BEC高级第1讲Work roles

商务英语BEC高级阅读题精讲商务英语BEC高级阅读题精讲(1)In the last few years, managers throughout industry have seen more changesthan many of them could have expected to see in their entire working liveshaving to municate information which often leads to feelings of insecurityhas bee a key activity. From being regarded as relatively unimportant in manypanies , management employee munication has bee a central corporateneed.Concordia International provides a good exle of a pany that hasadjusted well to the changing needs for munication . since 1995 , Concordiahas been turned inside-out and upside-down, to ensure that it is a marketing–led, customer-responsive business, one that looks outwards at customers andpetitors, rather than inwards at its own processes and the way things weredone in the past. In the last eight years, Concordia has reduced its workforceby more than 80.000 people - or 35% -on a voluntary basis, with furtherdownsizing anticipated.From being an engineering pany, Concordia is now remaking itself as aservice pany. The role of employee munication in such a context is tobuild people’s self-confidence, to persuade them that, although it is inevitablethat the changes will go ahead, they also bring with them new opportunities foremployees. However, this is not an easy task. People tend to be skeptical ofthese claims and to feel that they are losing touch with the pany they haveworked for over many years. This is understandable, since many of the oldcertainties are being swept away , including the core activities of the panythey work for. Above all , they have had to faceup to the fact that they nolonger have a job for life.Research indicates that people respond to this predicament in a variety ofways. The bulk of employees fall into two main categories in terms of theirresponse to the new situation: on the one hand there are the “ pragmatists” andon the other “ the highly anxious” the formersee their job as a means to an endand have a relatively short-term perspective, with strong loyalty to their localterm , rather than the pany as a whole . The second category, usually themajority, may respond to threatened changes with a feeling of having been letdown, and even feel anger at the pany for what they see as changing the termsof their employment.` The employee munication process needs to be capable of accuratelydirecting its messages at a variety of employee groups and departments withinthe workforce . this is why middle managers and line managers are so key tomunication. They are the people who know about the full rage of concernsamong the workforce. The problem in the past was that this crucial area wasoften the responsibility of a separate, relatively isolated unit. Concordia putsresponsibility for munication firmly on line managers. All their researchpoints to the same conclusion: people prefer to get their informationface-to-face from their line managers. That is the key relationship and wherearguments and hearts and minds –are lost.The general rule in pany munication is to tell employees as much asyou can as soon as you can. If you can’t provide details, then at least put thenews in context and mit yourself to providing greater detail when it beesavailable another rule of pany munication is that there must be a fitbetween what the pany is telling its employees and what it is telling itsshareholders.15 In the last eight years, Concordia has15 A made over 80.000 employees reduncdantB pleted a period of downsizingC reduced its workforce of 80.000 by 35%D given 35% of departing employees voluntary redundancy16 From Concordia’s point of view, the role of munication is toA win employee support before going ahead with the changesB change the pany’s core activities.C emphasise the positive aspects of the changesD explain the need for the changes17 what does research show about most employees’ response to change?A they expect it to have a bad effect on the panyB they feel pletely powerlessC they bee less loyalD they fell they have been treated unfairly18 Concordia’s munication process mainly relies onA printed municationB departmental headsC personal municationD a separate, specialized unit19 According to the writer, what is the guiding principle about givinginformation within an organization?A Never make promises about future developmentsB Give people an overall view at the earliest possible stageC always include plenty of hard informationD Hold back until all the details can be provided20 which of the following would be the most suitable title for thearticle?A employee attitudes to pany municationB making pany munication more effectiveC Researching pany mmucationD Making employees feel less powerless文章取材自一本管理手册，说的是一个组织里的有效沟通问题。

Unit 1a Work roles1.Describing work roles1) What is WorkSet?Workset is an advanced means of setting up jobs and developing employees in response to the changing nature of work. By adopting the use of colors, companies can specify the exact level of responsibility to be allocated to the key tasks that form an employee’s job description. It replaces the often-static job description with a more dynamic shout-term job brief.The employee interprets the manager’s brief and uses it as a framework for appro aching the tasks that make up the job. A feedback and review process then enables the manager to keep abreast of what the employee actually does and provides an opportunity to jointly assess performance, re-align the job and decide on the development needs of the employee.●WorkSet allows companies to clarify work roles by classifying different aspects of the jobaccording to color. Companies can use color to specify the exact level of responsibility to be given to a number of key tasks. These specifications can be changed as the job changes.Employees can use the same system to give feedback on the job from their point of view, ensuing that job descriptions remain relevant.●Pie chart: according to the managers brief, about half of the employee’s time should bespent taking personal responsibility for meeting objectives (yellow work). However, the employee feels that this is not the case. Blue work (i.e. work carried out in a prescribed way) is double the amount envisaged in the brief. As can be seen from the gray, white and pink segments, the employee also perceives him/herself to be involved in certain activities outside the job brief. While the small amount of white (creative) work appears to be positive, the pink time serves no useful purpose. Moreover, the incidental grey work which the employee is asked to do in addition to his/ her job may be detracting from the core yellow work.CORE COLOR●Blue work refers to tasks an employee has to carry out in a prescribed way to an approvedstandard: machining an engineer component to a specification----operate, comply, follow, carry out, execute.●Yellow work involves personal responsibility for meeting an objective. Exactly how the workis done does not matter too much as long as the goal is achieved-- initiating procedures to reduce costs by 15%----schedule, decide, design, plan, research.●Green work refers to tasks that vary according to the reactions and needs of others: helpingthe hotel service manager at times of peak occupancy----support, assist, aid, cover.●Orange work involves shared rather than individual responsibility for achieving an objective:contributing to a management team----co-operate, participate, take part, brainstorm.FEEDBACK COLOR●Grey work refers to work which is incidental to the job and involves responding to situationalneeds: being asked to entertain a visitor●White work refers to any new or creative undertakings outside the employee’s formal duties,which may lead to improvements: revising standard customer service letters.●Pink work demands the presence to the employee but serves no useful purpose: attendingmeetings where nothing new is learnt and no contribution to decision-making is encouraged.Listening Tape scripts:●I’ve just moved from a company with a very strict hierarchy to a fastgrowing softwarecompany and it’s been hard coming to terms with the changes. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my new job a lot more. I have a lot more responsibility now and everything’s done in project teams and managed by objects. The one thing I do miss, however, is that now. once a project’s running, the team’s pretty much on its own and left to solve any problems by itself.Before, there was always a superior I could turn to for help, and to be honest, I’d be much happier if that were still the case. Especially when you’re starting a new job, having someone to talk to can make the things a lot easier. (More managerial support)●I produce technical documents, you know, users’ manual and that sort of thing-nothingcreative, I’m afraid. Our team’s responsible for its own work schedules. And a long as everything’s finished before the machine’s shipped; it’s up to us when we do it. So you’d think with e-mail and everything. We’d all be able to work from home or come and g as we please- but that’s not the case. Unfortunately, it’s very conservative company so everyone’s still clocking in and out at the same time. I suppose the managers have always worked a routine nine to five and just can’t imagine anything else being possible. (more flexible time)●I’m an IT consultant and I’m working for a small leisure group on a one-year contract. So Iam traveling around Europe a lot, which I know sound very glamorous, but it’s just a case of jetting in, fixing a hotel’s computer and the jetting out again. It al so means I am on call and work very…shall we say ‘ flexible’ hours, including many weekends. Oh and I am also responsible for the website, which I work on from home. What I miss is support from colleagues, you know, being able to discuss problems or things like the latest technology with other IT professionals in the same job. So, yes, it’s definitely the social side of my job I’d like to impose. (more teamwork)●Well, I am a temp and I am working as a PA for a law firm in London just now. it’s amedium-siz ed firm that’s grown quickly so its organization is very much like that of a smaller company. I know it’s unreasonable to expect a definite job description, if something needs doing, then I think whoever’s available should do it. But I’m already responsibl e for managing the diaries and correspondence of two senior manages, so when the telephone’s ringing all day and people keep asking me to photocopy reports or even make them coffee, it just becomes impossible to get anything done. (fewer interruptions)●I work for the UK subsidiary for a Japanese company and it’s very Japanese in terms of theway it’s run, I’ve just got a new boss, who’s come over from Japan. We seem to be getting on pretty well at the moment- he always has time for me and gives me lots of support. The only thing is, I don’t really have a huge day in what I do- which is all right but sometimes it would be nice to be able to show a bit of initiative. Our work processes are totally standardized as fixed routines, which I don’t mind. It’s just that I always have to consult him before I can make even the smallest alteration to any job of any sort. (more responsibility)Report writingReport on effective team leadership workshopThe aim of this report is to summarize issues arising from the recent team leadership workshop and recommend appropriate action.FindingsThe workshop began with an assessment of how the team leaders understood their roles. Perceptions ranged from assigning and checking other people’s work to motivating others to do the work. This disparity clearly showed that the team leaders had different understandings of their roles and that Ekstrom therefore needed to communicate its expectations more explicitly.In order to do this, Ekstrom identified key tasks and used workset colours to illustrate the precise level of responsibility, which could be allocated to each. A task such as communicating with the team, for example, might be approach in a variety of ways:1)I give my staff instructions every morning. (blue work)2)I let my staff decide on the best approach for themselves.( yellow work)3)My team and I discuss how to do each job.Having identified the different possible approaches to each key task, the company was able to select which was most appropriate and communicate its expectations in terms of the skills and behavior required.ConclusionsIt is clear that Ekstrom needs to ensure that its team leaders are capable of performing key tasks in a manner compatible with company expectations. However, whilst the appropriate skills can be developed through in –company training, changing behavioral attributes is much more difficult.RecommendationsWe strongly recommend, therefore, that Ekstrom sets up assessment centers where existing team leaders and new applicants can be screened to ensure that they have the appropriate attributes for effective team leadership.Writings: describing your findings and recommending any necessary changes. Job brief: 20% green, 50% yellow, 30% orangeHow time is actually spent: 5% white, 10% grey, 15% pink, 20% green, 20% orange, 30% yellow.IntroductionThis report sets out to use workset color to assess the accuracy of my job description as PR officer and suggest a number of changes.FindingsIt is clear that there is a difference between the way the company views the jobs and the reality, as I perceive it. Firstly, a number of areas which demand a significant proportion of my time are not mentioned in the official job brief. The segment on the pie chart which provides most cause for concern is the pink sector; this relates to my attendance at a number of meetings to which I can contribute little. Another significant area is the grey segment; this refers to the unscheduled time which I spend sorting out computer problems. I feel that these activities are hampering my core work. As can be seen from the pie charts, the time I spend actively working to meet the goals agreed with my line manger is less than envisaged.ConclusionsThe above discrepancies clearly indicate that my current jog brief is inaccurate.RecommendationsI would recommend that my official job brief should be updated using the workset colors. It would also be valuable to consider the proportion of non-core colors in the pie chart and to investigate whether work in these areas could be carried out by someone else more suited to these tasks.Writing: write 200-250 report assessing the suitability of your job for home-based working. Resource planning manager: assessment of suitability for home-based workingIntroductionThe purpose of this report is to assess the suitability of my position as Resource Planning Manager for home-based working.FindingsMy working pattern and that of my colleagues varies from week to week. During certain periods a large proportion of my time is spent doing fieldwork. This is followed by office-based work collating and recording the data collected. Once the results have been recorded, I proofread the colour copies of all reports and maps.As regards communication with colleagues, department meetings are held once a fortnight. At all other times, the individual members of the team communicate either face- to- face or by phone, depending on their location. Apart from official meetings, the same results can be achieved whether I am in the office of working elsewhere.ConclusionIt is clear that I would be able to undertake the same duties while working from home for a large proportion of my time. Clearly, some days would need to be spent in the office for face –to –face communication with colleagues. It would also be necessary to use the technical facilities of the office at times. However, in order to be able to work effectively from home, I would need to be provided with a networked computer and printer.RecommendationsI would suggest that I should be given the necessary equipment to work partially from home for a trial period. After this time, further consultation should take place in order to reassess the situation.练习：1.●Today’s jobs are not static.●This leads to ambiguity.●Is it authorizing employees to do whatever they feel is necessary to achieve this end withoutrestrictions.●Is it saying follow our procedures and this will be the outcome?2.●Set up a new share system.●He was given feedback on his performance during his job appraisa l.●Her job descrip tion didn’t outline her main duties and responsibilities very clearly.●I’m really enjoying my new job.●The employees carried out the job as soon as they were given their brief.●Workset was used to classify and highlight aspects of the job.●We need to monitor the way he carries out his job.3.virtual team, corporate intranet, line manager, business environment, hierarchical organization, on-line support, operating costs4.●The company is separated into several different business units.●People come together for a specific purpose and then go on to join new teams.●Some managers worry that staff can only work if they’re under direct supervision.●I spent most of my day working on the company network.●Some people find it hard to cope with working from home.●Management should encourage staff to use information on behalf of the organization.。