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Audio scripts
1. Unit 1 Manager’s role
B – Brian, J - Joan
B – How do you do? My name’s Brian Robinson. J – How do you do? I’m Joan Knight.
B – Who do you work for then?
J – I’m with the Palmer Reece group. You may have heard of us. We design and manufacture electronic equipment. I’m the finance manager.
B – I see.
J – How about you?
B – I work for a firm of kitchen designers. Kitchen interiors, we’re called. We install fitted kitchens, mostly in private houses. I’m Area sales manager.
J – That’s interesting! Where are you based?
B- Our head office is in Colchester. We’ve got branch offices all over the country
. Where is your head office?
J- We’re are in Midlands. In Leicester, actually. But I work in our London office.
Have you been with your company long?
B – Fairly long. I’ve worked for them for five years now. Before that, I was a salesman for a department store. I must say, I prefer what I’m doing now. You get out and meet all kinds of people. And I enjoy all the driving too. Your company’s pretty big, isn’t it?
J - Mm., I’d say so. Our turnover’s almost 50 m pounds. And we’ve got a work force of over 1,000. Yes, we are big.
B – My firm’s much smaller. Our turnover’s roundabout 5 m pounds.
J – How about staff?
B – Oh, about seventy or eighty people – full-time staff, that is. We’re a private company, by the way. Still family-owned. But I reckon we’ll go private in a few years’ time.
J - Really? Your firm must be doing well. We’re a public company, of course. We have been for the last thirty years.
B – Ah, I thought, I’d noticed your firm’s name when I was looking at the share prices recently in the newspaper.
Unit 2 Company structure
1.Listen to seven people talking about their work and decide which department each one works for.
Speaker 1:
Every six months we produce a report showing how the company is doing. This past week , we’ve been busy with our accounts preparing the results that will be included in our next report.
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Speaker 2:
I’m a member of a team of engineers and we’ve just finalized the design of our new portable computer. This model will be more powerful and more adaptable than our previous one. We are constantly looking for new ideas and experimenting with new products.
Speaker 3:
Before selling our latest product, our department must decide in which regions it will be the most successful and what types of consumers we want to reach.
Speaker 4:
Communication is a key aspect of my department’s work. We answer enquiries made by our customers and are also in contact with the press to inform them of our new products and changes within the company.
Speaker 5:
We’ve been having problems with the quality of certain electronic parts made in our factories. So several members of a department have got together to talk about ways of improving some of our manufacturing techniques.
Speaker 6:
Our company is going through a difficult period and we have to reduce the number of employees in several departments and to review salaries throughout the organization.
Speaker 7:
In today’s changing work environment, computer systems play an essential role in how the company is run. In our department we not only ensure that all systems are working properly but we also design and develop new applications to make it easier for our employees to exchange and share information.
2. A – Alistair is a novice in the company. M – Martin is his coach.
M – So, what I believe it comes down to is a number of links between the key people in the company.
A – The unofficial power hierarchy?
M – Exactly. So, let me show you how it works. Firstly, to make sense of the actual links, we need to define our framework. And I reckon that we can identify 6 clear categories.
A – Oh, I thought it would be just family, friends and mentor/protégé.
M – Well, that’s certainly part of the story, but not the whole picture. So, firstly we’ve got what you rightly called family ties.
A – Normally, by marriage I suppose.
M – By it or through it. So, on the chart, we can put a number 1 here by the Personnel
Director and Production Director because the Personnel Director’s husband is the brother of the Production Director.
A – So, brother-in-law and sister-in-law?
M – Exactly. And there is another link here between the Personnel Director and the new Sales/Marketing Director, who must be just a bit older than you, because he’s her cousin. Young chap – very bright and dynamic. He’ll go far in this company given his talent and connections.
A – I see. So the family ties play an important role?
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M – Yes. And then there are the friendship links: drinking, golfing, holidaying and generally socializing. The second level links – number 2, if you like. Now, let me get it right.. Although the Managing director is a real workaholic, he does enjoy a round of golf from time to time. And one of his golfing partners is our Personnel Director. Now the Personnel Director, or rather her husband especially, is a bit of a wine connoisseur, as is our Financial Controller. So, in recent years they’ve taken to going down to France together on wine-tasting holidays.
A – I see. That’s very interesting.
M – Yes, as you’ll see, it all helps to oil the wheels of business. Now, there is another link here. Oh, yes, the Financial Controller, who is a wine connoisseur, has a
French wife, and she often socializes with the Factoty Manager’s wife. They’ve both got quite young families and spend time together at each other’s houses.
A – So, not a ‘liaison dangereuse’?
M – No, not at all. All very innocuous, but part of the culture here. Now, I don’t think there are more social links. But there are some people linked by educational ties.
A – You mean old boys who went to the same school?
M- Exactly. So, let’s call that number 3. Now, if I remember rightly, the Training
Manager went to the same school as all the Regional Sales Managers. A – All of them? Bit of coincidence, that, isn’t it?
M – I suppose it looks a bit odd. But I’ve heard that they all do a super job and get on really well together. Now, let me think if there are any more school links. No, I don’t think so.
A – Is that it then?
M – Not quite. There’s one more link, which is how I would describe ours: mentor/protégé. You know, someone who has been trained and groomed for a particular job, and then promoted, usually from within the company, to take over the mentor’ job.
A – So, number 4, if my arithmetic serves me well.
M – Yes. Now we have got quite a few number 4’s around. The Managing Director was instrumental in getting the Personnel and Production Directors promoted from lower in the hierarchy to their present jobs. And having been promoted herself, the Personnel Director was responsible for bringing the Recruitment manager in from Brixon’s, I believe.
A – So that was an outsider brought in?
M - Exactly. Oh, and there’s one more that I nearly forgot. When the Managing
Director took over some 8 years ago, he brought in this chap here, our Financial Director.
A – Where from?
M – Well, that’s a mystery. Nobody knows!
Unit 3 Recruitment
P M – Personnel Manager, I – Interviewer
P M – The most important thing when interviewing a candidate is his character, his ability to react, his intelligence and his suitability for the position that … which … for which he is being interviewed.
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I – And uh, to what extent does the person’s appearance influence your decision?
P M – It does influence the decision, uh, but it does some bearing on the decision, if you can take the difference between the two. It is important that the guy, the person, is well presented, is neat and tidy, and that he has a good manner, uh, because that shows a lot about his personality.
I – Do you expect the candidate to be prepared in any way for the interview, or how should he prepare himself for the interview?
P M – Well , it’s not a question of preparing himself. In the position in which I am, uh, normally the candidate’s had at least one or maybe two interviews with other members, more junior member or staff before he gets to my level, unless the particular candidate is going to report to me, and in which case I expect the person concerned to have a fairly good knowledge of: (1) what the company does, (2) what he’s going to be expected to do, and (3) who he’s going to report to. Those things, those three items are very, very important, and if the candidate doesn’t give the impression of either understanding one of those
three items, then obviously he gets marked down accordingly. I – How does a candidate go wrong?
P M – The major way a candidate goes wrong is by basically becoming a yes-man or yes-woman and agreeing with everything you say. What is most important …
One of the most important things about interviewing a candidate is the chemistry between somebody, between the two people in the interview, it’s very, very important – he has to have a spark, you have to feel as though that guy is going to contribute, that guy’s going to be good and you are going to get something out of that person and he has to show himself to be not just ‘Yes sir, thank you very much. Yes I agree with that, I agree with that.’ Sometimes I lay dummy questions in which I want a ‘no’ answer and if he continues to say ‘yea’ then he goes down.
I – What would your advice to be a candidate, going to an interview. How would you advise him?
P M – The firs thing I would say to him is first of all to listen, secondly, to ask the right questions, and thirdly, perhaps the most important, is to create the right relationship which is, I guess, an adult-to-adult relationship with the interviewee or the interviewer. It is very important and that’s what I said before, is when you get a yes-man in front of you, or a yes-woman, then that person is obviously not creating an adult-to-adult conversation. He’s creating an adult-to child conversation and in most cases, managers are not, if they are good and they know what they want, they’re not going to be interested in employing a child.
Case study Slim gyms
I – Interviewer, I R – Isabella Rosetti
I – Now let me ask you a question we ask all our candidates. Why should we hire you? I R – Why hire me? Simple. I get along well with people. I’m used to dealing with
people from all walks of life. That’s vital for this job. And I’ve got lots of ideas for making Slim Gyms more profitable. Want to hear them?
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I – Not just now, if you don’t mind. We’ll come back to that later. Um, about your attendance record. Could you tell me why you’ve had quite a bit of time off?
I R – Hmm, you‘ve been talking to my boss, I see. Let’s get this clear. I’ve taken a day off now and then, true, but it’s always to go to some family celebration – a marriage, a christening, a family reunion sometimes.
I – Uh huh.
I R – Anyway, I’ve got a great assistant at work – she looks after things if I’m away. It’s no problem at all if I have a day off now and then.
I – Right. Can we look into the future now? I’m interested to know where you see yourself in a few years?
I R – In a few years I suppose I see myself … um, working for your organization, running the whole business.
I – I hope you achieve that objective.
I – Interviewer, M B – Michael Bolen
I – Right, a question now about your managerial skills. You’re currently with a sporting goods firm. Do you enjoy working on a team – with other managers?
M B – I enjoy working with colleagues a lot, especially when developing a project, let’s say, working on a new product. It’s exciting, often tiring, you are working long hours sometimes, but everyone’s working together, to make a success of things.
I – So would you say you are a good team player?
M B – Definitely. But let me say this, I like to be on my own from time to time. Especially if there is some problem to be worked out. I guess some people would say I keep to myself too much, but it’s not true really.
I – OK, let me follow that up. Um, I’d like to know what your colleagues would say about you. How would they describe you?
M B – Huh, that’s a difficult one. Mmm …, I think they’d say I know my own mind, I’m a decisive person. Sometimes, you have to do things that you don’t like, for example, fire an employee. Well, if I have to do it, I do it, and then forget about it.
I – What else would your colleagues say?
M B – They’d say that I am a friendly person, when I get to know people. Some of them think I am too friendly.
I – Really?
M B – Well, you know, a few of the women in the company, they get a little jealous because I take out my administrative assistant, Sue, from time to time, Give her a nice lunch, you know, say thanks for all her hard work. Nothing wrong in that, is there?
I – Interviewer, B W – Bob Wills
I – You are obviously eager to get this job? Could you tell me what your strengths are? What do you think you are good at?
B W – Main strengths? Good at managing people, I’d say. I suppose it’s my army training. I know how to set goals for people. Objectives. And I’m sure they meet them.