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BEP 256 – English Collocations for Discussing Staffing (1)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations, Human Resources /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on discussing hiring and staffing needs.

Any time we plan a new project, develop a new product, open a new office, or expand a business operation, we need to discuss staffing needs. How many people do we need? What type of work will they do? What qualifications do they need? Where can we find them? What will we pay them? These are all questions that must be resolved if we are to make sure we’ve got the right people in the right jobs.

As they discuss staffing, the speakers in today’s dialog will use many expressions that we call “collocations.” Learning collocations will help you improve your vocabulary and help you sound more natural in English. But what exactly is a collocation? Simply put, a collocation is a natural combination of words. It’s an expression that English speakers commonly use. For example, we often say that something “meets a need” or “fills a need.” That sounds natural. But if you say “take a need” or “makes our needs”, people won’t understand. Those combinations aren’t natural collocations.

As you listen to the discussion, try to pick out some of these English collocations and we’ll discuss them later in the debrief.

In the dialog, we’ll hear a conversation between three managers who work for a fiber optics company that is starting a new production line. Carla works in the finance department, Hank is the HR manager, and Paul is a production manager. Together, they’re talking about how to staff, or recruit new workers, for the new venture.

Listening Questions

1. Why does Carla think it will be difficult to bring in 15 new people?
2. What does Hank suggest about staffing the new project?
3. What kind of work does Paul say they will need to hire new people for?

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BEP 226 – Conducting a Job Interview in English (2)

Business English, Human Resources, Job Interview English /

Conducting an interview in English (2)

In this Business English Pod lesson, we continue our look at how to conduct a job interview in English.

The interview is a crucial step in the hiring process. You have the opportunity to sit down with a candidate and get as much useful information as possible. And to get good information, you need to set the right tone and ask good questions. You also need techniques for getting people to explain and elaborate on ideas. The more details you can get from someone, the better. And hopefully you can figure out if the person is right for the job and for your company.

Good techniques for conducting interviews can help you in many other situations. Any time you need to evaluate a person, or a person’s company, you will use the same techniques. Imagine you need to contract an Internet marketing company. You will probably sit down with someone to ask them questions. Or imagine you have a paper salesman in your office. Again, you will need to ask him some good questions to evaluate his company.

Today, we’ll learn some great interviewing techniques, including how to ask stress questions and hypothetical questions. We’ll also learn about echoing someone to encourage them to speak more and calling someone on an evasive answer. And finally we’ll learn about giving the candidate a chance to ask questions of their own.

In today’s dialog, we’ll rejoin Sandy and Lee, who are interviewing Maria. Sandy and Lee are looking for someone to lead their company’s expansion into Asia.

Listening Questions

1. What does Maria say she does that Sandy repeats in order to encourage more detail?
2. What type of situation does Sandy ask Maria to imagine?
3. What does Sandy give Maria the chance to do at the end of the interview?

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BEP 225 – Conducting a Job Interview in English (1)

Business English, Human Resources, Job Interview English /

Conducting an interview in English (1)

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on conducting an interview in English.

How do you assess potential employees? Or contractors? Or business partners? Or anyone, for that matter? Well, you can look at a person’s resume or CV. And for more information you can google someone. But that’s never enough to really get an idea about someone. What we rely on are interviews, which can be very powerful tools. Interviews give us a chance to meet someone face-to-face, to ask tough questions, to find out how they solve problems, and to really get a sense of how they interact.

Asking someone questions face-to-face is not only important for job interviews. There are a wide range of situations where interview techniques are useful. Say you want to build a relationship with a new supplier. You’ll want to ask some questions and get to know the company. Or maybe you want to contract a tech support company. You’ll want to do interviews to see who is the right fit.

Interviewing is a skill, just like being interviewed. And there are some excellent techniques that you can learn to become a better interviewer. Today, we’ll look at how to make someone feel comfortable, how to ask open-ended questions, and how to get someone to give recommendations and provide more detail.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Sandy and Lee interviewing Maria. Sandy and Lee work for an international fast moving consumer goods – or FMCG – company that is expanding into Asia. They are looking for the right person to lead this expansion.

Listening Questions

1. What aspect of Maria’s work does Sandy want to hear more about?
2. What does Sandy want Maria’s “thoughts” about?
3. Which idea does Lee want Maria to explain in more detail?

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Skills 360 – Preparing for your Year-end Review

Business English, Business Skills 360, Human Resources /

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The end of 2011 is fast approaching, and it’s the season for performance reviews and end-of-year appraisals.

Few people actually look forward to sitting down with their supervisor and talking about the past year. For most, it’s quite a nerve-wracking experience. But today I want to show you that if you’re prepared, there’s no reason to be shaking in your boots.

Discussion Questions

1. Does your company review employee performance regularly?
2. How do you feel when you are evaluated for the work you do?
3. What kind of preparation do you think is important for a year-end review?

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BEP 184 – Discussing Training Plans (Part 2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations, Human Resources /

This is the second part of our Business English Pod series on English training and development vocabulary and collocations.

Good training is crucial for any company, big or small. How can we expect people to do a good job if they don’t have the right knowledge, skills, and tools? Providing employees with these tools is a key function of training.

And training is what we’ll be talking about today. We’ll be looking at some important vocabulary and collocations related to training. Remember, collocations are natural combinations of words that native speakers commonly use. There are no clear rules to collocation, only patterns. When you learn a new word, you should try to learn what other words are used with it. For example, you might think that “crime” is a useful word to know, but it will be difficult to use it if you don’t know that we usually use the verb “commit” before it, as in: “commit a crime.”

In the last episode, you heard many useful training collocations. We listened to Jeff, who works in HR at an engineering firm, talk with David, who has just given a presentation on new approaches to training. We heard Jeff explain how his company wants to improve their learning and development program. Today, David will explain more about learner-centered training.

Listening Questions

1. What is a traditional approach to training?
2. What does David say another company has recently started?
3. What is David’s biggest piece of advice for Jeff?

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