Welcome to Business English Pod, a great way to improve your English skills on the go.
The Changing Face of Management.
In the past, status symbols for senior management were regarded as being very important.
These days, some companies are already breaking free from old-fashioned ideas of status and conventions.
In some countries, open plan offices shared by the manager have been popular for quite a long time.
Recent indications show that many more companies are moving towards more open management.
Offices shared by managers and other employees are an example of this.
The manager may share an office with other employees, but usually he or she is at a discrete distance from them or has the best position near the window.
In Scandinavia, the idea that to assume responsibility is in itself a privilege has been accepted for quite a long time.
The participative style of management sometimes encourages employees to tell the chief executive what is wrong with the company and where improvements can be made.
As a result, senior management are regarded as more approachable by their employees who, in turn, feel that their contributions to the company are valued.
Management style has changed a lot over the last few years.
In the past, management and workers were completely separate, even to the extent of having separate restaurants for lunch.
Now it's common for companies to operate a single status policy, with no separate canteen for executives, no executive parking spaces and the same uniforms for all.
In some companies, perks formerly enjoyed by senior executives are being extended to all workers.
This includes holiday houses which can be used by employees, and also the opportunity to participate in stock option schemes.
In some more traditional companies, change has to be introduced more gradually, as the symbols of status are regarded as very important by employees.
For example, in certain companies, the model of car is an indicator of which grade of management a person has reached.
Even office furniture and fittings can be stated symbols.
The withdrawal of such items of recognition can be seen as demotivating in companies where such symbols have been important.
We heard there about some of the changes in management style over the last 20 years.
Why don't we go back and examine some of the vocabulary and phrases that we used earlier?
And there was one that came up there in the first sentence, status symbols.
Yes, in the U.S. we call these status symbols.
But I think we can agree on the meaning, right, Jo?
Yeah, I think status symbol or status symbol I think Australians say both makes me think of, in fashion, for example, people wanting to show their position in society by having wealthy goods, maybe brand names, in fashion.
Like a Chanel handbag, for example, is what comes to mind.
Okay.
Maybe Gucci.
Okay.
So we might say Gucci and Chanel are the ultimate status symbols of fashion.
Yeah.
Right.
And speaking of fashion, these change.
There is another word or phrase, old-fashioned, which means old.
So, for example, an old-fashioned status symbol might be Cadillac.
Mmm, something that's out of fashion, no longer fashionable?
Yes.
Okay.
There's another noun there used to describe style or process of management.
Talk about the convention.
So a convention is perhaps the way things are accepted or usually done?
Right, an accepted way or accepted practice is a convention.
Mmm.
For example, then, a new convention in office design is open plan layout.
Now, we've covered the phrase open plan before, but give me a quick reminder what that means.
Open plan means no separation between the people that are working in a workspace, no walls, no private offices.
Yeah, one big open space, really.
Where everybody can see each other.
There was one word discrete which described the distance between executives and some of their workers.
There's two meanings, but in this case it means a little bit of a separation, but not a very obvious separation.
So in an open plan office, for example, you may want to have a discrete distance between the manager and So that he's separated, or she's separated from the rest of staff.
Right.
Okay.
A discrete distance from the main part of Europe is the area we call Scandinavia.
So Scandinavia is a word, a noun, used to describe the region that includes the countries of Sweden Denmark, Norway and usually Finland and Iceland also.
Right, okay.
So in Scandinavia the article mentioned people assuming responsibility as a privilege, that noun privilege.
Yeah, that's kind of an unusual use of the word privilege.
They're saying more responsibility is a privilege.
But usually a privilege is some kind of nice thing.
You receive an honor or something.
Like a company car.
Yeah, a close parking space.
Yeah. desk with a window.
Right.
Or a company apartment.
These things are really called perks, I think.
And this comes up later in the article.
Right.
Right.
The article also talks in addition to more open relations.
They talk about participative management style.
What does that mean?
Well, a participative manager or management style would encourage employees and colleagues to come to them and to talk about matters, take part in discussions.
So they're involved in decisions.
Yeah, and I think approachable, and that's what the article mentioned.
They must be quite approachable or seen as approachable.
What is approachable being there, Peter?
It means basically, I think, easy to talk to.
Somebody who's easy to go to, to express your opinion or share an idea with.
So in other words, to make a contribution, that's another noun that's mentioned in the article.
Employees make a contribution when they participate and talk about matters, give suggestions to their employer.
Yes, contribution is how somebody gives something to the effort as part of this open, participative management style.
So to contribute something, to offer something.
Offer something, yes.
So I guess if you're contributing to your job and your company's growth, then you would be a valued member of staff or a valued employee.
The article talks about employees being more equal, and I think they describe this using the term single status employee.
To have one status.
One status where everybody's more or less at the same level.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So there isn't such a hierarchy of one person above the other.
Right.
Although it's true, it's not so obvious.
Okay.
And they gave the example of maybe the company would not have separate canteens.
What exactly is a canteen?
A canteen... is a word for a restaurant or a lunchroom at work.
How about cafeteria?
Would that be the same?
Yeah, I think that's the same thing.
Okay.
And I guess if you did work in a company that had separate canteen for managers and regular staff, then maybe the nicer canteen for the managers would be considered a perk.
Yeah, so perk to me would be the extra opportunity, things that are offered to you for taking on extra responsibility or a higher position, things that are in addition to your pay, like perhaps an extra parking spot or a better parking spot.
Longer vacations.
Yeah.
Or a car to put in the parking spot.
Yeah, right, that's a good perk.
So if you're receiving perks as part of your compensation package as an employee...
I guess you could say your company is giving you recognition for your ability and the value you have to the company.
Yeah, recognition, that's one way for a person to be recognized.
Usually though, in the companies that I've been at, recognition was something fairly formal, where they give you a little piece of paper or take your picture and put you in the newspaper.
Even a title is a form of recognition.
Yes.
So at the end of the article there's mention of status symbols like furniture in a nice office, the things that can be motivating to staff for recognition.
Right.
And they say one of the things about this new plan is that when they remove all these perks and recognitions, then it can be demotivating.
Which they mean is it's something that makes people less enthusiastic about working hard, because a lot of people work for those things.
Right.
Works, recognition, separate office.
So I guess in a modern management style, this can actually, as you say, have the opposite effect.
Well, that may be one of the disadvantages then, of this kind of management style that we're discussing now.
But I'm sure that there'll be more changes to the face of management in the future and there are advantages to different styles as well.
Must be, because most offices seem to be going in that direction.
Thank you for listening to Business English Pod.
We'll be back next week with a new podcast.
