CATEGORY: BUSINESS

GROUP: 3. AT THE WORKPLACE

Topic: 5. Reprimanding Subordinates
Introduction:
Part of a supervisors responsibilities is reprimanding employees who are not
performing well at work. Though this can be an uncomfortable situation, it is necessary
to ensure things run smoothly at the workplace.

Dialogue:
Amy has not been doing very good work lately at her company. Today, her supervisor,
Christine, calls her into her office to discuss the problems.

Christine: Come in, Amy. Please close the door behind you.
Amy: Sure.
Christine: Please, sit down. Do you know why Ive called this meeting with you?
Amy: No, not really.
Christine: Well, we need to discuss your work performance lately. A lot of things have
been going on that are unacceptable.
Amy: Oh, all right.
Christine: First of all, Id like to talk to you about your tardiness. For the past few
months, youve been late to work on a regular basis.
Amy: But no one else gets here exactly on time.

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Christine: Its true that everyone is late sometimes. Being late for work every once in a
while is understandable. But there is no excuse for coming in to work late every
single day. Im afraid youre the only one were having that problem with.
Amy: But Im not usually that late. Only like 30 or 45 minutes late.
Christine: That is very late. Anything over five or ten minutes late is unacceptable. You
havent even been calling in to let anyone know that youll be late. Is there a
problem that is causing you to be continually late?
Amy: No, Ive just been having insomnia. Its making it difficult for me to get up in the
morning.
Christine: Well, Im afraid thats not an acceptable excuse. Youve got to start coming
into work on time and putting in the same hours as everyone else.
Amy: OK. I understand.
Christine: Good. Now, lets talk about the projects youve been working on lately.
Amy: All right.
Christine: The last project report you turned in was two weeks late and I must say that it
was very poor work. What happened?
Amy: I just had a lot of projects going on and I couldnt finish it in time.
Christine: If you were not going to finish on time, you should have let me know. That
was very irresponsible because it affects the whole team. You knew the due
date and the importance of the work. Someone else could have worked on it in
time if you had told me you couldnt finish.
Amy: Im sorry. I should have talked to you.
Christine: Im afraid sorry doesnt fix the problem, Amy. This isnt the first time this has
happened. Apart from being late, the project was done in a very poor manner.
Amy: Im sorry for that too. I think the lack of sleep is affecting my performance at
work. I cant concentrate and my work is suffering.
Christine: Im sorry youre having problems sleeping, but we cant accept that as an
excuse for poor work. Its not fair to the rest of the staff. Is this going to be a
continual problem?
Amy: No, I will try to fix it.

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Christine: Good. Now please take what I am saying seriously. You can consider this
conversation as your second formal warning. If this happens again, well have to
take more severe action. Do you understand?
Amy: Yes, I understand.
Christine: Im glad. Youve been a great employee in the past and wed hate to lose
you.
Amy: Thank you. Youll see improvement, I promise.
Christine: I hope so. OK, thats all for now.
Amy: OK. Bye.
Christine: Bye.

Vocabulary:
reprimanding: severely scolding or correcting
unacceptable: not allowed
tardiness: lateness
insomnia: inability to sleep
putting in the same hours: working the same amount of time
poor: bad quality

Discussion Questions:
1. Have you ever been reprimanded at work? What for?
-No, I have never been reprimanded at work. Ive never done anything that
needed reprimanding. I did have a friend who got reprimanded at work though.
She had a bad attitude and was unfriendly to other staff members. Our boss
reprimanded her for that.
2. Have you ever reprimanded someone at work? What for?
-Yes, I have had to reprimand one of my subordinates for not showing up to work
when she said she was going to. She just wouldnt come in and it was
unacceptable. Eventually, we had to fire her.
3. Do you have to be on time at your job?
-Yes. We have to be at the office at 8 a.m. However, if we are less than 15
minutes late, no one really cares. We dont get reprimanded for that.
4. How long of a lunch break do you get at your job?

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-I get a one-hour lunch break at my job. Its pretty flexible though. If we take a
little longer that an hour it is OK. As long as we are getting our work done, the
bosses dont really care.
5. How many hours a week do employees usually work in your country? Are they
reprimanded if they work less?
-In the U.S., forty hours is a typical workweek. Employees are reprimanded if
they are not working the required hours. If they are always late or leaving early
or if they dont come in they will get in trouble.

6. How would you feel if you got called into your boss office?
-I would be extremely nervous. Actually, I would expect that the boss had
something good to say to me, not a reprimand. Nevertheless, I would still be
really nervous.
7. What makes a good manager or boss?
-I think a good manager is one that makes the expectations of the workplace very
clear. A good manager is also fair and easy to communicate with. I think a good
manager is one that follows through with consequences for bad behavior at the
workplace.
8. Who was the worst boss you ever had?
-The worst boss I ever had was a lady at my last job. She was the boss, but she
was always late for work or never came in. When she was in the office, she
didnt do anything and provided no guidance or instruction for her subordinates.
9. What is considered late in your country?
-In the U.S., I think anything over 5 or 10 minutes past a specific time is
considered late. For example, if work starts at 8am and you get there at 8:30
that is late.
10. Have you ever had an argument with a boss before? What happened?
-No, I have never had an argument with a boss before. Im not the kind of person
that would have an argument with someone I worked with. I might discuss things
with a person, but I wouldnt argue with them.

Copyright 2007 English 1 on 1 Corp. All rights reserved. No reproduction without expressed written permission of English 1 on 1.