Unit 4 Meeting the Companys Motivational Challenge

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Unit 4Meeting the Companys Motivational
Challenge
Objectives
To understand the meaning of the words and
phrases in the context of text To be able to
identify the functions of sentences and
paragraphs To be clear about the three ways ideas
are connected and expanded in text To practice
report writing by using formal language
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Understanding the Meaning of Words in Context
Warm-up activity Read the whole text. While you
read, mark out the following words or phrases in
your textbook.
Thorny, frustrated, bewildered, sever, fire up,
park, gusto, re-engage, shrewdly, warrant, keep
ones head down, mark down, redundancies,
Intrinsically, assault, astute, fad, dictate,
perpetuation, paradox
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Probe
Can you match the word list in previous slide
with the following definitions?

• Avoid danger or being noticed
• Reduce the marks given to sb in performance
  appraisal
• No longer needed for any available job and
  therefore dismissed
• Belonging naturally, existing within, not coming
  from outside
• A violent physical attack
• Immune to being misled
• A fashion taken up with great enthusiasm for a
  brief period of time
• To prescribe with authority
• Continuation
• Statement that seems to be contradictory but is
  or may be true

• Painfully controversial
• Confused, esp. with many conflicting situations
• Discouraged
• Become separated from each other
• Inspire or excite sb to do sth
• Vigorous enjoyment
• Place or leave temporarily
• Become involved again
• sharply intelligent and practical
• Guarantee the security of

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Words in Context
Can you identify the words used in the following
three contexts?
Employees
Managers
Ideas methods
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Understand the words used in context of employees

• Why the quit-but-stay employees are a problem
  for company?
• They have _________ their psychological contact
  with the organization.
• They firmly _________ their brains and
  enthusiasm for life in the staff car park in the
  morning and _____________ them with ________ 30
  seconds after the official end of work timk.
• They ____________ avoid doing anything that
  warrants dismissal and are content to
  _________________________, doing the minimum and
  volunteering nothing.

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Understand the words used in context of managers

• How do managers react to the quit-but-stay
  employees?
• They have always been ___________ and
  ____________ by employees with little or no
  motivation.
• They try to think of effective ways to
  _________________.
• They have no option other than to
  ________________ as candidates for the next
  round of _______________.

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Understand the words used in context of the
writers attitude to motivation

• What is the writers attitude to motivation
  techniques?
• Putting motivational techniques into practice
  is a _______ issue.
• _______ and fashions in the management
  consultancy world seems to __________ which
  particular technique is seen as the most
  powerful and popular at any given time.
• Because few managers are trained or educated
  in the art of motivation and have themselves
  never been well-managed, we get the
  _______________ of incompetence.
• This explains the ___________ of why people
  have heard about but not seen successful
  motivational management in practice.

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LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS
E.g. We have all seen the quit-but-stay
employees who have severed their psychological
contact with the organization. What is the writer
doing in saying the above sentence?
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DESCRIBING

• We have all seen the quit-but-stay employees
  who have sever their psychological contact with
  the organization
• they firmly park their brains and enthusiasm
  for life in the staff car park in the morning,
  reengaging them with gusto 30 seconds after the
  official end of the work.
• they shrewdly avoid doing anything that
  warrants dismissal.
• they are content to keep their heads down,
  doing the minimum and volunteering nothing.

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DESCRIBING

• Managers and company owners
• frustrated and bewildered
• left with no option other than to mark them down
  as candidates for the next round of redundancies.

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DESCRIBING

• Management techniques in motivation
• Give employees meaningful work.
• Give employees information and resources
• Commit to career development and promotion from
  within
• Foster a sense of team spirit.
• Publicly praise employees for good work.
• Provide feedback to employees and encourage
  feedback from employees
• Pay employees what they are worth.

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EXPLAINING Logical Relationship among ideas,
happenings or phenomena
This explains the paradox of why people have
heard about but not seen successful motivational
management in practice.
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Expansion of Ideas in Text 3 Logical Relations
Elaborating
Extending
Enhancing
The idea that elaborates another idea provides
examples to make that idea more specific. Idea A
Idea B
The idea that extends another idea adds further
information to make that idea complete. Idea A
Idea B
The idea that enhances another idea specifies the
circumstances surrounding that idea. Idea A ?
Idea B
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Elaborating from general to specific
We have all seen the quit-but-stay employees
General idea
who have severed their psychological contact with
the organization. Nothing seems to fire them up.
They firmly park their brains and enthusiasm for
life in the staff car park in the morning,
reengaging them with gusto 30 seconds after the
official end of the work. However, they shrewdly
avoid doing anything that warrants dismissal.
They are content to keep their heads down, doing
the minimum and volunteering nothing.
Specifics
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Extending addition of new information
Addition and, also, in addition, likewise,
similarly, furthermore, moreover,
finally Contrast but, on the contrary, however,
nevertheless, on the other hand, or
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Enhancing specifying circumstance around an idea
Cause and effect As a result, because,
consequently, for this reasons, therefore Time
After, as, before, when, while, next, then, until
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Classification of Business Report
Information
Analytical
Recommendation
Collect data information
Collect data information
Collect data information
Interpret data information
Interpret data information
Recommend action or solution
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Guided Writing Recommendation Report

• Terrain Ltd., a leisurewear manufacturer, is
  investigating staff motivation. Five employees
  from different departments within the company
  were invited to talk with the HR Manager about
  their grievances. Based on the information from
  the interview, complete the FINDINGS section of
  the report by summarizing the grievances of the
  Terrain employees. Then, give some
  RECOMMENDATIONS that you think could be effective
  in improving the current situation.
• Writing skill involved
• Identify the different features of informal and
  formal language
• Use formal language in report

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Employee A Well, Ive only been here a few
months but I feel as if Ive fitted in quite well
so far. Everyone seems to have time to talk to me
when I need help, which I really appreciate. The
works beginning to get interesting, too. Its
just that by now, I feel I really should be
getting up to speed. Only its a relatively new
position and nobodys really spelt out what the
exact scope of the job is or what my
responsibilities and priorities should be. I
think my line manager needs to give me a more
concrete idea of what she expects me to achieve.
Shes back from holiday next week so maybe we
could sit down together then. 
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Employee B Well, I get the feeling that were
starting to fall a bit behind other companies. I
mean, when you look in the papers, you cant help
noticing theres a bit of gap between ourselves
and the current going rate. I mean, its not that
Im unhappy here or anything. I really like my
job its interesting work and I think its
great that the jobs so flexible. Its just that,
at the end of the day, nobody likes to feel
undervalued, do they? And in my position, its
not just myself Ive got to think about. Ive got
responsibilities outside work as well.   
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Employee C Well, its great to be part of a
successful team. I dont think you could wish for
harder-working or more dedicated colleagues. But
I just sometimes think that our efforts arent
always rewarded. I know different managers have
different styles but, well, everyone likes to
feel appreciated, dont they? I mean, in my last
job, managers always made a point of praising us
when we beat our targets. One manager even used
to encourage us to clap and cheer each other. And
I must admit, I do miss that at times. I find
praise here is sometimes a bit, shall we say,
limited. Its like theres a thats what youre
paid for type of attitude. 
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Employee D I suppose, on the whole, Ive got
very little to complain about really. I get on
with the rest of the team and that kind of thing.
But theres one thing thats been on my mind for
a while now. I just feel that, well, Ive reached
a stage where Im capable of dealing with a lot
more responsibility than I do at present. I just
dont feel stretched any more. I dont feel as
though Im contributing as much as I could. Its
almost as if Im on autopilot. Things are
beginning to feel a bit stale. What I need is a
bit of variety, something to get my teeth into
a challenge. 
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Employee E Well, youre probably already aware
of the fact that things arent functioning too
smoothly in Production at the moment. I dont
know what other people have said but personally I
think its down to our procedures. Theres no
formal system for putting our ideas forward and
in the past suggestions have just been ignored. I
think management has to accept a lot of the
responsibility. What we need to do is schedule
regular meetings, which will improve the flow of
information in both directions. I mean, at the
moment I get more information through the shop
floor grapevine than from my line manager. 
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Informal and formal language

• participant
• process

Well, I get the feeling that were starting to
fall a bit behind other companies. I mean, when
you look in the papers, you cant help noticing
theres a bit of gap between ourselves and the
current going rate. I mean, its not that Im
unhappy here or anything. I really like my job
its interesting work and I think its great that
the jobs so flexible. Its just that, at the end
of the day, nobody likes to feel undervalued, do
they? And in my position, its not just myself
Ive got to think about. Ive got
responsibilities outside work as well.
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Features of informal language
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Features of formal language

• Participant
• A class of people or things
• The astute reader may be tempted to ask so
  what is really new.
• Abstract ideas
• Ideas in motivation get repackaged, renamed and
  rebranded.
• Fads and fashions in the management consultancy
  world seem to dictate which particular technique
  is seen as the most powerful and popular at any
  given time.
• Events or activity
• The consequent demotivation of staff will
  undoubtedly have a negative impact on the
  performance of the company.

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• Passives
• Ideas in motivation get repackaged, renamed and
  rebranded.
• 3. Impersonal language
• This report presents the results of the recent
  survey of staff motivation.
• The findings are based on interviews with
• It is clear that there are significant levels of
  dissatisfaction regarding certain issues within
  the company.
• 4. Noun phrases
• A key staff complaint is lack of recognition.
• c.f. (The staff feel deeply unhappy that
  management do not recognize their efforts)

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Use formal expression in report