PEOPLE IN ORGANISATIONS Ef BE

WORD SEMANTICS

[1] For each item in the first column write down an antonym.

a.a. to take all decisions yourself ______________________________

b.b. well-motivated workforce ______________________________

c.c. piece rate ______________________________

d.d. hygiene factors ______________________________

e.e. to accept reponsibility ______________________________

f. f. affiliation motivation ______________________________

WORD PARTNERSHIPS

[2] Match up the halves of the following word pairs.

a.a. profit 1. needs

b. b. fringe 2. sharing
c. c. informal 3. benefits
d. d. security 4. effect
e. e. Hawthorne 5. leader

WORD GRAMMAR

[3] Change the words in capitals to make another word which will fit the space.

ASSEMBLE

a. The path from a stressful to a stress-free environment in ___________________-line

work can be long and difficult. However, the rewards in terms of personal fulfilment,
cost reductions and increased efficiency largely compensate the major effort which
may be required.
SATISFY

b. Jobs which require repetitious and monotonous performance of routine tasks do not
enhance motivation or productivity. On the contrary, such jobs tend to increase
employee ____________________ and turnover.

CLERK

c. Pay scales for ____________________ and administrative staff and technicians

employed by local factories have been increased by 2.6% with effect from April 2004.
These increases will be implemented in the July payroll.

MEASURE

d. According to the ILO more than 160 million workers fall ill each year due to
workplace hazards. Human suffering has no ____________________ cost, unlike
economic losses. Estimates from, for example, the United States and Norway,
however, put the direct cost of industrial accidents in billions of dollars.

STRONG

e. The task of recruiting team members is ideally suited to trained specialists if the
unconscious bias of managers and directors is to be avoided. All too often, managers
recruit new staff in their own likeness perpetuating the ____________________ and
weaknesses of the existing organisational culture.

ABSENT

f. In labour-intensive sectors such as hotel and catering demands for extreme flexibility
often leads to higher-than-average levels of ____________________.

MOTIVATE

g. If you share your feelings of ____________________ with the wrong people, there’s
a danger that they’ll join you in a moan and make you feel worse. So, avoid negative
people. They’ll do you no good at all. Keep focusing on the hill ahead. Keep putting
one foot in front of the other and success will follow.

WORD PARTNERSHIPS

[4] How many verbs do you know you could put in front of the noun…
a. … work?

b. … pay?

c. … compensation?

WORD SEMANTICS

[5] Give a synonym [SYN], antonym [ANT] or hyponym [HYP] for the following words.

a.a. ambition, being a team player, ______________________________

flexibility, stress resistance,
helpfulness [SUP]

b.b. lacking in drive [ANT] ______________________________

c.c. variable work schedule [SYN] ______________________________

d.d. cooperative [HYP] ______________________________

e.e. well-qualified [ANT] ______________________________

f. f. product range [SYN] ______________________________

WORD GRAMMAR

[6] Change the words in capitals to make another word which will fit the space

AMBITION

a. In 2007 the Co-op Group merged with its biggest cooperative rival, United Co-
operative. United's _____________________ boss Peter Marks became chief
executive of the new merged organisation. (The Guardian, 10-04-2014)

PIONEER

b. Sir Anthony O’Reilly, the former media tycoon and Ireland’s first billionaire, faces the
prospect of a forced sale of his assets after a court ruled on Friday that Allied Irish
 Banks could enforce a judgment against him for a personal debt of €22.6m. Former
associates, speaking privately, said they were not surprised at the court ruling, but
expressed sadness at the downfall of a _______________________ businessman.
(Financial Times, 28-06-2014)

STRESS

c. Far too many employees have no idea from one week to the next just how many
hours they'll be working or more importantly how much money they'll earn. This
makes managing household budgets ___________________ and organising childcare
very difficult indeed. (www.bbc.com, 25-06-2014)

COOPERATE

d. President Barack Obama said Friday that partisan gridlock has helped hobble
economic growth and has brought legislative business to a crawl, and he put the
blame squarely on an _________________ Congress. (www.cnn.com, 8-06-2012)

DEDICATION

e. At a press conference today, the Governor of the Bank of England responded to

questions about his communications by saying his team were
______________________ central bankers. (www.bloomberg.com, 30-06-2014)

WORD PARTNERSHIPS

[7] The odd one out. Which of the following words do not make a strong word
partnership with the word in capitals? And why?

f. PAY slip scale packet roll card

g. TO PAY $60 the goods the supplier the invoice handsome

h. PENSION scheme contribution fund age plan

i. WAGE differentials drawer level gap slave

[8] The vowels are missing from the second part in each of these word partnerships.
How many can you work out?

a. TO WORK + TH NGHT SHFT ______________________________

b. TO PAY + DVDNDS ______________________________

c. TO MANAGE + YR TM ______________________________

Give one other partner for to work, to pay and to manage.

[9] All the words below can be combined with wage in a two-word partnership.
Add wage before or after the following words.

j. a. _____________________ bill _____________________

k.b. _____________________ gross _____________________

l. c. _____________________ claim _____________________

m.d. _____________________ earner _____________________

n.e. _____________________ decent _____________________

o.f. _____________________ freeze _____________________

a.g. _____________________ packet _____________________

a.h. _____________________ minimum _____________________

a.i. _____________________ inequality _____________________

a.j. _____________________ subsistence _____________________

Which of the above means...

a.a. … a demand for higher wages? ______________________________

b.b. … someone who works for a wage? ______________________________

c.c. … the smallest amount that someone ______________________________

can earn?
d.d. … the minimum amounts needed to ______________________________
support a person’s life?

e.e. … an official statement that wages will ______________________________

not be allowed to increase?
WORD GRAMMAR

[10] Change the word MANAGE to make another word which will fit the space.

a. Barrie Harper took over as ____________________ director in 2001 and moved up to

chairman a couple of years later.

b. Top ____________________ general directives to improve quality mean nothing if

they do not have the innovators below them to make it all happen.

c. The Chancellor proposed a number of initiatives designed to help Third World

countries reduce their debts to a more ____________________ size.

d. Given that 50 per cent of business failures can be attributed to

____________________ mistakes, a key priority is to deliver more adequate
management training to busy managers.

e. The competitive premise of “____________________ by objectives” can damage

team working—particularly when it is linked to performance-related pay (PRP).

WORD SEMANTICS

[11] Complete the following table of words, opposites (or antonyms) and their partners.

WORD OPPOSITE PARTNER

1. line ____________________ manager

2. ____________________ company pension
3. ____________________ skilled labour
4. take-home ____________________ pay
5. senior ____________________ personnel
6. ____________________ to knock off work
7. starting ____________________ salary
8. blue-collar ____________________ worker

WORD PARTNERSHIPS
[12] Arrange the following words into two groups according to whether they partner with
personnel or personal.

appraisal / assistant / computer / consultant / department /director / factor / friend /

hygiene / identification number / income / loan / manager /problem / professional / qualities
/ recruitment / relationship

PERSONNEL PERSONAL