Rightsizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of modifying an organization's dimensions to improve effectiveness
2. The method of recalibrating the number of employees to suit operational requirements
3. The process of changing an organization's scale to better fit its goals and improve performance

Etymology: "Rightsizing" is a compound of "right" and "size," which is about as transparent as English coinages get: "right" in the sense of "proper, suitable," and "size" in its ordinary sense of dimensions or scale. The verb "rightsize" puts those two together to mean adjusting something to the size that suits it best. The word's modern life comes from the corporate world of the late twentieth century, where it became a polite cousin of "downsizing." Where "downsizing" announces cuts, "rightsizing" suggests the organization is being made appropriate for its goals, which is why it became a favourite of managers wanting to describe layoffs in a more reassuring light. The sense of "right" is doing quiet work here, implying that the existing scale was simply wrong rather than that people are being let go.

Synonyms: restructuring, downsizing, streamlining, optimizing, adjusting

Antonyms: expanding, growing, enlarging, increasing, augmenting