Direct Report

Definition

An employee who reports directly to you, making you theoretically responsible for their development while practically just reviewing emails.

Example Usage

Sarah has 12 direct reports but only meets with them once a quarter, which is definitely fine.

Origin

Organizational hierarchy terminology, ubiquitous in corporate structure

Fun Fact

The closer a manager's span gets to 1:1 ratios, the more that manager is probably a bottleneck.

Source: Standard organizational terminology

Related Terms

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Flexible Working

Working whenever, wherever you want—as long as it's basically 9-5 in your home office instead of the corporate office.

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gig worker

An independent contractor or freelancer working on temporary, flexible arrangements rather than traditional employment. They enjoy freedom and flexibility but forfeit benefits, protections, and financial security—the great trade-off of the 21st century.

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Intermediate

Lean In

An approach to career advancement where women actively pursue leadership despite systemic obstacles. Made famous by Sheryl Sandberg and also somewhat controversial.

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Icebreaker Activities

Team-building exercises designed to help people get to know each other. They break the ice in the sense of creating a thin layer of discomfort that melts slowly.

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Termination

The clinical, robotic word for firing someone that makes it sound like deactivating a piece of equipment. HR uses it because saying "we ended a human's livelihood" doesn't fit neatly in a dropdown menu.

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Learning and Development (L&D)

The department responsible for making employees smarter, usually with outdated online courses they completed at 1 AM on their last day of the quarter.

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