Letter O Object to Ownership.docx

Dictionary of Human Resources and Personnel Management O & M 180 obsolete O O & M abbr organisation and methods OAP abbr old age pensioner object /?b_d"ekt/ verb to refuse to do something or to say that you do not ac-cept something (NOTE: you object to something) objection /?b_d"ek??n/ noun to raise an objection to something to ob-ject to something The union delegates raised an objection to the wording of the agreement. objective /?b_d"ekt v / noun some-thing which you hope to achieve The company has achieved its objectives. We set the sales forces specific objec-tives. Our recruitment objectives are to have well-qualified and well-placed staff. long-term or short-term objec-tive an aim which you hope to achieve within a few years or a few months to achieve one’s objectives to do what you set out to do The company has achieved almost all its objectives. ad-jective considered from a general point of view rather than from that of the per-son involved You must be objective in assessing the performance of the staff. They have been asked to carry out an objective survey of the market. (NOTE: the opposite is subjective) objective setting /?b_d"ekt v set ?/ noun the process of planning tar-gets (e.g. for negotiations). manage- ment by objectives objective test /?bd"ekt v _test/ noun a test where each question has only one possible answer (NOTE: the op- posite is subjective test) obligation /?bl _ e ?(?)n/ noun a duty to do something There is no obli-gation to help out in another department to be under an obligation to do something to feel it is your duty to do something obligatory /?_bl ?t(?)ri/ adjective necessary according to the law or rules Each member of the sales staff has to pass an obligatory medical examination. observance /?b_z__v(?)ns/ noun do-ing what is required by a law The company’s observance of the law con-cerning discrimination. observation /?bz?_ve ?(?)n/ noun the act of noticing what is happening observational method /?bz?- ve ?(?)n(?)l _me??d/ noun a way of evaluating the performance of employ-ees, by watching them work and observ-ing their conduct with others observe /?b_z__v/ verb 1. to obey a rule or law Failure to observe the cor-rect procedure will be punished. Res-taurants are obliged to observe the local fire regulations. 2. to watch or to notice what is happening Officials have been instructed to observe the conduct of the ballot for union president. observer /?b_z__v? / noun a person who observes Two official observers attended the election meeting. obsolescence /?bs?_les(?)ns/ noun the process of a product going out of date because of progress in design or technology, and therefore becoming less useful or valuable obsolescent /?bs?_les(?)nt/ adjec-tive becoming out of date obsolete /_?bs?li_t/ adjective no lon-ger used Computer technology changes so fast that hardware soon be-comes obsolete. COMMENT: A product or asset may be-come obsolete because it is worn out, or obstacle 181 odd jobs because new products have been devel- occupational illness oped to replace it. /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l _ ln?s/ noun an illness obstacle /_?bst?k(?)l/ noun some- associated with a particular job (NOTE: thing which prevents you from doing Occupational illnesses include lung something disease, which can affect miners, re- obstruct /?b_str$kt/ verb to get in the petitive strain injury, which can affect keyboard users, and asbestosis, which way or to stop something progressing is caused by working with asbestos.) occupation /?kj?_pe ?(?)n/ noun 1. occupational injury the act of living or staying in a place 2. a /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l _ nd"?ri/ noun an in- job or type of work What is her occu- jury which is caused by a certain type of pation? His main occupation is house work building.It is not a well paid occupational mobility occupation. ‘…the share of white-collar occupations in total /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l m??_b l ti/ noun the employment rose from 44 per cent to 49 per extent to which people can move from cent’ [Sydney Morning Herald] one type of occupation to another Oc- occupational /?kj?_pe ?(?)n?l/ ad- cupational mobility is increasing be- jective referring to a job cause of rising unemployment in some occupational accident areas. /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l __ks d(?)nt/ noun an Occupational Pensions Board accident which takes place at work /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l _pen??nz b?_d/ noun occupational association /?kj?- a government body set up to oversee and validate occupational pension pe ?(?)n?l ?s??si_e ?(?)n/ noun an schemes. Abbr OPB organisation which represents people occupational pension scheme doing a certain type of work and de- fends their interests /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l _pen??n ski_m/ noun occupational deafness pension scheme where the worker gets a pension from a fund set up by the com- /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l _defn?s/ noun deaf- pany he or she has worked for, which is ness caused by noise at work (as by related to the salary he or she was earn- someone using a pneumatic drill) ing (NOTE: also called company pen- occupational disease /?kj?- sion scheme) _pe ?(?)n?l d zi_z/ noun a disease occupational psychology which affects people in certain jobs /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l sa _k?l?d"i/ noun the occupational family study of the behaviour of people at work /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l _f_m(?)li/ noun a occupational sick pay group of jobs having the same personnel /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l _s k pe / noun extra requirements For jobs in certain oc- cupational families, finding qualified payments made by an employer to a member of staff who is sick, above the staff is going to be difficult. statutory sick pay. Abbr OSP occupational group occupational therapy /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l _ ru_p/ noun a cate- /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l _?er?pi/ noun light gory of job or profession occupational hazard work or hobbies used as a means of treatment for an illness, condition or /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l _h_z?d/ noun a dan- disability ger which applies to certain jobs occupy /_?kj?pa / verb to occupy a Heart attacks are one of the occupa- tional hazards of directors. post to be employed in a job occupational health odd-job-man /?d _d"?b m_n/ noun /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l _hel?/, occupational a person who does various pieces of hygiene /?kj?pe ?(?)n?l _ha d"i_n/ work noun a branch of medicine dealing with odd jobs /?d _d"?bz/ plural noun the health of people at work (NOTE: also small pieces of work, not connected to called industrial health) each other and paid for individually odd number 182 official We have a number of odd jobs needing doing, but nothing adding up to full-time employment. odd number /?d _n$mb?/ noun a number which cannot be divided by two, e.g. 17 or 33 Buildings with odd numbers are on the south side of the street off /?f/ adverb not working or not in operation The agreement is off. They called the strike off. It’s my day off tomorrow. to take three days off We give the staff four days off at Christ-mas. preposition away from work to take time off work offence /?_fens/ noun a crime or act which is against the law to be charged with an offence to be accused formally of having committed a crime The manager was charged with three serious offences. to commit an of-fence to carry out a crime (NOTE: the usual US spelling is offense) offender /?_fend?/ noun a person who breaks a law or regulation When we investigated who was making private calls during the working hours, the worst offender was the human resources manager. offer /_?f?/ noun a statement that you are willing to give or do something, es-pecially to pay a specific amount of money to buy something to make an offer for a company We made an offer of £10 a share. £1,000 is the best offer I can make. to make someone an of-fer to propose something to someone The management made the union an im-proved offer. to make someone an of-fer they can’t refuse to make an offer to someone which is so attractive that they cannot turn it down to accept or take up an offer to say ‘yes’ or to agree to an offer to turn down an offer to refuse something which has been of-fered verb to say that you are willing to do something to offer someone a job to tell someone that they can have a job in your company She was offered a directorship with Smith Ltd. offer of employment, offer of a job a letter from an employer saying that someone can have a job with them office /_?f s/ noun 1. a set of rooms where a company works or where busi-ness is done 2. a room where someone works and does business Come into my office. The human resources man-ager’s office is on the third floor. 3. a post or position She holds or performs the office of treasurer to take office to start to work in a certain position office-bearer /_?f s be?r?/ noun a person who holds an office, especially on a union council office block /_?f s bl?k/ noun a building which contains only offices office boy /_?f s b? / noun a young man who works in an office, usually taking messages from one department to another He worked his way up from office boy to general manager in ten years. office-free /?f s _fri_/ adjective refer-ring to an employee whose job does not require them to work in an office office hours /_?f s a??z/ plural noun the time when an office is open Do not make private phone calls during of-fice hours. office job /_?f s d"?b/ noun a job in an office office junior /?f s _d"u_ni?/ noun a young man or woman who does all types of work in an office Office of Fair Trading /?f s ?v fe? _tre d ?/ noun a government depart-ment which protects consumers against unfair or illegal business. Abbr OFT officer /_?f s?/ noun 1. a person who has an official position, especially an unpaid one in a club or other association The election of officers takes place next week. 2. someone holding an offi-cial position, usually unpaid, of a club or society, etc. the election of officers of the association takes place next week office staff /_?f s st?_f/ noun people who work in offices office work /_?f s w__k/ noun work done in an office office worker /_?f s w__k?/ noun a person who works in an office official /?_f ?(?)l/ adjective 1. from a government department or organisation official dispute 183 on She went to France on official busi-ness. He left official documents in his car. She received an official letter of explanation. speaking in an official capacity speaking officially to go through official channels to deal with officials, especially when making a re-quest 2. done or approved by a director or by a person in authority This must be an official order – it is written on the company’s headed paper. This is the union’s official policy. noun a person working in a government department Government officials stopped the import licence. minor official person in a low position in a government depart-ment Some minor official tried to stop my request for building permission. official dispute /?f ?(?)l d _spju_t/ noun an industrial action approved by a trade union officialese /?f ??_li_z/ noun the lan-guage used in government documents which can be difficult to understand officially /?_f ?(?)li/ adverb according to what is said in public Officially he knows nothing about the problem, but unofficially he has given us a lot of ad-vice about it. official mediator /?f ?(?)l _mi_die t?/ noun a government official who tries to make the two sides in an in-dustrial dispute agree official receiver /?f ?(?)l r _si_v?/ noun a government official who is ap-pointed to run a company which is in fi-nancial difficulties, to pay off its debts as far as possible and to close it down The company is in the hands of the offical receiver. off the books /?f ð? _b?ks/ adjec-tive US not declared to the tax authori-ties Some of the staff are paid off the books. off-the-job training /?f ð? d"?b _tre n ?/ noun training given to em-ployees away from their place of work (such as at a college or school) off-topic /?f _t?p k/ noun irrelevant or off the subject old /??ld/ adjective having existed for a long time The company is 125 years old next year. We have decided to get rid of our old computer system and in-stall a new one. old age /??ld _e d"/ noun a period when a person is old old age pensioner /??ld e d" _pen?(?)n?/ noun a person who receives the retirement pension. Abbr OAP old boy network /_??ld b? netw__k/ noun the practice of using long-standing key contacts to appoint people to jobs or to get a job or to do business. networking older worker /??ld? _w__k?/ noun an employee who is above a particular age, usually the age of 50 old-fashioned /??ld _f_?(?)nd/ ad-jective out of date or not modern He still uses an old-fashioned typewriter. ombudsman /_?mb?dzm?n/ noun 1. a management employee who is given the freedom to move around the work-place to locate and remedy unfair prac-tices (NOTE: plural is ombudsmen) 2. an official who investigates complaints by the public against government de-partments or other large organisations ‘…radical changes to the disciplinary system, including appointing an ombudsman to review cases where complainants are not satisfied with the outcome, are proposed in a consultative paper the Institute of Chartered Accountants issued last month’ [Accountancy] COMMENT: There are several ombuds-men: the main one is the Parliamentary Commissioner, who is a civil servant and investigates complaints against govern-ment departments. The Banking Ombuds-man, the Investment Ombudsman, the Building Societies Ombudsman, the Pen-sions Ombudsman and the Insurance Ombudsman are independent officials who investigate complaints by the public against banks, financial advisers, building societies, pension funds or insurance companies. They are all regulated by the Financial Services Authority. omnibus agreement /_?mn b?s ?- ri_m?nt/ noun an agreement which covers many different items omnibus test /_?mn b?s test/ noun a test which covers various subjects on /?n/ preposition 1. being a member of a group to sit on a committee She is on the boards of two companies. We have 250 people on the payroll. She is on call 184 open on our full-time staff. 2. in a certain way on a commercial basis He is still on probation. She is employed on very generous terms. 3. at a time We work 7 hours a day on weekdays. The whole staff has the day off on May 24th. 4. do-ing something The director is on holi-day. She is in the States on business. The switchboard operator is on duty from 6 to 9. on call /?n _k?_l/ adverb ready to be called to work at any time We must have an engineer on call twenty-four hours a day. on-call pay /?n _k?_l pe / noun pay for being on call outside normal work-ing hours The on-call pay was not enough to compensate for being on call all night. on-call time /?n _k?_l ta m/ noun time outside normal working hours when an employee is standing by, ready for work one-man business /w$n m_n _b zn s/, one-man firm /w$n m_n _f__m/, one-man company /w$n m_n _k$mp(?)ni/ noun a business run by one person alone with no staff or partners one-off /w$n _?f/ adjective done or made only once one-off item one-off deal one-off payment a one-off pay-ment a single payment, made once only and not repeated one-off payment /w$n ?f _pe m?nt/ noun a single payment, made once only and not repeated onerous /_??n?r?s/ adjective heavy, needing a lot of effort or money one-sided /w$n _sa d d/ adjective which favours one side and not the other in a negotiation on-going /?n _ ?? ?/ adjective which is continuing on-going discussions online /?n_la n/ adjective, adverb linked directly to a mainframe computer The sales office is online to the ware-house. We get our data online from the stock control department. ‘…there may be a silver lining for ‘clicks-and-mortar’ stores that have both an online and a high street presence. Many of these are accepting returns of goods purchased online at their traditional stores. This is a service that may make them more popular as consumers become more experienced online shoppers’ [Financial Times] ‘…a survey found that even among experienced users – those who shop online at least once a month – about 10% abandoned a planned purchase because of annoying online delays and procedures’ [Financial Times] ‘…some online brokers failed to foresee the huge increase in private dealing and had problems coping with the rising volume. It has been the year when private investors were able to trade online quickly, cheaply, and on the whole, with little bother’ [Financial Times] online training /?nla n _tre n ?/ noun computer-based training that is de-livered over the Internet or through a company intranet o.n.o. abbr or near offer on-target earnings /?n t?_ t ___n ?z/ plural noun the amount earned by people who work on commission when they achieve the targets set for them. Abbr OTE on-the-job training /?n ð? d"?b _tre n ?/ noun training given to em-ployees at their place of work on the side /?n ð? _sa d/ adverb sep-arate from your normal work, and hid-den from your employer He works in an accountant’s office, but he runs a construction company on the side. Her salary is too small to live on, so the family lives on what she can make on the side. on the understanding that /?n ð? $nd?_st_nd ? ð?t/ conjunction on con- dition that, provided that We accept the terms of the contract, on the under-standing that it has to be ratified by our main board. OPB abbr Occupational Pensions Board open /_??p?n/ adjective 1. at work or not closed The store is open on Sunday mornings. Our offices are open from 9 to 6. They are open for business every day of the week. 2. ready to accept something we will keep the job open for a month we will not give the job to anyone else for a month job is open to all applicants anyone can ap-ply for the job verb 1. to start a new business She has opened a shop in the High Street. We have opened a branch in London. 2. to start work or to open ad 185 operation be at work The office opens at 9 a.m. We open for business on Sundays. 3. to begin to open negotiations to be-gin negotiating She opened the dis-cussions with a description of the product. The chairman opened the meeting at 10.30. ‘…after opening at 79.1 the index touched a peak of 79.2 and then drifted to a low of 78.8’ [Financial Times] open ad /_??p?n _d/ noun an adver-tisement for a job where the applicant can apply to the employer directly, with-out having to go through a third party such as an agency Open ads can be used for recruitment when additional staff are required urgently. open-collar worker /??p?n _k?l? w__k?/ noun a person who works from home (slang) open communication /??p?n k?mju_n _ke ?(?)n/ noun freedom of people to communicate what they like to whoever they like within an organisa-tion The policy of open communica-tion is an aid to decision-making as it creates a wider source of expertise to be tapped. open day /_??p?n de / noun a day when an organisation is open to inter-ested candidates who may wish to in-spect the organisation and discuss career possibilities I went to the charity’s open day to see what training they de-manded for fund-raising work. At the open day last week, preliminary inter-views were held with candidates to see if their backgrounds were right for the company. open-door system /??p?n _d?_ s st?m/ noun a system in which super-visors are always available at work to talk to employees open-ended /??p?n _end d/ adjec-tive with no fixed limit or with some items not specified They signed an open-ended agreement. The candidate was offered an open-ended contract with a good career plan. (NOTE: Ameri- can English is open-end) open-ended interview /??p?n end d _ nt?vju_/ an interview where the candidate is asked general questions, which make them give reasons for ac-tions, show their feelings, etc. opening /_??p(?)n ?/ noun 1. the act of starting a new business the opening of a new branch 2. an opportunity to do something open learning /??p?n _l__n ?/ noun a system of flexible training courses which a trainee can start at any time, and which do not require a teacher Open learning can be fitted round the em-ployee’s work schedule. openness /_??p?n?s/ noun the qual-ity of being honest and not hiding any-thing openness in discussing company problems with staff open-plan office /??p?n pl_n _?f s/ noun a large room divided into smaller working spaces with no fixed divisions between them open shop /??p?n _??p/ noun a workplace where employees can be em-ployed whether they are members of a union or not open system /_??p?n s st?m/ noun a flexible type of organisation, which al-lows employees freedom to work in their own way An open system can al-low employees to choose their own working hours. open union /??p?n _ju_nj?n/ noun a union which accepts members from a wide range of jobs operate /_?p?re t/ verb 1. to be in force The new terms of service will operate from January 1st. The rules operate on inland postal services only. 2. to make something work or function to operate a machine to make a ma-chine work He is learning to operate the new telephone switchboard. 3. to do business ‘…the company gets valuable restaurant locations which will be converted to the family-style restaurant chain that it operates and franchises throughout most parts of the US’ [Fortune] operation /?p?_re ?(?)n/ noun 1. a business organisation and work the company’s operations in West Africa 2. to put a plan into operation to start a plan working ‘…a leading manufacturer of business, industrial and commercial products requires a operational 186 ordinary branch manager to head up its mid-western Canada operations based in Winnipeg’ [Globe and Mail (Toronto)] operational /?p?_re ?(?)n?l/ adjec-tive 1. referring to how something works 2. working or in operation the system became operational on June 1st the system began working on June 1st operational budget /?p?re ?(?)n?l _b$d" t/ noun a forecast of expenditure on running a business operations review /?p?re ?(?)nz r _vju_/ noun an act of examining the way in which a company or department works to see how it can be made more efficient and profitable operative /_?p(?)r?t v/ adjective op-erating or working The new system has been operative since June 1st to become operative to start working noun a person who operates a machine which makes a product A skilled oper-ative can produce 250 units per hour. operator /_?p?re t?/ noun 1. a person who works a machine a keyboard op-erator a computer operator 2. a per-son who works a telephone switchboard switchboard operator to call the operator or to dial the operator to place a call through or via the operator 3. a person who runs a business opinion-leader /?_p nj?n li_d?/ noun a person or organisation whose opinions influence others in society A pop-star is the ideal opinion-leader if the product is aimed at the teenage market. opportunistic /?p?tju__n st k/ ad-jective done when the opportunity arises opportunistic thefts in offices thefts committed when valuables are left lying around opportunity /?p?_tju_n ti/ noun a chance to do something successfully to seize an opportunity to take advan-tage of an opportunity as soon as it ap-pears to miss out on an opportunity not to be able to take advantage of an opportunity. equal opportunities ‘…the group is currently undergoing a period of rapid expansion and this has created an exciting opportunity for a qualified accountant’ [Financial Times] oppose /?_p??z/ verb to try to stop something happening; to vote against something A minority of board mem-bers opposed the motion. We are all opposed to the takeover. A minority of union members opposed the deal. opposite number /?p?z t _n$mb?/ noun a person who has a similar job in another company John is my oppo-site number in Smith’s John has the same job in Smith’s as I have here optional /_?p?(?)n(?)l/ adjective not necessary according to rules Atten-dance at staff meetings is optional, al-though the management encourages employees to attend. opt out /?pt _a?t/ verb to decide not to do something oral /_?_r?l/ adjective referring to speech, as opposed to writing oral warning /?_r?l _w?_n ?/ noun the first stage of disciplinary measures, where an employee is told by the super-visor that their work is unsatisfactory and must be improved After being given his second oral warning he knew he would be fired for absenteeism. Af-ter an oral warning from her supervisor, she received a written warning from the human resources director. order /_?_d?/ noun 1. an arrangement of records such as filing cards or in-voices in order of merit the placing of employees in order according to their qualities 2. working arrangement ma-chine in full working order a machine which is ready and able to work prop-erly the telephone is out of order the telephone is not working is all the documentation in order? are all the documents valid and correct? 3. an in-struction verb 1. to instruct to order twenty filing cabinets to be delivered to the warehouse 2. to put in a certain way The address list is ordered by country. That filing cabinet contains invoices ordered by date. order fulfilment /_?_d? f?lf lm?nt/ noun the process of supplying items which have been ordered ordinary /_?_d(?)n(?)ri/ adjective not special organ 187 orientation organ /_?_ ?n/ noun a journal or organisational development magazine /?_ ?na ze ?(?)n?l d _vel?pm?nt/ organic organisation /?_ _n k noun a form of management training designed to affect the whole organisa- ?_ ?na _ze ?(?)n/ noun a type of or- tion as well as the individual employees ganisation with little formality in its organisational iceberg /?_ ?na - structure and procedures organigram /?__ _n r_m/ noun ze ?(?)n?l _a sb__ / noun an official or apparent system of an organisation, same as organisational chart as opposed to the way the organisation organisation /?_ ?na _ze ?(?)n/, is really run organization noun 1. a way of arrang- organisational learning /?_ ?na - ing something so that it works effi- ze ?(?)n?l _l__n ?/ noun activities ciently the organisation of the head within an organisation that are aimed at office into departments The chairman the further training and personal devel- handles the organisation of the AGM. opment of employees and are intended The organisation of the group is too to create a willing acceptance of centralised to be efficient. 2. a group or changes and improvements and high institution which is arranged for effi- levels of enthusiasm, energy, creativity cient work employers’ or trade un- and innovation among them (NOTE: The ion organisation a group of employers concept of organisational learning was or trade unions with similar interests further developed as the learning or- ‘…working with a client base which includes ganisation.) many major commercial organizations and organisation pyramid /?_ ?na - nationalized industries’ [Times] organisational /?_ ?na - _ze ?(?)n p r?m d/ noun a structure of an organisation with many employees at _ze ?(?)n?l/, organizational adjective lower levels and fewer at the top referring to the way in which something organisation theory /?_ ?na - is organised The paper gives a dia- _ze ?(?)n ? ?ri/ noun the study of the gram of the company’s organisational structure and function of organisations structure. organise /_?_ ?na z/, organize verb organisational analysis /?_ ?na - to set up a system for doing something ze ?(?)n?l ?_n_l?s s/ noun a type of The company is organised into six analysis carried out by an organisation profit centres. The group is organised that is intended to identify areas where it by sales areas. is inefficient and ways in which it can ‘…we organize a rate with importers who have be restructured so as to become more large orders and guarantee them space at a fixed efficient rate so that they can plan their costs’ organisational change /?_ ?na - [Lloyd’s List] organised labour /?_ ?na zd ze ?(?)n?l _t?e nd"/ noun a change in _le b?/ noun employees who are mem- the way something is organised bers of trade unions organisational chart /?_ ?na - ‘…governments are coming under increasing ze ?(?)n?l _t??_t/ noun a chart show- pressure from politicians, organized labour and ing the hierarchical relationships be- business to stimulate economic growth’ [Duns Business Month] tween employees in a company organogram /?__ _n? r_m/ noun organisational climate /?_ ?na - same as organisational chart ze ?(?)n?l _kla m?t/ noun the general orientation /?_ri?n_te ?(?)n/ noun 1. feeling in an organisation The organi- the main interest or type of activity sational climate will improve as soon as The company’s orientation is towards employees are allowed to take part in production and it has little marketing decision-making. experience. 2. the introduction of new culture /?_ ?na - organisational employees into an organisation The ze ?(?)n?l _k$lt??/ noun same as orientation programme included a talk corporate culture by the chairman on the history of the oriented 188 output company and its products. Lack of proper orientation can cause much dis-tress in the first days of a new job. oriented /_?_rient d/, orientated /_?_ri?nte t d/ adjective working in a certain direction a market-orientated approach originating application /?- r d" ne t ? _pl _ke ?(?)n/ noun a form by which an employee begins the process of complaint to an industrial tribunal ostracise /_?str?sa z/, ostracize verb to reject and refuse to have any-thing to do with a member or members of a group Workers who carried on working were ostracised after the strike ended. ostracism /_?str?s z(?)m/ noun re-jection of a member or members of a group by others The fate of non-strikers was ostracism by their for-mer colleagues. OTE abbr on-target earnings out /a?t/ adverb on strike As soon as the management made the offer, the staff came out. The shop stewards called the workforce out. out box /_a?t b?ks/ noun US a box or other container for documents and other items that have been dealt with (NOTE: Items are placed in the out box before being filed or delivered to another per-son.) outcome /_a?tk$m/ noun a result What was the outcome of the discussion? outdoor training /a?td?_ _tre n ?/ noun same as adventure training outfit /_a?tf t/ noun a small, some-times badly run company They called in a public relations outfit. He works for some finance outfit. out-house /_a?t ha?s/ adjective, ad-verb working outside a company’s buildings the out-house staff We do all our data processing out-house. outing /_a?t ?/ noun a trip away from the place of work outline /_a?tla n/ noun a general de-scription, without giving many details They drew up the outline of a plan or an outline plan. verb to make a general description The chairman outlined the company’s plans for the coming year. outline agreement /_a?t(?)la n ?- ri_m?nt/ noun the general draft of an agreement, without giving any details out of court /a?t ?v _k?_t/ adverb, adjective a settlement was reached out of court a dispute was settled be-tween two parties privately without con-tinuing a court case out-of-court settlement /a?t ?v k?_t _set(?)lm?nt/ noun an act of set- tling a dispute between two parties pri-vately without continuing a court case out-of-date /a?t ?v _de t/ adjective, adverb old-fashioned or no longer mod-ern Their computer system is years out of date. They’re still using out-of-date equipment. out of pocket /a?t ?v _p?k t/ adjec-tive, adverb having paid out money per-sonally The deal has left me out of pocket. out of the loop /a?t ?v ð? _lu_p/ ad-verb deliberately or accidentally ex-cluded from decision-making processes and the flow of information around an organisation (informal) (NOTE: A person who is out of the loop is likely to feel isolated and will be unable to contrib-ute fully to the organisation.) out of work /a?t ?v _w__k/ adjec-tive, adverb with no job The reces-sion has put millions out of work. The company was set up by three out-of-work engineers. outplacement /_a?tple sm?nt/ noun help in finding another job, given by an employer to an employee who has been made redundant output /_a?tp?t/ noun 1. the amount which a company, person or machine produces Output has increased by 10%. 25% of our output is exported. 2. information which is produced by a computer (NOTE: the opposite is input) verb to produce (by computer) The printer will output colour graphics. That is the information outputted from the computer. The printer will output colour graphs. (NOTE: outputting – outputted) output bonus 189 overmanning ‘…crude oil output plunged during the last month and is likely to remain near its present level for the near future’ [Wall Street Journal] output bonus /_a?tp?t b??n?s/, output-based bonus /a?tp?t be st _b??n?s/ noun an extra payment for in- creased production output per hour /a?tp?t p?r _a??/ noun the amount of something produced in one hour outside /_a?tsa d/ adjective, adverb not in a company’s office or building to send work to be done outside to send work to be done in other offices outside director /a?tsa d da - _rekt?/ noun a director who is not em-ployed by the company, a non-executive director outside line /a?tsa d _la n/ noun a line from an internal office telephone system to the main telephone exchange You dial 9 to get an outside line. outside office hours /a?tsa d _?f s a??z/ adverb when the office is not open outside worker /_a?tsa d w__k?/ noun an employee who does not work in a company’s offices outsourcing /_a?ts?_s ?/ noun the practice of obtaining services from spe-cialist bureaux or other companies, rather than employing full-time mem-bers of staff to provide them ‘…organizations in the public and private sectors are increasingly buying in specialist services – or outsourcing – allowing them to cut costs and concentrate on their core business activities’ [Financial Times] outstrip /a?t_str p/ verb to become larger than something else Wage in-creases are outstripping inflation. (NOTE: outstripped – outstripping) outvote /a?t_v??t/ verb to defeat in a vote the chairman was outvoted the majority voted against the chairman outward bound training /a?tw?d _ba?nd tre n ?/ noun same as adven- ture training outwork /_a?tw__k/ noun work which a company pays someone to do at home outworker /_a?tw__k?/ noun a person who works at home for a company over- /??v?/ prefix more than shop which caters to the over-60s a shop which has goods which appeal to people who are more than sixty years old overachiever /??v?r?_t?i_v?/ noun a person who tries too hard and achieves more than they are really capable of Overachievers on the management course were encouraged to slow down. overall /??v?r_?_l/ adjective covering or including everything the company reported an overall fall in profits the company reported a general fall in prof-its overall plan a plan which covers everything overall performance /??v?r?_l p?- _f?_m?ns/ noun the performance of an employee relating to the whole job, and not simply to part of it overcome /??v?_k$m/ verb to beat something after a struggle to over-come obstacles on the way to reaching agreement (NOTE: overcoming – overcame) overemployment /??v?r m- _pl? m?nt/ noun a situation where there is a shortage of labour in a certain area or industry overhaul /??v?_h?_l/ verb to examine something carefully and make changes so that it works better to overhaul the company’s union agreements overhead budget /??v?hed _b$d" t/ noun a plan of probable over-head costs overheads /_??v?hedz/ plural noun the costs of the day-to-day running of a business The sales revenue covers the manufacturing costs but not the over-heads. (NOTE: American English is usu- ally overhead.) overlearning /_??v?l__n ?/ noun the process of continuing the learning pro-cess beyond the level of skill needed The training manager found that with-out overlearning, skills were easily lost. overmanned /??v?_m_nd/ adjec-tive having more employees than necessary overmanning /??v?_m_n ?/ noun the state of having more employees than are needed to do a company’s work The MD’s plan is to reduce overman- overpaid 190 ownership ning. The answer to our overmanning problem must be redundancies. overpaid /??v?_pe d/ adjective paid too much Our staff are overpaid and underworked. overproduce /??v?pr?_dju_s/ verb to produce too much of a product overproduction /??v?pr?_d$k??n/ noun the manufacturing of too much of a product overqualified /??v?_kw?l fa d/ ad-jective having too many skills for a job With a degree in business studies she is overqualified to be an ordinary shop floor worker. overrated /??v?_re t d/ adjective valued more highly than it should be The effect of the dollar on European business cannot be overrated. Their ‘first-class service’ is very overrated. overrepresent /??v?repr _zent/ verb to give one group more repre-sentatives than another This group of workers are overrepresented on the management committee. override /??v?_ra d/ verb not to do something which has been decided to override an order overrule /??v?_ru_l/ verb to decide against something which has been de-cided to overrule a decision overrun /??v?_r$n/ verb to go be-yond a limit The workers overran the time limit set by the production man- ager. (NOTE: overrunning – overran – overrun) overseas /_??v?si_z / adjective, ad-verb across the sea or to foreign coun-tries Management trainees knew that they would be sent overseas to learn about the export markets. Some work-ers are going overseas to find new jobs. overseas call /??v?si_z _k?_l/ noun a call to another country oversee /??v?_si_/ verb to supervise (NOTE: overseeing – oversaw – overseen) overseer /_??v?s ?/ noun a person who supervises other workers overstaffed /??v?_st?_ft/ adjective with more employees than are needed to do the work of the company overtime /_??v?ta m/ noun hours worked more than the normal working time to work six hours’ overtime The overtime rate is one and a half times normal pay. He worked six hours’ overtime last week. adverb to work overtime to work longer hours than stated in the contract of employment overtime ban /_??v?ta m b_n/ noun an order by a trade union which forbids overtime work by its members overtime pay /_??v?ta m pe / noun pay for extra time worked overtime rate /_??v?ta m re t/ noun the rate of pay for extra time worked overturn /??v?_t__n/ verb to over-turn a decision of a tribunal to cancel a decision made previously overwork /??v?_w__k/ noun she is suffering from overwork she has too much work and this is making her ill overworked /??v?_w__kt/ adjective having too much work to do Our staff complain of being underpaid and overworked. own /??n/ verb to have or to possess He owns 50% of the shares. owner /_??n?/ noun a person who owns something ownership /_??n?? p/ noun the fact of owning something