than I ever thought I would.

One of the joys of being a technical writer and editor is learning about new stuff all the time. Currently it’s environmental, health and safety stuff; on previous contracts, I’ve learned about 3D geological visualisation and modelling, gems and jewellery, satellite delivery of education to outback stations, converting 2D movies into 3D, nickel and cobalt processing etc. I love my job! And I get paid to do something I love — can’t ask for better than that.

Quick currency conversions using Google

I’ve used http://www.xe.com for a long time to convert Australian dollars to and from US dollars, and it’s a great little website.

I must’ve been hiding under a rock ‘cos I only recently discovered that Google search does currency conversions on the fly from the Google search box. It’s probably been around for ages, but it was new to me!

Here’s what to do:

In the Google search box, enter the value and currency code you want to convert from (e.g. 39.95 USD), followed by the word ‘in‘ and the currency code you want to convert to (e.g. in AUD). Press Enter to see the result. Done. No need to go to another website to find it out.

[Links last checked August 2009]

Beware the ‘more work for you’ line

From the pen/stylus of Brad Colbow:

How to build a business case

Two technical communication colleagues of mine in the US — Jack Molisani and Bonni Graham — have written a great article on how to build a business case, including a summary of what should go in one, and plainly defining the differences between things like cost and profit centers.

You can download and read a PDF copy their short article here:
http://www.prospringstaffing.com/Resource/HowtoBuildaBusinessCase.pdf

See also:

• Making a business case on this blog

[Links last checked July 2009]

Online meeting schedulers

In previous posts I’ve talked about setting up meetings across time zones and various tools for figuring out times that are suitable for all. See:

• Meeting across time zones: http://cybertext.wordpress.com/2008/02/23/meeting-across-time-zones/
• Show multiple time zones at once: http://cybertext.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/show-multiple-time-zones-at-once/

There are also several online meeting schedulers available, and Steven Walling over at ReadWrite Enterprise has put together a list of the top 10 online meeting schedulers, most of which are free or very cheap.

You can see Steve’s list here: http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2009/09/the-top-ten-apps-for-scheduling-a-meeting-online.php

[Links last checked September 2009; thanks to @kinchie on Twitter for letting me know about this list]

Freelance editing rates

Looking for freelance editing rates in the US? Then look no further than this list on the Editorial Freelancers Association’s website: http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.php

[Link last checked August 2009; thanks to Whitney P for alerting me to this website]

What you can and can’t ask in a job interview

The US-based Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons (AARP) has put out a list of personal questions that employers can’t ask and those that *may* be acceptable under some circumstances — and offers advice for how to deal with these types of personal questions. The list and advice applies to all ages, not just those 50 and over.

While it is specifically relevant to the US and US legislation, the general advice in the list would likely apply to many other jurisdictions as well, especially in countries that had strong anti-discrimination and labor laws.

The AARP article is here: http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourmoney/work/articles/when_interviews_get_personal.html

[Link last checked August 2009; thanks to LJK on the Lone Writer discussion list for this link]

Software development lifecycle swimlane diagram

I laughed hysterically when I saw this — hysterically because it’s SO funny and SO true, and hysterically (as in maniacally) as it reflects SO many companies where I have worked. There’s even a glaring absence of the role of product documentation in the process… <sigh> (Click the image to see it at full size.)

(Thanks to @onemanwrites for Tweeting about this image, which you can see in full here: http://imgur.com/Zftb2.png)