Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 452, Dealing with Unhappy Employees.
This is English as a Second Language podcast number 452.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you so much for having me.
This episode is called Dealing with Unhappy Employees.
It's a dialogue between Asa and Samantha and it talks about some common problems that you might have at work.
Let's get started.
This is important work, and somebody has to do it.
Come on, let's get started.
How else are disgruntled employees going to voice their grievances?
I think it's stupid for employees to put their complaints on paper.
Aren't they worried about retaliation from the management?
I don't think that's going to happen.
The whole point of having this system is to resolve any problems before they get blown out of proportion.
It's to everybody's benefit to try to make this work.
I think it makes for a dysfunctional workplace employees thinking of things to complain about and the management with their backs up against the wall.
I just don't get it.
No, I guess you don't.
If you don't like how things are done around here, I've got a suggestion for you.
What?
File a complaint.
To deal with means to take care of a problem, to solve or resolve some sort of problem.
Asa says To get stuck with something is a phrasal verb meaning to be forced to do something that is boring or unpleasant.
To have to do something you don't want to do.
I cooked dinner and my wife got stuck with washing the dishes.
Asa is saying that he doesn't know how they got stuck with reviewing or looking at employee complaints.
A complaint is something negative that is said or written, and usually comes with an explanation about why someone doesn't like something.
Asa says, this has got to be the worst job ever.
Samantha says, this is important work and somebody has to do it.
Come on, let's get started, she says.
Asa says, I think it's bad for morale to allow employees to file complaints.
Morale, M-O-R-A-L-E is the way that a group of people, especially employees, feel about their jobs, their opinions, what they think about their jobs.
It's the general feeling that they have.
Morale can either be high or low.
If you say my employees have low morale, you mean they're not very interested, they're not very happy, they're not very excited.
The opposite would be high morale.
Asa is saying that it's bad for morale to have employees file or submit, give to the company their complaints.
He says, To be overworked means to have too much work. and to work too hard, making you tired.
We all think that we are overworked, I'm sure.
To be underpaid means that you don't get enough money for the work that you do.
Once again, most people think that they are overworked and underpaid.
This can cause some people to burn out.
To burn out is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to become tired from having done too much of something for too long.
So if you continue to do the same thing year after year and it's very difficult you could eventually burn out.
You could get to the point where you're too tired to want to continue, that you're no longer effective at what you do.
Disgruntled means unhappy, disappointed, perhaps even angry.
To voice means to express something in words, to say something.
Voice, like burnout, has different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations of both of these terms.
Samantha is saying that she doesn't know how these upset angry, disgruntled employees are going to voice their grievances, are going to tell the company what they don't like.
A grievance is like a complaint that is said or written with an explanation.
Often it is related to people thinking that there is something unfair or that they haven't been treated right by their company.
Asa says.
Personally, in my opinion, I think it's stupid for employees to put their complaints on paper.
On paper just means in writing, written down.
Aren't they worried about retaliation from the management?
Retaliation means revenge, something that you do to hurt another person who has hurt you.
So if I punch you, you could retaliate and punch me back.
Asa is saying that if the employees complain, the company could retaliate against them, could do something negative, something bad to them.
Samantha says, I don't think that's going to happen.
The whole point.
The main reason of having this system is to resolve any problems before they get blown out of proportion.
To resolve means to solve, to fix or end a problem.
So they're trying to fix any problems with the employees before they get blown out of proportion.
To blow something out of proportion means to make it more important or more serious than it really is or than it has to be.
So you're trying to stop the problems when they're small before they get too big.
Samantha says, it's to everybody's benefit to try to make this work.
Asa says, on the contrary, meaning I think it's the exact opposite.
I disagree with you.
He says, on the contrary, I think it makes for a dysfunctional workplace.
Asa is saying that he thinks it makes for, meaning it causes, a dysfunctional workplace.
Dysfunctional means not functional, not working properly, especially when people have bad relationships with each other.
There's a popular expression you'll read or hear about called the dysfunctional family.
It would be a family that doesn't communicate very well with each other, doesn't have good relationships with each other.
Asa says.
Asa is saying this is why it causes a dysfunctional workplace because the employees are thinking of things to complain about and the managers the management has their backs up against the wall.
To have one's back up against the wall means to be in a position where you don't have a lot of options or choices, that you're forced to do something without necessarily having a lot of flexibility.
Asa says I just don't get it.
I don't understand.
Samantha says no I guess you don't meaning no you don't understand.
If you don't like how things are done around here I've got a suggestion for you.
Asa says what?
Samantha says, file a complaint.
Of course, that's what Asa was complaining about, employee complaints.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I don't know how we got stuck with reviewing employee complaints.
This has got to be the worst job ever.
I think it's bad for morale to allow employees to file complaints.
We're all overworked and underpaid, and most of us are burned out.
Personally, I think it's stupid for employees to put their complaints on paper.
Aren't they worried about retaliation from the management?
I don't think that's going to happen.
The whole point of having this system is to resolve any problems before they get blown out of proportion.
It's to everybody's benefit to try to make this work.
On the contrary, I think it makes for a dysfunctional workplace.
Employees thinking of things to complain about and the management with their backs up against the wall.
I just don't get it.
No, I guess you don't.
If you don't like how things are done around here, I've got a suggestion for you.
What?
File a complaint.
The script for this episode was written by the overworked Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
