 Business English, Level 2 Project A GREAT PLACE TO WORK

 OBJECTIVE
Present an ideal company to work at, explaining its competitive advantages in order to be able to
motivate people to work in it.

 INTRODUCTION
“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”
Theodore Roosevelt

Both to start working in a company or to start up a business there is a series of aspects to keep in
mind for it to be a great place to work, where people feel like staying and find the company’s
values and atmosphere consistent to their own concept.

The aim of this project is to figure out the nature and quality of the workplace you would like to
create or be part of.

 PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
 Communication to express your ideas effectively when informing and motivating.
 Collaboration to work effectively in teams.
 Flexibility and adaptability to work effectively and positively in diverse environments.
 Critical thinking to analyze and to synthesize information.
 Creativity to elaborate your own ideas.
 COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS
 Describe current projects
 Provide information about company structure
 Describe past events
 Describe the stages in the development of products
 Give a report briefly
 Give information about recent past actions
 Discuss employment procedures
 Discuss job benefits
 Describe experiences
 Discuss progress on projects
 Compare products, services and companies
 Give opinions
 Discuss customer service

 DRIVING QUESTION

What brings a sense of belonging in a company?

Activities

Stage 1 – What are the characteristics of a great place to work?

1. Individually, research information related to The Great Place to Work® Trust Model or any other
articles that deal with the concept of an ideal workplace. Find the followin:
a. Relevant features of the model or concept from the employer’s and employee’s points of view.

b. Examples of companies with this distinction. Visit their websites. Out of the information
gathered, can you find some aspects that make them a great place to work and find key words that
describe them as such? Which are they? 

2. Make a mind map to summarize the distinctive features you collect.

Evidence

Mind map

Skills evaluation

Oral production – Role-play small talk

Written production – Follow-up email

Reading comprehension – Company information in some detail

Listening comprehension – Telephone conversations

Activities

Stage 2 – Building a great place to work

1. In teams, create a company in which you can reflect the characteristics of a great place to work.
Throughout this stage of the project, choose five attributes of a great place to work.
2. Decide the business sector of your company to align with further information.
3. Agree on the information you have to collect and create a website of your business in order to
cover the points described below. Check for free websites builders or imitate the structure of one in
the format you consider the most appropriate. Include photos, a timeline or graphs to illustrate the
information. Use the questions proposed, or other suggested by your teacher or team members, as
guidelines for preparation.
a. About us
    - Company history. How long has it been in business?
    - Company facts. What does it do? What are some key facts or corporate information?
b. Our products
    - Users. What type of services or products do you offer?
    - Customer service. What makes your company special? Why should people buy from you and
not from the competitor (-s)?
c.  Our values

    - Culture. What are your core values? What characterizes your people?
    - Amazing stories. What type of information can you provide about good experiences from
workers, providers or customers?

Evidence

Business website

Skills evaluation

Oral production – Role-play welcoming visitors in a company

Written production – Business website

Reading comprehension – Information and opinions about employment procedures

Listening comprehension – A narration about company history

Activities
Stage 3 – Conference: Great place to work

1. Organize a conference to present the results of all the teams’ information.

a. Discuss opinions with your team members on the dynamics of the conference.
b. Present solutions and reach agreements.
2. Present your company website or any other document you created to the audience. Make sure to
outline the points that differentiate your business from others and make it a great place to work.

You should follow these instructions:


o The length of each member’s presentation must be the same as the others’.
o The students must not read the presentation but only use it as an outline.

Evidence

Conference: Great place to work

Skills evaluation

Oral production – Conference: Great place to work

Written production – Email confirming travel plans

Reading comprehension – Information about traveling

Listening comprehension – Texts about traveling

Activities
Stage 4 – Project remarks

1. Organize a round-table talk to exchange comments on the results of the project. Consider
the following questions as guidelines:
a. In what way has the elaboration of this project been useful to your future as an employee
or entrepreneur?
b. What do you now understand more deeply?
c. What motivated you to work on your project?
d. What made you most proud of while engaging in this project?
e. What is your final insight about the driving question?

DRIVING QUESTION

What brings a sense of belonging in a company ?

Evidence

Round-table talk

Skills evaluation

Oral production – Round–table talk

Written production – Email describing a product

Reading comprehension – Online orders and delivery service

Listening comprehension – Decisions, plans or arrangements