Vocabulary Notes

31. to reduce the workforce – сократить штат

32. advancement – продвижение вперед

33. to diminish – уменьшать

34. to coach somebody – учить, тренировать

35. to contribute to the benefit – способствовать процветанию

36. an accounting system – бухгалтерская система

37. capacity – (зд.) способность

38. to sustain business – поддерживать бизнес

39. an asset – (зд.) достояние

Reading Tasks.

1. Understanding main points:

16. What managers are needed now?

17. Has the key role of management changed lately? In what way?

18. Do you agree with the statement that the first place in motivating the staff in the constant increase of wages?

19. How do companies benefit from a properly motivated staff?

20. What is implied by the statement “Organisations must be quicker to respond”. Comment on it.

2. Understanding details.

Mark True (T) and False (F) statements according to the text.

1. Understanding and teaching the staff are the main functions of a good manager.

2. You should always know what your staff are busy with.

3. Financial packages are the best motivation for people to improve their skills.

4. It is benefitial for a company if its employees are responsible and well-payed.

5. A good manager never talks disciplinary actions.

Managers expect their staff to behave responsibly, but how should managers treat their staff? What happens when things go wrong or when companies are reducing the workforce? Some people argue that managers must have empathy with their staff and an understanding for others. Others see the key factors as teaching or coaching employees so that they learn from their mistakes and the whole organization benefits.

It’s easier in good days to talk that people are your most valuable asset, then when you are stuck with the problem to diminish. How do you handle people? How do you help them get a new job? How do you try to transfer them internally? How do you try to re-educate them to try to put them into another job, within or outside the company? I think that tells a lot about the company policy. We don’t need tough managers. We need managers with empathy who can think into the situation of these people.

Managers have to have an understanding for other people’s way of behaving, their culture. You have to spend time together to really discuss problems. You have o share the same values, you have to spend time together to really discuss problems. You have to share the same values, you have to reward people who really contribute to the team benefit, not just to their own benefit.

Greater responsibility for employees is essential. But how do you motivate the workforce to play such an important role in the organisation? It is their pay and conditions – financial packages but people are also motivated by the chance of improvement in their job – for advancement and development. They also need the right conditions in which to work with the right tools for the job.

So how are people going to be motivated? They’re motivated by financial packages but they’re above all motivated by the possibility for advancement and for development. So making sure that you’ve got the “motivational package” right is the second thing. And then the third thing is the context. If you think about a carpenter, you can have a wonderfully skilled carpenter, he can be highly motivated, but if he doesn’t have very good tools, then he won’t do a very good job. So what sort of tools are needed in terms of IT, in terms of manufacturing systems, in terms of management accounting systems? And if you can get the capacity, the motivation and the tools right then you can motivate people very well.

You’ve read how good management motivates its employees, but how do companies benefit from giving their employees more responsibility?

Organisations must be quicker to respond. They are able to add value – provide services that improve what they offer customers – and be more competitive. This will in turn sustain the business, that is, make sure it continues to exist and is able to tackle the problems of tomorrow.