Why buy a Business English book?

I recently gove an email interview about why students should buy Business English books and I thought I would share it with you.

Here goes, hope you find it useful:

Q
A course in Business English usually has a more narrow focus and costs considerably more than a General English course. I find that some Russian/Ukrainian business professionals who are fluent enough in English might think it's not worth taking such a course. What are the benefits of taking a course in Business English?

A
I would question that the difference in cost is so great but all choices about what book to buy should be based on need. For someone who wants to extend their English business vocabulary, a business book is essential. Furthermore, each aspect of business, e.g. accounting, marketing, finance, etc. has its own specific terms and models and as a native, I still find myself learning new things so there’s no doubt that it’s of benefit to a second language learner.

Q
In general, how is a Business English course different from a course for the HR personnel?

A
Simply in scope and depth; a business book usually covers issues such as company structures, leadership, communication and broad topics such as business ethics. An HR book focuses specifically on the HR function and its activities and goes into much more detail.

Q
There are many textbooks out there that one can use to teach a course in Business English, how is your Business English Phrasebook different?

A
As a teacher I have used books such as Market Leader and Intelligent Business and found them to be very boring to work with. Usually, topics are covered in a very general way which lacks connection and authenticity. It’s clear that many business books are written by teachers and academics who have had no real life business experience.

I have worked for 25 years as a self-employed business person and worked in many industry sectors and coached managers. All my material is based on things that actually happened and are indirectly auto-biographical. For example, in the discipline section of English for Human Resources, the audio starts with a phone call to HR from a manager saying, ‘I’m sending you someone to sack!’ It happened!

Regarding the business phrasebook, as with all materials I produce, I set out to make it entertaining and fun to work with as well as educational. There are dialogues that students can act out and plenty of useful phrases that people use in a natural business context. Answers are included so it works for self-study as well as teachers’ material. Because it is an ebook, it is easy to jump from question to answer and back again. There are also grammar explanations for common tense use in certain situations. In short, it’s realistic, interesting and easy to work with.

Q
Personally, I have never seen a textbook to train HR personnel until I came across your book. Is there a growing demand for this type of English language training or would you call yourself a pioneer? How does this book help an HR manager to excel in her job?

A
There is another book on the market published by Oxford Press a few ago and written by Pat Pledger. It would be inappropriate for me to criticise that book but mine is a much more modern text. It covers many current themes such as Talent Management, Psychometric Testing and HR and Employer Branding. I would like to think that I have a pioneering approach to writing English language materials because narrative is very important to me and I think story telling is the best learning medium.

Each of the ten chapters is set in an organisation covering various industry sectors in different countries. The scripts are highly authentic and do not have the artificial feel that many books have. Each chapter is structured to introduce key vocabulary as well as sample documents and typical HR processes. The book will help an HR person because not only does it provide relevant language but examples of best practice. As a former HR manager and consultant, I am able to provide this.

Q
I understand that you are working in Poland. Even though it is not exactly the "eastern bloc" there might be some similarities to the former Soviet Union countries considering the Slavic background. What are some lingustic and cultural challenges for people of Slavic decent working in HR departments at some prominent international companies?

A
Without a doubt Poland is affected by both its Slavic roots and recent socialist history. Linguistically, perhaps the hardest language area to master is the use of articles as these do not occur in the mother tongue and it is therefore something of an abstract concept and guesswork. The ‘rules’ relating to article use are many with many exceptions so they are not really possible to learn mechanically. In terms of a learning style, schools have traditionally instilled a learning by rote and grammar drill method. Thus, many students can do well in written grammar tests but are unable to apply their knowledge to free speech. Many find the flexibility and inconsistency of English frustrating compared to the more rigid and predictable German and Russian.

Culturally, many of the larger organisations are British, American, Swedish or German owned and use English as their Lingua Franca. In general, the Slavic mentality is more suspicious and negative so adopting ‘western’ ideas can still be difficult. There is a strong culture of formal contracting. I was once told by a school to cancel a lesson with the CEO of one of the country’s biggest banks because they were still waiting for the contract to be signed. I said I would do the lesson anyway, free if necessary, as I didn’t see the sense in risking upsetting the client and losing the contract. The school thought this was a very strange attitude - a difference in perspectives.

Therefore, the greatest challenge facing HR people here is how to reconcile the corporate demands to be more progressive with an essentially cautious workforce. The underpinning mindset is still essentially defensive believing win/lose is the likely outcome of a transaction.

And if you've never been to Warsaw, you might like to try it - it's much underrated.

Another FA Balls Up

The (FA) Football Association of England have managed once again to score an own goal and make a complete balls up of the Management Board's relationship with the National Team Coach.

For anyone who doesn’t know the story, here’s how it goes:

Captain John Terry has been accused of racially abusing another player and is currently undergoing an FA investigation and awaiting trial.

The FA have publicly stripped him of his captaincy.

The Coach, Fabio Capello, didn’t agree with this decision and was called to a meeting by the FA.

Neither would back down, Capello said he had been insulted and resigned - and all this, just four months before the Euro 2012 tournament which is second in importance, only to the World Cup.

Ironically, many people will see it as a blessing in disguise, bringing to an end an unhappy tenure of underachievement and leaves the door open for the people's choice, Harry Rednapp.

But that’s beside the point for the FA are an ongoing case study in mismanagement.

This is how it should have been handled:

The FA hold an informal meeting with Capello explaining that they respect his right to manage but also saying that keeping Terry as Captain could cause massive PR problems during press conferences and the run up to Euro 2012 - particularly as the majority of English football supporters now believe Terry should not be captain.

Capello sensitively but pragmatically, explains this to Terry.

Terry then voluntarily offers to stand down as captain for the good of the team and country, stating that his does not wish his personal issues to distract from or have a detrimental effect on the team’s preparation.

Capello reluctantly but graciously accepts.

Terry and Capello are not embarrassed and retain their dignity and credibility while the FA are not seen to be meddling in team selection affairs - simple; it’s called political skill; unfortunately, that’s something the Football Association know sweet FA about!

Glossary

To score an own goal - to do something that is self-damaging
To make a balls up of something - to make a mess of something
To strip somebody of something - remove
Captaincy - the noun for being Captain
To call someone to a meeting - to demand their attendance at a meeting
To back down - withdraw from a position, compromise
A blessing in disguise - something that looks bad but is in fact, good
Tenure - presence, time in position
Underachievement - to achieve less than expected, poor results
To leave the door open for something or somebody - creates an easy opportunity
To be beside the point - to be irrelevant
Mismanagement - the act of incompetent or bad management
To handle a situation - to deal with, to manage
To stand down - to resign from a position
Detrimental - harmful, negative
To meddle - to interfere
Sweet FA - absolutely nothing; abbreviation and euphemism for F**k all

Sacked for clocking in a colleague

In the old days, factory workers used punched clocking-in cards to register when they arrived at and left work. There were Draconian punishments for those found guilty of clocking in colleagues and a fair chance that the misdemeanour would be given their cards. (result in dismissal)

These days, the technology has advanced to electronic swipe cards but should the same sanction be applied to an employee discovered clocking-in a workmate?

It rather depends on whether or not you consider it gross misconduct which is usually an example of an extreme or persistent offence.

In a company in Warsaw, Poland, an employee was dismissed for clocking in a colleague who, he claimed was on his way, although camera evidence proved this was not the case. On the one hand you can argue that the employee lied and could not be trusted but for a first offence, dismissal seems a bit over the top.

We also have to question why, in this day and age, we don’t trust employees enough to assume they will do a fair day’s work. On balance, employees probably give more of their time to employers unpaid than the opposite. Maybe a bit of give and take, and common sense would be the best solution.

Is clocking in a joke?

Clarkson - bad joke or bad behaviour?

Top Gear TV presenter, Jeremy Clarkson recently said about striking public sector workers in the UK that they should be:

‘taken outside and executed in front of their families.’

This led to uproar from the public sector union, Unison.

Is this an over-reaction to a bad taste joke or is it genuinely offensive and out of order?

Should his employer, the BBC take disciplinary action?

Watch the video and judge for yourself.



Personally, I have seen Jeremy Clarkson’s career develop over the past twenty years and in my opinion, he has always been a smug conceited snob who is thoroughly obnoxious. It’s no surprise that as his success and fame have increased, he’s become more convinced of his belief that his reactionary views are representative of the British public.

If they are, God help us all

Shoot and make friends

Here in Poland, the idea of ‘integration’ is very popular. Generally, this is the local term for team-building. For many people, it’s just an excuse to drink large quantities of vodka but some organisations try to be a bit more imaginative.

Boisterous and physical activities such as abseiling, quad-biking and paint-balling are very popular but this week, I came across a new one.

A lady I work with informed of her department’s planned integration activity which in fact, involves three things:

1) A meal - OK, you’d expect that
2) Ten pin bowling - always a winner
3) Shooting - excuse me?

You know, shooting with guns. Let me tell you, the lady works for a bank. Is it preparation for a heist? No, it’s in a shooting gallery and just for sport. Ah, I see, with blanks. No; live ammunition.

Apparently, the Director’s very keen on shooting and believes nobody hates him enough to want to kill him. (I guess, he’ll find out)

Joking aside, do you think shooting is an appropriate activity for team-building?

(Maybe the next step is Russian roulette as a method of redundancy selection.)

BANG!! Perkins - you’re fired!

I have to be honest and say I find it quite worrying.

Skype v F2F

When I started Skyping three years ago it was still something of a minority interest. Not everybody had it, used it or believed in it as a viable teaching medium. So is it fair to say that there is no substitute for face to face coaching or teaching?

Probably there isn’t, but it’s like asking if books are better than films or if a hammer is a better tool than a saw; you have to take each for what it is.

Skype and other similar platforms offer greater time flexibility and greater time efficiency. For example, you can have a half hour session without any problems of travel. You can even have them the minute you get out of bed if you really want!

For trainers you can have lessons back to back moving effortlessly from Paris to Rome in seconds. Moreover, there is now a lot of conferencing, webcasting software enabling simultaneous, multiple use - or in other words, lots of people at the same time so companies can really make their training budgets stretch out by reducing unit costs.

You can also share PowerPoint presentations and look at web pages together or use it as part of a blended learning package.

On the other hand, it makes you realise how much we depend on body language clues and cues during conversation so a camera, whilst theoretically an optional extra, in reality is a must. That’s a F2F aspect worth keeping.

But here’s the bottom line - it’s not an instead of but an as well as kind of thing and to add it to your resource pack as a learner or a teacher is well worthwhile.

So, if you’re interested in Skype sessions with me for Human Resources or Business, you can contact me direct on george@english4hr.com

I look forward to seeing you!

http://www.english4hr.com/contact.html



George

Workplace heroes

Do you ever say to a colleague? ‘Thanks pal, you’ve saved my life!’

If you do, it might be for making a ‘life-saving’ morning coffee or perhaps covering for you when you need to leave early. Very rarely, if ever, does someone save your life in reality.

Hats off then to pilot Captain Wrona and his faultless plane landing this week in Warsaw. Normally, this would be a standard procedure but without wheels it’s a bit trickier.

Congratulations also to the ground staff at Warsaw Airport for preparing the runway for a crash landing.

A professional operation all round that really did save lives - sometimes, going to work is more than just a job!