节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-07-25
难易度:High
关键字:diminish, ultimately, generate, human resources, hidden cost
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
And you're joining us for the second day of our BUSINESS lesson here at Studio
Classroom.
It's a question: New Employees?
And so we're enjoying a conversation with Ben and Uncle Bob.
And they're discussing whether or not Ben should hire some full-time workers.
Well, what have we learned so far here, Carolyn?
Well, yesterday we learned that Ben's business is growing by leaps and bounds.
And he thinks that he's ready to hire some full-time employees because he needs
help with his business.
But that's not the only thing that is going on, he...
Right now he does have some freelancers working for him, but they don't seem to
be enough.
Well, Uncle Bob has some words of warning.
He thinks that hiring new employees will go far beyond pay.
So he needs to think about things like benefits or the payroll taxes, and of
course the furniture he's going to buy,
the new stationery or all of the other stationery, some computers for his
employees, and maybe some parking lots... or spots.
So there are some things that he needs to consider.
Well, let's continue this conversation with Ben and Uncle Bob.
(Music).
New Employees?
OK, so there will be some hidden costs, but those won't change the company that
much.
They will mean huge changes to your job, though.
Yeah, I hope they'll make my job a lot easier!
They might.
But remember, employees need to be managed.
That's true.
The time you'll spend doing the things you're used to doing will diminish.
Instead you'll spend time overseeing employees.
I guess that will be a big change.
Ultimately, hiring employees is about growth.
And good growth is done in a balanced and controlled way.
(Music).
OK, let's go to the beginning of this conversation.
I liked how things were going yesterday.
So Carolyn, would you please be Ben again?
I will continue to be Ben, thank you.
Well, we were just talking about in the previous conversation...
Uncle Bob and Ben had discussed that there would be a lot of things that Ben
would need to buy or make,
make space for like parking lots or buying computers or stationery.
And Ben responds:
OK, so there will be some hidden costs, but those won't change the company that
much.
Hmm, I don't know about that.
But first, let's take a look at that phrase there: a hidden cost.
That's something that you don't really consider when you're buying something.
You see the price for the item or for what you're buying, but then you don't
really think about how much else you will have to spend.
So if you are buying something, make sure you read the small print.
Sometimes there will be some hidden costs listed in there.
That's right.
So when hiring employees, there are some hidden costs that you might not think
of right away.
Well, Uncle Bob, you have the next line.
Yes, of course. Of course I do.
They will mean huge changes to your job, though.
Hey, you know what, I like this because um, Uncle Bob used the word "change" as
a noun, but then Ben used it as a verb in his first line.
I just wanted to point that out.
OK, Ben, go on.
Oh. Well, thank you.
Yes, "change" can be both a noun and a verb.
And there will be some changes.
Ben responds:
Yeah, I hope they'll make my job a lot easier.
They might.
But remember, employees need to be managed.
Ah, so there is more than just hiring an employee, and then your job comes
easier.
Employees also have to be managed by probably a manager.
That's right, manager.
You talk about the management of a company.
Well, Ben will probably be part of that management.
Well, Ben continues.
Things need to be managed.
There is more to hiring an employee than just simply making your job easier.
Those employees do need to be managed probably by a manager or the management.
And Ben might become part of the management if he hires some employees.
Well, Ben, what does... what does Ben say?
Well, responding to this that they will need to be managed, he says:
That's true.
The time you'll spend doing the things you're used to doing will also diminish.
Ah, great, Uncle Bob.
It will diminish.
And "diminish" is a word from our Word Bank.
It is wonderful if you have something that becomes diminished, then it gets
smaller.
Or fewer.
And so you could use this in other ways.
You know the story of David and Goliath.
When he saw the giant, his courage did not diminish.
He was OK.
And he went to kill that giant.
So you can use this word in many ways.
And if you are starting a business, you want to make sure that your money does
not diminish.
You want to make more money.
But if you're hiring employees, it would be nice for your own jobs to diminish
as you have more people to do them.
Exactly.
Well, Uncle Bob continues this line:
Instead you'll spend time overseeing employees.
Well, great.
They will have to spend their time, probably Ben and his wife Sandy, spend their
time overseeing their employees.
And I think Steve and Ken have something they want to tell us about that word
"oversee" versus "overlook".
Let's take a look at two words today that can be confusing: oversee and
overlook.
Do they have the same meaning?
Well, you may think they do as both "see" and "look" have similar meanings.
But these two words are actually quite different.
OK. For "oversee," we can think of a boss or supervisor in a factory who is
seated at a high place watching over the workers.
And maybe even giving out commands.
When someone oversees you at work, they're making sure you're doing your job
right.
"Supervise" is another word for oversee.
"Overlook," on the other hand, can have two different meanings.
It can mean to look at something from a higher place.
For example, the house overlooks the beach.
So from the house, you could see the beach below.
Right.
But "overlook" can also mean to miss or fail to see, as in:
The detective overlooked an important clue, and the suspect was released.
Now the question is: What does the noun "oversight" mean?
It can mean either supervision or an unintentional omission.
Yes, but the more common definition is an unintentional omission.
So we can say:
Due to the detective's oversight, the suspect was released.
Two different words with different meanings.
Don't overlook them.
(Chinese).
Thanks, guys.
I'm glad we didn't overlook that point.
Well, Ben has the next line, and he is responding to Uncle Bob after he says
that he will have to spend time overseeing his employees.
I guess that will be a big change.
Yeah.
Ultimately, hiring employees is about growth.
Oh, great, Uncle Bob.
I'm going to stop you right there because you used another word from our Word
Bank, the word "ultimately." Ultimately just means at the end of a process.
So, in the end.
In the end.
Uncle Bob could also say: In the end, hiring employees is about growth.
But let's use this word "ultimately" in other ways.
Earlier this year, actually you learned about Mumford, Mumford & Sons, right?
Well, they are great musicians.
They're very talented, and they love to make great music.
But ultimately, they are about people.
That's what they care about most.
That's right.
And maybe you are studying a language.
You are learning English right now.
Perhaps that is not the only language you want to learn.
Ultimately, you want to learn three languages or four.
What is your ultimate goal?
Ah, the ultimate goal, what you want to accomplish in the end or by the end.
Well, let's finish this line. Uncle Bob says:
And good growth is done in a balanced and controlled way.
That's very good advice, Uncle Bob.
You should balance and control the way that you do things.
And if you want to have good growth, then you know what is growing and how fast
it's growing.
That's right.
Well, I think we're doing a great job here today.
I'm getting a little bit tired and a little bit hungry, but ultimately, Carolyn,
I... I just need a break.
You need a break?
Yeah.
Well, ultimately, we are going to spend some time with Michelle in the Langauge
Lab.