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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS ENGLISH IN VIDEO · ADVANCED (C1-C2)

HAPPY
AT WORK
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1 Warm up
Complete the word for the definition below. Then, discuss the following questions in pairs.

___________________________ → a benefit from working at a job that isn’t financial

1. What kind of work perks does your company offer to its employees?
2. What do you like and dislike about working for your company?
3. How important do you think it is for employees to be happy at their company? Why?

2 Focus on vocabulary
Part A: Match the vocabulary to the definitions. There is an extra definition.

1. outperform (v) a. get considerably better results than something or someone else

2. turnover (n) b. make something weaker and less able to function

3. empower (v) c. the speed at which workers leave a company and are replaced by
new staff
4. service (v) d. to give someone the help they need

5. erode (v) e. give someone the ability or authority to do something

6. proficiency (n) f. have a lot of, usually negative, elements in something

7. humble (adj.) g. the extent to which you can perform a task well due to training
and experience
8. litter (v) h. showing that you do not think you are more important than
other people

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Part B: Complete the gaps in the following sentences with the vocabulary from Part A. You may need
to change the form of the word to fit the sentence.

1. When there’s a lack of honesty from management, it tends to trust amongst the
staff and creates a negative culture.

2. I think you should talk to the IT department. They have a great deal of with
problems of this type.

3. Whatever your achievements are, it’s important to stay as arrogance usually gets
in the way of continued development and improvement.

4. I know people can be difficult, but it’s our job to the needs of the customers, even
when they’re not being pleasant.

5. Our manager always us to make our own decisions, but provides help when needed.
She’s wonderful.

6. You need to check that email again before you send it. It’s with spelling mistakes
and poor grammar.

7. Since the new CEO started last year, has seriously increased. He’s not an easy
person to work for.

8. We’ve had a great year. We’ve the competition in every metric and now lead in
market share by over 20%.

3 Watching for details

Watch the video and write down the significance of the following numbers.

1. three billion

2. 40

3. 1.8 billion

4. 3

5. 15

6. 1500

7. three million

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4 Understanding the video

Complete the following summary with no more than three words from the video.

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Around 60% of people are not . Companies with satisfied employees
make more revenue, perform better on the stock market and have 50% lower
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of those who do not. Fixing the problem doesn’t require financial
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investment or expensive , it’s about leadership and the social
environment employees work in. Here are three ideas to create a happier environment.

Idea 1: There are two things present in companies with satisfied employees:
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. If employees have to go through overcomplicated processes to be
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given permission to meet the needs of their job, it wastes time, and
reduces confidence.
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Idea 2: There must be . Employees need to feel they will be treated the
same regardless of their position, the length of time they’ve been in the company, the
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type of job they do, or how much experience they have.

Idea 3: Management must be good at listening. This means that when an employee talks
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to you about a decision, they can believe that they might make you . If
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this isn’t true, there’s no in talking to you at all.

5 Scanning for vocabulary

Find vocabulary in the article on page five which has the same meaning as the following definitions.

1. → (v) be usable or accessible (para. B)

2. → (n) an amount of money that can be borrowed at a high rate of interest that
will be paid back when the borrower receives their wages or salary (para. B)
3. → (n) an approach to life or business where money is only spent when it is
needed (para. C)
4. → (adv.) in a way that is famous in a negative way (para. D)

5. → (adj.) having a connection to something in a way that is vital to it (para. F)

6. → (n) the act of returning money to someone after they have paid for a service
or product (para. F)
7. → (adj.) becoming successful at great speed (para. G)

8. → (n) a company’s value on the stock market which is based on the price of
their shares multiplied by the total number of them (para. G)

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6 Skimming for gist

Read the following sentences and decide which gaps 1-6 they should fill in the article on page five.
There are more sentences than gaps.

• (A) Reportedly, few employees have the luxury of outside pursuits, as all of their time is spent
working.

• (B) Employees who are stressed and depressed aren’t going to be able to provide the customer
experience that motivated and contented workers are.

• (C) His recent acquisition of a $500 million yacht received a large amount of publicity.

• (D) For anyone experiencing financial difficulty, you are essentially trapped.

• (E) However, it’s highly likely you have used his service.

• (F) But none of this directly benefits employees.

• (G) There has also been a large number of injuries in their warehouses which workers are deeply
concerned about.

• (H) They also receive full healthcare benefits which include access to mental health and generous
provisions for maternity and paternity.

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7 Reading comprehension: Part 1

Read the following statement and decide if they are True (T), False (F) or Not Given (NG).

1. Most of the staff who start working for Amazon quit in less than 24 months.

2. Amazon workers are able to secure a short-term loan from the company if they are experiencing
financial difficulty.

3. Amazon employees enjoy similar benefits to workers in other tech companies.

4. Amazon customers are able to find cheap prices for goods as a result of the company’s attitude
towards spending on its employees.

5. Jeff Bezos is regularly rude to his employees.

6. Zoom allows employees to choose whether or not to work from the office.

7. Before starting Zoom, Eric Yuan made a high salary working for another company.

8. Employees at Zoom have a generous allowance of 30 days paid holiday per year.

8 Reading comprehension: Part 2

Answer the following questions.

1. What is the meaning of ‘pro-rata’ in paragraph B?

2. What is the meaning of ‘moving the goalposts’ in paragraph D?

3. What is the meaning of ‘inextricably linked’ in paragraph G?

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Rating employee satisfaction

A tale of two companies.

A. Jeff Bezos is one of the richest people in the world with a fortune currently estimated at $116.71 billion. Yet much
has been written about the very different fortunes of those working for him.

B. On signing up, new employees receive shares in the company which can potentially look like an excellent perk.
However, those stocks won’t vest until you’ve been there for two years. The majority of employees don’t last
that long. If this is the case, you will owe Amazon and will have to pay it back pro rata. Writes one ex-employee
on Reddit, "It’s not a bonus, it’s more like a pay-day loan." Leaving before two years is up will also mean partially
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repaying any relocation fees too. .

C. As far as investing in its employees, there is a strong emphasis on frugality. The perks that come with working
for other tech firms are lacking. Industry standards such as high-end workstations for developers who spend long
hours at their desks, full healthcare coverage and matching charitable contributions are not part of the Amazon
culture. Keeping overheads as low as possible leads to the low prices that keeps customers returning and the
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stock price high. .

D. In addition, work hours can be notoriously long, with weekends and late nights being the norm.
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. For some, this is as a result of Bezos himself constantly moving the goalposts.
As a result of an email from the CEO telling them what the new priorities are, it’s common for managers to tell
employees to drop everything that they’re working on and refocus on new goals. These will be different from the
previous week’s priorities.

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E. Eric S. Yuan is a name you are less likely to be familiar with in comparison to Jeff Bezos. .
He’s the founder of Zoom, the video communication company. It has consistently been recognised for its high
levels of employee satisfaction in a variety of areas, from diversity, to work-life balance, to compensation, and
happiness.

F. Yuan wanted to create a company that he himself would still want to work in a decade or two in the future.
That meant making sure it was a place where the employees were just as germane to the success of the
company as the customers. Employees have complete flexibility over where they work so enjoy the benefit
of being able to work from home if it enables them to balance the needs of work with the requirements of
parenting. During the pandemic, the company even assisted with needs such as home food delivery, providing
office equipment for the home and even gym equipment to make sure employees were able to exercise during
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lockdowns. . Unusually for a large company, there is no limit to the amount of
paid leave they are able to take. They also enjoy reimbursement for any books they buy in an effort to encourage
continuous learning and self-development.

G. Yet it’s perhaps the leadership which is the greatest asset. Yuan himself quit a job where he was being paid a
six-figure salary purely because he hated going to the office each day. He also noted that customer satisfaction
there was low, with the company receiving poor feedback on its products. From this he learned that employee
happiness and customer satisfaction were inextricably linked. Yuan wanted to create a product that he could take
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pride in. . Zoom’s rise, of course, has been meteoric, benefitting enormously
from the rise in remote working and distance learning during the pandemic. In 2020, Zoom’s market cap rose to
$129 billion, with Yuan’s worth being $20 billion. Still more money than he could ever spend, but with employees
who want to stay.

Sources: reddit.com, https://www.businessinsider.com/

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9 Talking point

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. What are the levels of employee satisfaction like at your company? How do you know?
2. Considering the ideas mentioned in the video, which of them are observed in your company?
How?
3. Do you think that the way Amazon treats its employees is linked to its unquestionable financial
success? Why/Why not?
4. What do you think are the key differences in the management style of Jeff Bezos and Eric S. Yuan?

10 Extended activity/Homework

Read the question.

Ultimately, the role of the employee is to go to work and do their job as effectively as possible.
They receive compensation for this and expecting to receive special treatment is egotistical
and unreasonable. They are personally responsible for their environment and work situation
and need to contribute to this rather than expect to be catered to by management.

To what extent do you agree with the above statement?

You should:

• Write at least 250 words.

• Check your grammar, spelling and punctuation.

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