Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Attrition: I do not think that means what you think it means…


The latest buzzword at my company is “attrition.”  The dictionary defines this word as “the action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure.”

My company keeps incorrectly using it in the context of someone leaving the company, either voluntarily or involuntarily termination.  We actually had a presentation today, where one of the managers said that his team had 11 people leave through “voluntary attrition.”  Voluntary attrition?  Who would voluntarily choose to become less effective or weaker from sustained attack or pressure?

The worst part is that people are so ignorant of the English language and too lazy to actually look up a word that they don’t know, that this misuse of the word will get perpetuated throughout other meetings, conversations, and presentations.  So, voluntary attritions will continue at our company.  This reminds me of a t-shirt I have that reads, “Beatings will continue until morale improves.”


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