UNIT 1 - THE IDEAL WORKPLACE

1. Lead-in questions:
a) Tell your group about your workplace.
b) What kind of atmosphere do you work in?
c) Do you have a good working relationship with your colleagues?
d) What do you like most about your job? What do you like least?
e) What are your career goals for the future?

2. Reality TV is where real people are filmed in different situations. Some reality TV
programmes are set in the workplace, such as a hospital or a hotel. Read the
following article entitled Changing places and state your opinion about it.
1. Many critics dislike reality TV shows, but one show which has received very
favourable reviews is Changing Places. The main idea is simple. Take the Chief
Executive Officer of a company and put him in the position of one of his own company’s
low-end workers.
2. Donald Eisner is the CEO of Absalon chain of hotels in Australia. His family members
have been hotel owners for three generations and are one of the richest in the Australian
hotel industry. In the program, we can see Donald Eisner working as a bellboy, cook and
cleaner while supervisors monitor his performance, noting any mistakes. He has some
triumphs, it is true. In the kitchen, he successfully cooks several pancakes, for example,
and he makes the beds correctly. The rest of his housekeeping, however, is not a success
as he fails to clean any rooms to the company’s required standards. At the end of the
program, we see his supervisor taking him from room to room, pointing out his mistakes.
3. Alex Jennings runs a highly successful chain of steak bars called Wayside Inn. He has a
reputation for demanding quality from his staff, both in terms of food and service.
However, when he changes places with some of them, we see him fail in a number of
tasks in the restaurant. As a waiter, he continually forgets to ask customers how they want
their steaks to be done, and mixes up the orders completely when he has to serve five
tables at the same time. A few minutes later, disaster strikes when his tie becomes caught
under the drinks on a tray! The next day when he takes the place of the cook, the
supervisor makes him redo several of the steaks.
4. Now that their experience is over, are the CEOs thinking of making any changes to their
businesses? The answer is that they already have. ‘We carried out several changes like
sorting the knives, forks and spoons to make it easier for the person who washes the
dishes,’ says Mr. Jennings. ‘We’re also redesigning the staff uniforms.’ Mr. Eisner found
the experience even more of a shock. He is not only making changes in his hotels, like the
policy on who orders new supplies of cleaning materials, but he also wants to create a
Changing Places day at all Absalon hotels so that all senior management can go through a
similar process to him.
(Source: Business Benchmark, ISBN (print) 978-0-521-67117-0 Student’s Book BEC Preliminary Edition, p.10)

3. A. Work with a partner. Discuss these questions:

 What do you think of the idea of having a Changing Places day in your company or
in your university? What person would you like to replace?
 Would it be a good idea? Why/Why not?

B. Read the following quotes. Which opinion do you agree with? Why?
 ‘Most people don’t know what it’s like to do another job. That’s why reality shows
like this are so interesting.’
 ‘Shows like this give people the wrong idea because they only show the interesting
parts of jobs. You can’t know what a job is like from just one hour of TV.’

C. Now scan the text again and say if the lines below are true or false:
Donald Eisner
1. He comes from a rich family.
2. He can cook pancakes.
3. He cleans the hotel rooms to the company’s required standards.
4. He is thinking of making a person responsible for ordering the cleaning materials.
5. He would not like other senior executives to work as cooks and cleaners.
Alex Jennings
1. He believes quality is important in his restaurants.
2. He runs a chain of steak bars.
3. He has good skills as a waiter.
4. He never takes the place of the cook.
5. He is making changes to the uniform that staff wear.

4. Read the following article entitled The ideal job:

After he graduated from university, James applied for a job in the accounting
department of a local company. He didn’t earn much at first but they gave him a lot of
training and sent him on training courses. James worked hard at the company and his
prospects looked good. After his first year he got a good pay rise, and after two years he
was promoted. After four years he had a big salary, his overtime work was paid and he
was in charge of the accounting department with five other employees working under his
authority.
By the time James was 35, however, he decided he wanted a new challenge. He was
willing to work abroad, so he resigned from his company and started looking for a new job
with a bigger company. After a couple of months he managed to find a job with an
international company which involved a lot of travel. He was very excited about the new
job and at first he really enjoyed travelling, but after six months, James started to dislike
the constant moving around. He hated living in hotels, and he never really made any
friends in the new company. Unfortunately his work was not satisfactory either and finally
he was fired a year later.
After that, James found things much more difficult. He was unemployed for over a
year. He had to sell his car and move out of his new and expensive house. He had to
accept a part-time job on a fruit and vegetable stall in a market.
To his surprise, James liked the market. He made lots of friends there and he really
enjoyed working out in the open air. After two years, he took control of the stall. Three
years later, he opened a second stall, and after ten years he had fifteen stalls. Last year,
James retired at the age of 55, a very rich man.

5. Answer these questions:

 Where did James apply after graduation?
 What was his evolution within the company?
 Why did James resign from the international company?
 Why was James excited about the new job?
 What happened to James’s career later on?

6. Match the terms with the right definitions. Then use the terms from 1-10 to
complete the sentences below:
1. benefits a. person who sets up and runs his or her own business
2. competition b. an evaluation of an employee’s work by an employer
3. contract c. the lowest pay rate that a business can legally pay its workers
4. entrepreneur d. unfair treatment because of race, sex, colour, religion, age, etc.
5. to take early e. various compensations provided by an employer to employees, in
retirement addition to their normal salaries, such as health insurance, sick
leave, etc.
6. minimum wage f. a regular payment to a retired person by a former employer
7. job review g. to retire before the company's official retirement age and receive
fewer benefits
8. discrimination h. to dismiss from a job
9. pension i. rivalry among those who are attempting to achieve the same goal
10. to fire j. verbal or written agreement between two or more persons with
mutual obligations
a. The ….…. for that good job was fierce; more than 200 people applied!
b. Fast food restaurants usually pay beginning workers no more than the .......... ......... .
c. Companies that refuse to hire workers over 40 years old are guilty of age …..…. .
d. With each new job promotion, Harley also got new ….… .
e. After many years of hard work, grandpa will retire and receive a ….... from the
company where he was employed.
f. Thomas has always wanted to be his own boss; he plans to become an ….... .
g. The new manager decided to ……... David Smithfield because he violated the
company’s policy.
h. At Andy’s six-month .....…. .....…., the supervisor made several suggestions for
improvement.
i. Our written ..….. clearly stipulates who suffers the losses in case of bankruptcy.
j. In case some aged or sick employees decide to …..… …..…. ….... we can offer good
pension benefits for them.

7. Decide which of the following activities could be part of a personal assistant’s job.
 answering letters
 making coffee
 booking flights
 prioritising appointments
 booking train tickets
 taking notes in meetings
 co-ordinating special events
 taking phone calls
 looking up information
 welcoming visitors
8. Write the words from the box next to the most suitable company
department to make three word diagrams.

9. Read the introductions and insert the correct names in the organigram
below.
10. Write sentences to describe the activities of the following people:
production manager, accountant, marketing director, sales director, general
manager, human resources manager, finance director.
Model: A production manager is involved with the planning, coordination
and control of all manufacturing processes.
11. Look at the list of departments in a company (a-h) and read people’s
situations (1-6) below. Decide which department each person should ask to
speak to when phoning the company. There are more departments than you
need.

1. Mr Mitchell is a marketing executive who has a. Personnel

received several complaints from customers about b. Accounts
faulty goods. c. Technical support
2. David is a consultant who thinks he was not paid d. Quality control
for an invoice. e. Sales
3. Mr Finer has just received the results of some f. Marketing
laboratory tests on a possible new product. g. Research and
4. Jen is a sales executive interested in working for development
the company. h. Production
5. Ms Evans works in the company as a secretary
and she has a problem with her computer.
6. Mr Martin is a retailer who is interested in
stocking the company’s products.

12. Complete the table with the corresponding nouns:

Verb Nouns
employ
resign
manage
finance
work
sell
promote
coordinate

13. Fill in the blanks with only one suitable word:

Headhunters or search firms are specialized in finding the right person for
the right job. When a company wishes to 1 ________ a new person for an
important 2 _________ it may use the services of such a firm. The advantage for
the 3 ____________ is that he does not have to organize the costly and time-
consuming process of selecting and interviewing suitable 4 __________. In some
cases, the search firm may already have a list of people with the adequate 5
________ for the job. If this is not the case, then it may advise or even organize
tests and simulations to evaluate the candidates’ 6 ___________ in order to select
the most 7 __________ person for the job. Unfortunately, today most employers
do not 8 __________ a good salary after recruitment.

14. Complete the following statements with the correct adjectives from the
list:
busy friendly helpful organised reliable stressful
1. Sally’s workplace is always very .................
2. According to Sally, it is important for a PA to be .............
3. Sometimes the job can get ..............
4. She thinks her colleagues are very ............... and .............
5. Sally’s boss thinks she is ................

15. Write a detailed description of your job.

Make reference to the working conditions, work schedule, co-workers,
management, salary and other benefits, etc.