3 Vocabulary  The right stuff

Part 1

1 Jordan
Jordan is one of those people who sees the situation as a
whole. The kind of person, for example, who realizes that if
one of our new products is a flop, it might not be because
people don’t want it. There could be other reasons, such
as the price, other versions of the same product already
available in the shops, and so on.
2 Sam
The biggest problem with Sam is that he seems unable
to make a decision. This is especially the case when
we’re trying to solve a problem and people are coming up
with different ideas. He’s very reluctant to get involved
or influence something. Trying to get him to agree to
anything is almost impossible!

3 Chris
There’s always someone in every office who wants to be
noticed and who wants people to talk about them all the
time. Well, that’s Chris! He can be a bit annoying, especially
at staff meetings where he tends to dominate any
discussion, but he always gets really good sales and makes
a lot of money for the company.
4 Shannon
Shannon has only been with the company for six months,
but she is very ambitious and clearly wants to get to the
top. As a result, she pushes herself very hard. And this
means that she thinks we should all do the same. Shannon
wants us all to do well, because she believes that that will
reflect well on her.

5 Ken
A good employee is someone who is willing not only to work
in different ways to achieve something, but also to consider
suggestions from others. So, for example, you might say
something like, ‘We could get bigger sales of such-and-such
a product if we changed some of the features’, and they
would say, ‘OK, let’s give it a go.’ Ken is like that.
6 Ollie
Ollie is the most popular person in the office. We all like
the way that she makes us feel good about what we’re
doing, even if things aren’t going very well or if a new
project is falling flat. She’s one of those people who will
say something like, ‘Come on, everyone – cheer up. Things
could be worse. We’re going to win this one!’

7 Carla
The least popular person in the office is Carla. When you
first meet her, she seems quite nice, but you gradually
realize that she likes to cause problems for people. For
example, if you get a call when you’re out and Carla takes
it, she’ll deliberately wait until the end of the day before
passing the message on to you, just because it will make
your life more difficult.
8 Tony
If there are problems on the factory floor, if there’s a
breakdown in communication somewhere, or if there is
a rude customer to deal with on the phone, the person
you can always rely on to deal with it is Tony. In fact, no
matter how unpleasant the situation, Tony will sort it
out. I think he actually enjoys the challenge situations
like these present!

Part 2
Dear Colleagues,
y has not been doing well for the
As many of you are aware, the compan
had a negative impact on sales at
last two years. The economic crisis has
owing to an increasingly competitive
home, while export sales have fallen
ble, and we will have to make drastic
market. In brief, the company is in trou
g.
changes if we are to continue operatin
we have decided that the only way we
We have looked at many options, but
number of employees. Therefore, with
can continue is if we cut down on the
of you to leave the company at the end
great regret, we will be asking some
might choose voluntary redundancy,
of the year. We hope that some of you
erous leaving package and a good
in which case you will be given a gen
ever, nobody wishes to take this
reference for future employers. If, how
ourselves. This would not be an
offer, we will have to make the decision
ld only do this as a last resort.
easy task, and we stress that we wou
this further, please feel free to drop
If you would like to see me to discuss
r is always open.
by at any time. As you know, my doo
With kind regards,
Charlie Philpott Director

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