节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-11-12
难易度:High
关键字:resistant, continuity, versatile, prohibit, cross-train
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
And your English will improve today.
We're continuing to learn with Ben and Uncle Bob in a lesson called Saying
Goodbye.
In yesterday's lesson, we learned that Ben will be losing one of his best
employees Terry.
He's being deprived of this great worker at his company.
What else did we learn from yesterday's lesson, Carolyn?
Well, he doesn't think it's really a problem but more of an annoyance.
But it's still keeping him up at night.
So it does sound like it has become a problem for Ben.
That's right.
So Uncle Bob does have a suggestion, or at least he presents an idea, the idea
of having your employees sign a contract of some kind.
But of course, he also says that it could cause some resentment.
A contract could sometimes make people resent you or resent the idea.
But what else did we learn from yesterday's lesson?
Well, when signing a contract or making your employees sign contracts, you do
want to be careful,
and you can include a clause that prevents them from going to work for your
competitors.
And of course, many companies have that kind of contract with lots of different
clauses like this.
OK. We have more to learn from today's conversation.
So let's get started.
(Music).
Saying Goodbye.
That seems like a good idea, but it won't solve the problem of Terry leaving.
He's not going to work for my competition.
He's leaving because of family problems.
There isn't much you can do about him leaving then.
But there are still things you can do to make your company more resistant to
problems when employees do leave.
Like what?
Well, for starters, you could cross-train your employees.
What does that mean?
It just means you train your employees to do several different jobs.
For example, you might train Angela to do Ralph's job, but also train Ralph to
do Angela's job.
Uncle Bob is always full of good ideas.
Well, Ben begins this section of today's lesson.
He is responding to something that Uncle Bob said yesterday.
Uncle Bob said that he could include a clause saying that his employees can not
work for his competitors for a certain amount of time.
And uh, Gabe, do you want to be Ben today, or should I continue?
Well, of course, I would love to be Ben here.
Ben, he says: That seems like a good idea, but it won't solve the problem of
Terry leaving.
He's not going to work for my competition.
He's leaving because of family problems.
So we see here that Terry is not just going to leave to go work for the
competitors.
He's leaving because he has family issues or family problems.
That's right.
So a lot of times people might leave a company because they find a job that is
similar with a competitor that might offer them more benefits or a higher
salary.
But that is not what is happening here with Terry.
Exactly.
Now does that ever happen to you?
Have you ever had to stop a project or quit doing something because of problems
that you couldn't control?
It seems like this is what's going on in Terry's life.
That's right.
So Uncle Bob responds:
There isn't much you can do about him leaving then.
But there are still things you can do to make your company more resistant to
problems when employees do leave.
Well, those sound like wise words, as usual, from Uncle Bob.
Now let's look at his first line there.
He says there isn't much you can do about him leaving.
Terry is going to leave because of family problems.
There's not much you can do about that.
Sometimes that's just the... the situation.
The case is you can't do much about a certain situation.
That's right.
And Uncle Bob also used another word from our Word Bank, the word "resistant."
So let's take a look at that.
If you are resistant to something, that means that you aren't harmed or affected
by something.
Or when something bad happens, it doesn't bother you.
That's right.
So, well, how could you use this word "resistant"?
This makes me think of cameras that can go underwater or watches that you can
take underwater.
Those are often called water-resistant watches.
Or if something is water-resistant, that means that water does not destroy it;
it does not ruin it.
That's right.
So you could have something that is water-resistant.
If it gets wet, it will still continue working.
But you probably shouldn't put it in the water for too long if it's resistant
and not waterproof.
That's right.
Now what else can be resistant?
Well, sometimes we describe people who may be a little rebellious, they might be
resistant to discipline.
They don't like to hear anything that anybody tells them.
They are resistant.
They resist those things.
People can also be resistant to disease.
So if you do not get sick easily, if you are a very healthy person, then you are
resistant to illness.
All right. So there are so many ways you can use this word.
And of course, Uncle Bob is talking about employees being resistant to problems.
Ben says: Like what?
Well, what can you do to make your company resistant to these problems?
Uncle Bob says: Well, for starters, you could cross-train your employees.
Ah, you could cross-train the employees.
That means you are... well, we'll get to what that means later.
But first, let's take a look at a phrase here: for starters.
OK. This means to begin with or the first suggestion is this.
That's right.
So if you are thinking about starting a company, what should you do for
starters?
Well, you should probably think about your goals.
So for starters, think about what you hope to achieve with your company.
Or maybe you have a lot of housework to do around the home.
Where should you get started?
Well, for starters, you could clean your room, and then you could do something
else.
Or maybe you're at a restaurant.
Maybe the server will come and ask: What can I get you for starters?
That means to start out with, would you like something to eat or drink?
That's right.
So, uh, Ben, I think you have the next line asking about cross-training
employees.
That's right.
Well, my question is just like Ben's question - What does that mean?
Carolyn, what is cross-training?
Well, it just means you train your employees to do several different jobs.
So, pretty simple.
You cross-train them so you train them across different areas.
And so Uncle Bob, he continues here and says:
For example, you might train Angela to do Ralph's job, but also train Ralph to
do Angela's job.
And I think that we do that here at Studio Classroom as well.
There's a little bit of cross-training so that different people are able to do
other people's jobs.
That's right.
It is very helpful to cross-train employees.
Well, right now it is time for us to continue learning with Michelle in the
Language Lab.