节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-08-27
难易度:High
关键字:kernel, abide by, lament, magnitude, head-on
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And my name is Carolyn.
And you're joining us for the second day of our lesson Managing Difficult
Workers.
Uncle Bob and his nephew Ben are talking about some people that Ben recently
hired.
One of these workers, Ralph, is quite a difficult person to be around.
What else did we learn about yesterday's lesson, Carolyn?
Well, we learned that Ralph has the requisite skills that he needs to complete
his job, but he doesn't always do it the way he should.
And oftentimes the other workers will have to redo what he was supposed to have
done.
It's true.
And of course another problem that Ralph has is that he is chronically late.
So he's good at what he does, but he's chronically late, he doesn't really
follow instructions.
So maybe, maybe Ben might have to terminate him.
That's not a good thing.
Ben doesn't really want to do this.
Well, we're going to continue this conversation with Uncle Bob and Ben.
Let's do that now.
(Music).
Managing Difficult Workers.
You need to figure out how to make this a win-win situation.
How do I do that?
Well, problem employees often behave the way they do because their behavior has
helped them get what they want in the past.
There's definitely a kernel of truth in that.
So making this a win-win situation will depend on making sure that bad behavior
is no longer an effective way for Ralph to get what he wants.
But I already have rules.
It's just that he won't abide by them.
Then you need to have clearly defined consequences for rule breaking.
And use them.
Uncle Bob does have some very good ideas.
OK. Let's go back to the beginning of this conversation.
Uncle Bob... well, I'll be Uncle Bob... again.
You need to figure out how to make this a win-win situation.
Oh. I really like that phrase there, actually, Uncle Bob.
To be a win-win situation means that no one loses.
Ben gets something good; Ralph gets something good.
And nothing bad really happens, but the problem is solved.
It's true.
So that's a great solution.
Sometimes it's the other way around.
Sometimes things happen, and it's a lose-lose situation where nobody wins.
Sometimes it's a win-lose situation.
Of course the best is if it's a win-win situation.
OK.
Yes. And that is not always easy, so Ben asks: How do I do that?
Well, problem employees often behave the way they do because their behavior has
helped them get what they want in the past.
Now there's something I like here from this sentence: problem employees.
So we've talked about the word "difficult" and how it can be used to describe
people.
The word "problem" can also describe people.
That's right.
So Ralph would be a problem employee.
And Uncle Bob is giving some pretty good advice here just really telling
something that is true.
And Ben sees that as well.
He says: There's definitely a kernel of truth in that.
That's great.
I love that Ben says this.
OK. He's kind of using something figurative, something that we can picture in
our minds - a kernel of something.
That's from our Word Bank, actually.
A kernel is a small part of a seed that is edible.
Usually I think about a kernel of corn.
But how else could you use this word?
Well, here it's talking about being the center or the main idea of something.
So when Uncle Bob said that problem employees do what they do because it has
helped them to get what they want in the past, then Ben agrees.
He thinks that that statement is very true.
It's not just a little bit true, but there's a kernel, something great and very
true about that statement.
That's right.
So you can use that phrase, too.
Usually you see it in those three words: it's a kernel of truth.
Uncle Bob says:
So making this a win-win situation will depend on making sure that bad behavior
is no longer an effective way for Ralph to get what he wants.
Very wise words from Uncle Bob.
They are.
They sound like a pretty good idea.
Now it's not always easy to figure out how to change this type of behavior or
change rules,
or make new rules or maybe even talk to the problem employee about what is going
on.
It can be quite a challenge.
It can be.
And it can be difficult to really change someone's behavior.
He wants to do something effective though, something that will really work so
that Ralph doesn't keep doing what he wants, especially if it's bad behavior.
That's right.
And Ralph is not doing what he's supposed to be doing.
He is behaving badly and has become a problem employee despite all of his great
skills.
Now Ben continues.
But I already have rules.
It's just that he won't abide by them.
Hmm, very interesting.
Well, I think Ralph should be abiding by the rules at the office.
Let's take a look at this phrase straight from our Word Bank: to abide by
something.
That means you submit to the rules or you go along with those rules.
That's right.
So you should obey the rules or abide by them.
And those two words should go together - abide by, not just the word abide.
Now it's very important to follow the rules, and it sounds like Ralph is not
doing that.
Uncle Bob, you have the next line.
Then you need to have clearly defined consequences for rule breaking.
And use them.
Oh. Well, this is quite a good idea, and you can probably find a kernel of truth
in this statement as well.
If you have rules, they need to be enforced.
There must be consequences.
Otherwise, people really aren't going to try to follow them or abide by them.
That's right.
Let's talk about that word Carolyn just used.
It's not in the magazine, but she just used the word: enforce.
If you have rules at your office, and you're the manager or boss, you should
enforce those rules.
E-N-F-O-R-C-E.
That means when people break them, there will be consequences.
So you enforce those rules.
And that is a very good idea for any employer or teacher, manager, any position
where you have people working under you.
And teachers, that also is good for you because you have students who are
working, and they need to follow rules as well.
Make sure that you are abiding by the rules.
Yes. Well, right know it's time for us to go and learn more with Michelle in the
Language Lab.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.