Professionals Podcasts – Complaining

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/professionals-podcasts/complaining

Introduction
Professionals Podcasts from LearnEnglish help you to improve your English for your career in the
workplace, and cover a large number of business and work themes. They are suitable for learners at
intermediate to advanced level.

This support pack contains the following materials:

• a language task: vocabulary
w

• two comprehension tasks

• the article
w
w

Task 1: Vocabulary
.b

Learn some useful language for complaining. Match the list of words below to the correct definition.
rit

1. be singled out e
is

2. delegate f
hc

3. be targeted b
d
ou

4. workload
5. approach g
nc

6. work overtime c
j
il.

7. credibility
h
or

8. deadline
9. have a word with somebody a
g/

10. boost i
le
ar

Definitions
a. to speak to somebody 9
ne

b. to be the object of criticism 3

c. to work more than your normal hours 6
d. the amount of work a person has 4
ng

e. to be picked out or distinguished 1

f. to entrust a job to another person 2
lis

g. to come close to 5
h. a time limit 8
h

i. to enhance or make better 10

j. the quality of being trustworthy 7

© The British Council, 2011 Page 1 of 3

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
 Professionals Podcasts – Complaining
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/professionals-podcasts/complaining

Task 2: General comprehension

Listen to the conversation and decide which is the best summary.

1. The employee is worried about approaching his boss

about his workload, so he asks the HR officer to speak
to the boss.
2. The human resources officer is angry at the boss
w

and decides to send him an email.

w

3. The employee is angry because his boss is very

demanding, so he asks the HR officer for advice on
w

what to do.
.b

Task 3: Detailed comprehension

rit

Listen to the conversation again and decide whether the following statements are true or false.
is

1. Mr Johnson doesn’t do any a. True

hc

paperwork. b. False
2. Mr Johnson has tried to approach Tim a. True
ou

about the problem. b. False

3. His boss never listens to his a. True
nc

employees. b. False
4. The HR officer suggests that if he
a. True
il.

takes his problem directly to his boss it

b. False
could be more positive for him.
or

5. The HR officer tells him to arrange a a. True

g/

meeting by phone. b. False

le

Transcript
HRO = Human Resources Officer
ar

Mr J = Mr Johnson
ne

HRO Good morning, Mr Johnson. How can I help you?

Mr J Well, I’d like to talk to you about Tim Bond, the department manager.
ng

HRO What seems to be the problem?

Well … ever since Sandra left the department I feel like I’ve been targeted to
lis

Mr J do all her work as well as mine. Tim has made me work overtime; I’m
expected to attend too many meetings and I seem to be spending a lot of
h

my time doing unnecessary paperwork.

HRO I’m sorry to hear that …
And …on top of that, I’d specifically asked if I could leave early last Friday, as
Mr J I’d done a lot of overtime during the week. But we had a deadline on Friday
afternoon and even though I’d finished my specific work I was expected to
help other colleagues finish their work too.
HRO But surely that is a positive sign showing that Mr Bond has a lot of trust in
you, in getting you to help other colleagues?
Mr J Yes, but I feel like I’m being singled out! Other colleagues get to leave early,
and they don’t have such a lot of work to do.
HRO So you feel he’s been making unrealistic demands on you?

© The British Council, 2011 Page 2 of 3

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
 Professionals Podcasts – Complaining
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/professionals-podcasts/complaining

Mr J Yes, absolutely.
HRO Do you think it’s because Mr Bond is unaware of what you're doing?
Mr J Well, he never seems to ask us to do a job. He just delegates, and that’s
another thing, he never listens!
HRO Right. [pause] Have you approached Mr Bond about this particular problem?
Mr J I’ve tried to approach him, but whenever I go to his office he is either in
meetings, or he is never there. It seems like he just has no time for us.
w

Well, at this stage it would be better if you approached him directly. If nothing
else, showing that you’ve tried to solve the problem yourself, before you take
w

HRO it further, makes it clear that you’re not just a complainer and can boost
your credibility. Why don’t you send an email requesting a meeting with him in
w

private?
.b

Mr J Hmmm, I’d be a bit worried about his reaction. I wouldn’t know what to say!
Well, firstly, you’ll need to plan what you are going to talk about before going
rit

HRO ahead with a meeting. You can always take notes to which you can refer.
This shows that you have considered what you need to discuss.
is

Mr J OK.
hc

This is obviously a delicate situation, so be very careful not to criticise as this

could bring on a defensive reaction. You need to be diplomatic when you
HRO speak to him. If, after you have spoken to him in a rational way, you still find
ou

he is being unreasonable, come and speak to us and we can arrange a

meeting between the three of us. But do remember you need to have
nc

evidence for us to be able to take further action.

Mr J OK, I’ll send him an email now to request a meeting, and we’ll see what
happens from there. Thanks for your advice.
il.

HRO Good luck, and let us know the outcome.

or
g/
le Task 3

Task 2: Scenario 3

Task 1
Answers
ar
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.

10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
False
True
False
True
True
False

c
g
d
b
f
e
i
a
h
j
ne
ng
lis
h

© The British Council, 2011 Page 3 of 3

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.