"Corporate Speak': please share examples

Jones in LA

Thankfully, I work for a company with a very down-to-earth culture that tends to eschew contemporary corporate speak. So down-to-earth that I wouldn't think of wearing a Rolex watch at work or for any occasion where colleagues would be present. It would be perceived as very pretentious. Our CEO, who heads a Fortune 500 company with 7,000+ employees, wears a beat-up, no-date Submariner (which I doubt is collectibly valuable) so it would be relatively easy for anyone to "out-watch" the boss. I was looking at some materials I brought back from a recent 3-day management retreat (held with the CEO at a hotel featuring $80/night rooms) and noted some of the key buzz-words that are used repeatedly: Safety. Integrity. Unity. Inclusiveness. (inclusiveness as a buzz-word could be seen as an attempt at Political Correctness, but in our company it simply means that everyone matters)

Archer

I don't understand the "would not think of wearing a Rolex" thing. I also worked for a fortune 500 company, well over 100 years old, and very conservative would be a massive understatement. The hierarchy when I first started in the 1980's made it feel like the office was stuck in the 1940's. The direction your desk faced, if you had a matt outside your office, if your office had carpet inside, if you had an office at all, right down to the colour of the phone you were given (brown or cream coloured) was determined by your "rank" in the company.

When we finally got rid of the suit and tie dress policy, one manager remarked "How will the workers respect the managers if we are not wearing a tie?" If you need a tie to get respect then you have bigger issues than a dress code, but this gives you an idea of the mind set there.

I wore whatever watch I wanted, and drove whatever car I wanted, and no one cared. I always had a nicer car and watch than anyone at my specific location, and probably nicer than the CEO had. Okay I can't say anything for sure about his car but have had lunch with him many times and he wore a cheap digital watch.

I don't know how "down to earth" a place can be if the watch you wear would upset your work colleagues. 😵‍💫

Jones in LA

A conservative corporate culture is manifest in different ways in different companies. Dress codes, and all of that grief in your former company over phone colours and door mats would be entirely foreign to my company's culture. Archaic and conservative are not synonymous. In my company, the average tenure among current employees is now approaching 20 years (a statistic that presents its own unique challenges), and most, like me, just wish they had started working there earlier in their career. You seem to be happy to be away from where you worked because it was a stifling environment. We like our work not because it's cushy or difficult to get fired from, but rather, because the environment is the opposite of stifling, the work is challenging and interesting, and nearly every employee gets to see the direct result of what they do out in the wider world around them and feel generously compensated by the company in return for what they do.

Severin

P.s. Can someone please explain the term "price point" to me? As in, "lovely wine...and at such a great price point!". Perhaps it is English as a second language working against me, but I've wondered whether the word "point" distinguishes it somehow from the more basic meaning of the word "price" used on its own.

Rman

ABC
Always Be Closing


(warning foul language)