Re: The meaning of "eyes on the ground"
Don Phillipson
news:53d50392-1de1-47d1...@j23g2000yqc.googlegroups.com...
> The term "eyes on the ground" is occasionally used to describe those
> individuals (frequently soldiers) who are close to an event and can
> give first-hand information to decision makers.
>
> Is there an better idiom - or clearer variation to this one - to
> describe this situation?
Yes -- "witnesses." The Americanism "eyes on the ground" appears
to be military (or espionage) jargon for information obtained directly
("what they saw with their own eyes") as distinguished from
deductions, documentary information etc. But the meaning is
simply witnesses.
> I'm writing a report about the importance of "front-line" employees as
> a source of information for leaders of the organization, and I need a
> phrase to describe this relationship.
NB: "front line" is similarly military jargon, used to identify soldiers
exposed most nearly to enemy forces, as distinguished from the
"rear echelon." Being a metaphor, its function in organizational
theory is more probably cosmetic rather than functional.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
Marius Hancu
> The term "eyes on the ground" is occasionally used to describe those
> individuals (frequently soldiers) who are close to an event and can
> give first-hand information to decision makers.
>
> Is there an better idiom - or clearer variation to this one - to
> describe this situation?
>
> I'm writing a report about the importance of "front-line" employees as
> a source of information for leaders of the organization, and I need a
> phrase to describe this relationship.
A possibility:
"on-the-spot/on-site observers"
Marius Hancu
CDB
> "Cloy" <cl...@tobola.com> wrote:
>>
>> The term "eyes on the ground" is occasionally used to describe
>> those individuals (frequently soldiers) who are close to an event
>> and can give first-hand information to decision makers.
>>
>> Is there an better idiom - or clearer variation to this one - to
>> describe this situation?
>
> Yes -- "witnesses." The Americanism "eyes on the ground" appears
> to be military (or espionage) jargon for information obtained
> directly ("what they saw with their own eyes") as distinguished from
> deductions, documentary information etc. But the meaning is
> simply witnesses.
>>
ground", meaning the physical presence of troops in some place.
>>
>> I'm writing a report about the importance of "front-line"
>> employees as a source of information for leaders of the
>> organization, and I need a phrase to describe this relationship.
>
> NB: "front line" is similarly military jargon, used to identify
> soldiers exposed most nearly to enemy forces, as distinguished from
> the "rear echelon." Being a metaphor, its function in
> organizational theory is more probably cosmetic rather than
> functional.
>>
David Hatunen
> "Cloy" <cl...@tobola.com> wrote in message
> news:53d50392-1de1-47d1-8ee1-
b965d3...@j23g2000yqc.googlegroups.com...
>
>> The term "eyes on the ground" is occasionally used to describe those
>> individuals (frequently soldiers) who are close to an event and can
>> give first-hand information to decision makers.
>>
>> Is there an better idiom - or clearer variation to this one - to
>> describe this situation?
>
> Yes -- "witnesses." The Americanism "eyes on the ground" appears to be
> military (or espionage) jargon for information obtained directly ("what
> they saw with their own eyes") as distinguished from deductions,
> documentary information etc. But the meaning is simply witnesses.
I should think that it also distinguishes the witness who is a foot
soldier close to events from one in an observation plane. Plus, "witness"
means someone who has seen something significant; "eyes on the ground"
could mean nothing has been witnessed, at least not yet, but the eyes are
ready to witness.
--
Dave Hatunen, Tucson, Arizona, out where the cacti grow
tony cooper
wrote:
>X-No-Archive: Yes
>The term "eyes on the ground" is occasionally used to describe those
>individuals (frequently soldiers) who are close to an event and can
>give first-hand information to decision makers.
>
>Is there an better idiom - or clearer variation to this one - to
>describe this situation?
>
>I'm writing a report about the importance of "front-line" employees as
>a source of information for leaders of the organization, and I need a
>phrase to describe this relationship.
>
What is a "front-line" employee, and what do you call the other
employees?
Are you separating employees just manager or non-manager?
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
R H Draney
>
>What is a "front-line" employee, and what do you call the other
>employees?
>
>Are you separating employees just manager or non-manager?
A front-line employee is someone who does the work, and a manager is someone who
takes the credit....r
--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.
Evan Kirshenbaum
> On Sun, 15 May 2011 18:03:25 -0700 (PDT), Cloy <cl...@tobola.com>
> wrote:
>
>>X-No-Archive: Yes
>>The term "eyes on the ground" is occasionally used to describe those
>>individuals (frequently soldiers) who are close to an event and can
>>give first-hand information to decision makers.
>>
>>Is there an better idiom - or clearer variation to this one - to
>>describe this situation?
>>
>>I'm writing a report about the importance of "front-line" employees
>>as a source of information for leaders of the organization, and I
>>need a phrase to describe this relationship.
>>
> What is a "front-line" employee, and what do you call the other
> employees?
A front-line employee is one whose job is to interact with customers.
I think that the other ones are typically "back-office". The
buzzwords I tend to hear these days are "customer-facing" and "non-
customer-facing" positions.
In a restaurant, the hostess, waiters, and busboys would be front-line
employees. The cooks, dishwashers, owner, and accountant would not
be. In my business, the front-line employees would be mostly in sales
and first-tier support.
> Are you separating employees just manager or non-manager?
--
Evan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------
Still with HP Labs |Now and then an innocent man is sent
SF Bay Area (1982-) |to the legislature.
Chicago (1964-1982) | Kim Hubbard