People and workplaces
.
A-] Employees and management :
- White-collar workers :
Management , finance and marketing .
- Manual / blue-collar workers :
Supervisor , shop floor , labor .
- The people who work for a company , all the people on its ‘payroll’ , are its ‘employees’ , ‘personnel’ , ‘staff’ , ‘workers’ or ‘workforce’ [ work-force , work force ] . But these words can mean just the people carrying out the work of a company , rather than those leading it and organizing it : the management .
B-] Management and administration :
- A company’s activities may be spread over different ‘sites’ . A company’s most senior managers usually work in its ‘head office’ or ‘headquarters’ [ HQ ] . Some managers have their own individual ‘offices’ , but in many businesses , most employees work in ‘open-plan
offices’ ; large areas where many people work together . Administration or , informally , admin , the everyday work supporting a company’s activities , is often done in offices like these by ‘administrative staff’ or ‘support staff’ . For example , those giving technical help to buyers of the company’s products are in ‘technical support’ .
C-] Labor :
- ‘ Labor unions’ , organizations defending interests of workers [ Am E ] are called ‘trade unions’ in Br E.
- When workers are not happy with pay or conditions n, they may take ‘industrial action’ :
- a ‘strike , stoppage or walk-out : workers stop working for a time .
- a ‘go-slow’ : workers continue to work , but more slowly than usual .
- an ‘overtime ban’ : workers refuse to work more than the normal number of hours .
D-] Personnel and human resources :
- In large organizations there is a ‘human resources department’ [ HRD ] that deals with pay , recruitment , etc. This area is called ‘human resources’ [ HR ] or ‘human resource management’ [ HRM ] . Another name for this department is the ‘personnel department’ .
The career ladder .
A- ] A job for life :
- Many people used to work for the same organization until they reached ‘retirement’ : the age at which people ‘retire’ , or end their working life . ‘Career paths’ were clear : you could ‘work your way up the career ladder’ , getting ‘promotion’ to jobs that were more ‘senior’ , with greater responsibility . You would probably not be ‘demoted’ : moved to a less senior job .
- To leave the company , you could ‘resign’ or ‘hand in your notice’ .
B-] A job for now :
- The company has ‘downsized’ and ‘delayered’ . The number of the management levels in the company hierarchy has been reduced from five to three , and many managers have lost their jobs . The company has reorganizes and ‘restructured’ in order to become ‘flatter’ [ with fewer layers of management ] and ‘leaner’ [ with fewer , more productive employees ] .
They did this to reduce costs and increase ‘efficiency’ and ‘profits’ . Employees said the company used words like ‘restructure’ to make the situation sound positive and acceptable .
C-] In-house staff or freelancers :
- The company has ‘outsourced’ many jobs previously done by ‘in-house’ personnel : outside companies clean the offices , transport goods and collect money from customers . This allows the company to concentrate on its main business activities . The company uses more ‘freelancers’[ freelances ], independent people who may work for several different companies , and they employ people for short periods on ‘temporary contracts’ . The company expects ‘flexibility’ , with people moving to different jobs when necessary , but for many employees , this means ‘job insecurity’ , the feeling that they may not be in their job for long . The way that they are doing their job is discussed at ‘performance reviews’ : regular meetings with their manager .
D-] Losing your job :
- If you do something wrong , you are ‘dismissed’ , ‘fired’ , ‘sacked’ , ‘terminated’.
- If you have done nothing wrong , you are ‘laid off’ , ‘made redundant’ , ‘offered early retirement’ .
- Employees who are made redundant may get advice about finding another job , retraining etc. This is called ‘outplacement’ advice .
Problems at work .
A-] Health and safety :
- Here are some ‘health and safety issues’ for people at work .
A-] temperature B-] passive smoking C-] repetitive strain injury or RSI . D-] dangerous machinery . E-] hazardous substances . F-] fire hazards .
- All these things contribute to a ‘bad working environment’ . The government sends officials called ‘health and safety inspectors’ to make sure that factories and offices are safe places to work . They check what companies are doing about things like : A-] heating and air-conditioning . B-] first aid . C-] fire precautions .
B-] Bullying and harassment :
- If someone such as a manager ‘bullies’ an employer , they use their position of power to hurt or threaten them , for example verbally . Someone who does this is a ‘bully’ .
- ‘Sexual harassment’ is when an employee behaves sexually towards another in a way that they find unwelcome and unacceptable . The related verb is ‘harass’ .
C-] Discrimination :
- If people are treated differently from others in an unfair way , they are discriminated against’ .
- If a woman is unfairly treated just because she is a woman , she is a victim of ‘sex discrimination’ . In many organizations , women complain about the ‘glass ceiling’ that allows them to get to a particular level but no further .
- If someone is treated unfairly because of their race , they are a victim of ‘racial discrimination’ or ‘racism’ . Offensive remarks about someone’s race are ‘racist’ and the person making them is a ‘racist’ .
- In the US , ‘affirmative action’ is when help is given in education and employment to groups who were previously discriminated against . In Britain , affirmative action is known as ‘equal opportunities’ .
- Some companies have a ‘dignity at work policy’ covering all the issues mentioned above .
Managers ,
executives and directors .
A-] Managers and executives in UK :
Management organigram .
1-] Non-executive directors : chairman / chairwoman , chief executive / managing director .
2-] Senior executives / top executives / executive directors : chief financial officer / finance director , marketing director , human resources director , IT director , research director .
3-] Middle managers : accounts department manager , sales manager , customer service manager . [ line managers in travel agency branches ]
- All the directors together are the ‘board’ . They meet in the ‘boardroom’ .
- ‘Non-executive directors’ are not managers of the company ; they are outsiders , often directors of other companies who have particular knowledge of the industry or of particular areas .
- The marketing director is the ‘head of marketing’ , the IT director is the ‘head of IT, etc. These people ‘head’ or ‘head up’ their departments . Informally , the head of an activity , a ‘department’ or an organization is its ‘boss’ .
- An ‘executive’ or , informally , an ‘exec’ is usually a manager at quite a high level [ for example , a ‘senior executive’ . But ‘executive’ can be used in other contexts to suggest luxury , as in ‘executive coach’ and ‘executive home’ , even for things that are not actually used by executives .
B-] Managers and executives in US :
1-] Non-executive directors :chief executive officer [ CED ] , chief operating officer [ COO ].
2-] Senior executives / top executives / executive directors : chief financial officer [ CFO ] , vice president [ VP ] marketing , vice president [ VP ] human resources , vice president [ VP ] research .
- In the US , the top position may be that of chairman / chairwoman or ‘president’ .This job is often combined with the position of ‘chief executive officer’ or [ CEO ].
- Some companies have a ‘chief operating officer’ to take care of the day-to-day running of the company . The finance director may be called the ‘chief financial officer’ .
- In the US , senior managers in charge of particular areas are often called ‘vice presidents’ [VPs] .
Businesspeople and business leaders .
A-] Businesspeople and entrepreneurs :
- A ‘businessman / businesswoman or businessperson’[ the plural of ‘businessperson’ is ‘businesspeople’ ] is someone who works in their own business or as a manager in an organization .
- An ‘entrepreneur’ is someone who starts or ‘founds’ or ‘establishes’ their own company . Someone who starts a company is its ‘founder’ . An entrepreneur may found a series of companies or ‘start-ups’ . ‘Entrepreneurial’ is used in a positive way to describe the risk-taking people who do this and their activities . Some entrepreneurs leave the companies they found , perhaps going on to found more companies . Others may stay to develop and ‘grow’ their businesses .
B-] Leaders and leadership :
- A large company mainly owned by one person or family is a ‘business empire’ . Successful businesspeople , especially heads of large organizations are ‘business leaders’ or , in journalistic terms ‘captains of industry’ .
- There is a lot of discussion about whether people like this ae born with ‘leadership skills’ , or whether such skills can be learned .
C-] Magnates , moguls and tycoons :
- People in charge of big business empires may be referred to , especially by journalists , as ‘magnates’ , ‘moguls’ or ‘tycoons’ . These words often occur in combinations such as these :
1-] Magnate : media , press , shipping , oil .
2-] Mogul : movie , media , shipping .
3-] Tycoon : property , software .
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