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hi-grading

English translation: high grading/ selecting the best

13:57 Mar 27, 2008
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Management / CV
English term or phrase: hi-grading
This terms appear in a CV, within the following sentence:

Develop competencies in staff through coaching, mentoring and identifying appropriate training opportunities, while hi-grading resources.

I cannot find a definition for the verb "hi-grade". Is it the same as "optimize", or does it mean something else? Thanks in advance.
Pedro Coral Costa
Local time: 09:26
Selected answer:high grading/ selecting the best
Explanation:
Forestry
In forestry, high grading is a selective type of timber harvesting that removes the highest grade of timber ( i.e, the most merchantable stems ) in an area of forest.

Fishing
High grading is a practice of selectively harvesting fish so that only the best quality fish are brought ashore.

Mining
In mining, high grading is the theft and concealment of valuable ore by miners for personal profit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_grading

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Note added at 19 mins (2008-03-27 14:16:11 GMT)
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And that's the general definition from the same Wikipedia page: The term high grading in forestry and fishing relates to selectively harvesting goods, to “cut the best and leave the rest”. In mining, it is a term for theft.
Selected response from:

Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:26
Grading comment
Thanks.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
3 +5high grading/ selecting the best
Nesrin
4downsizing
John Alphonse (X)


  

Answers


17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +5
high grading/ selecting the best


Explanation:
Forestry
In forestry, high grading is a selective type of timber harvesting that removes the highest grade of timber ( i.e, the most merchantable stems ) in an area of forest.

Fishing
High grading is a practice of selectively harvesting fish so that only the best quality fish are brought ashore.

Mining
In mining, high grading is the theft and concealment of valuable ore by miners for personal profit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_grading

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 mins (2008-03-27 14:16:11 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

And that's the general definition from the same Wikipedia page: The term high grading in forestry and fishing relates to selectively harvesting goods, to “cut the best and leave the rest”. In mining, it is a term for theft.

Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:26
Works in field
Native speaker of: Arabic
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Thanks.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Adela Porumbel: the practice of selecting only the most healthy or valuable individuals in harvesting a natural resource (as timber or fish) - http://mw4.m-w.com/dictionary/high-grading/ thanks, Nesrin :)
6 mins
  -> Thanks Deea! Great profile ;-)
agree  BrettMN: This sounds right. If I got a CV on which someone spelled the word "high" as "hi," however, I'd think twice about hiring them!
39 mins
  -> Exactly!! "Yuk" was my first thought!
agree  Phong Le
11 hrs
agree  Vicky Nash
19 hrs
agree  Reza Mohammadnia
5 days
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2 days 5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
downsizing


Explanation:
This seems a euphemistic way to express that someone is cutting all but the most integral jobs and resource expenditures of a program or business. It sounds nicer than "downsizing" but what it really means is that this person was responsible for "getting rid of dead wood" as they say. Ironically, in logging it's an unflattering term or at least they standardly see through it. Yes, its result is "selecting the best," however that view is incomplete, as the purpose of the process is to remove more than select.


    Reference: http://www.daviesand.com/Choices/Silvicultural_Systems/High-...
John Alphonse (X)
United States
Native speaker of: English
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