Human resources trends
Choose one thing from below and describe what you believe to the past, present and future of that thing and see if your partner agrees with your description and predictions.
| Useful language for discussing the trends | |
| Sounding unsure As far as I remember… I imagine…/ I guess… I’m no expert on this, but… From what I’ve heard,… | Reactions That’s more or less correct./ I partially agree. I think you’re (a bit/ much) too optimistic/ pessimistic. Actually, (I heard that)… |
HR topics to describe changes in
- Absenteeism/ Skipping work
- Admin/ Paperwork
- Applications with application forms (rather than sending a more general CV)
- (Average) age (of staff/ of retirement/ of recruits/ of…)
- Benefits/ Perks
- (Annual/ Semi-annual/ Xmas/ end of year/ performance-related) bonuses
- Business entertaining/ Entertainment expenses
- (More) casual clothes
- (Basic) clerical jobs
- Company accommodation
- Company image among potential recruits
- Cross-functional teams
- Days off
- Deadlines
- Discrimination against women/ working mothers
- Dismals (= Sackings/ Firings)
- Diversity (disabled staff/ staff with disabilities, etc)
- Early retirement
- Efficiency
- Executive compensation (pay, golden handshake, stock options, etc)
- Expense accounts
- Flexitime
- Foreign-born staff
- Hot desking
- Industrial relations
- Internal promotions
- Internships
- Job satisfaction
- Job sharing
- Levels of management/ Middle managers
- Managers with MBAs
- Maternity leave/ Paternity leave
- Middle managers
- New recruits/ Graduate recruits
- Number of applicants per job
- Outsourcing/ Subcontracting
- (Unpaid) overtime
- Paid travel expenses
- Paid vacation
- Payroll/ Staff levels/ Workforce
- Pensions
- Performance-related pay
- Permanent employees/ Lifetime employment/ Jobs for life
- Probationary periods
- Profit sharing
- Public holidays
- Redundancies
- Relations between management and workers
- Resignations/ People quitting their jobs
- Responsibilities/ Duties of middle managers
- Responsibilities/ Duties of office workers
- Sabbaticals
- (Gross/ Net/ Monthly/ Annual) salaries/ (Hourly) wages
- Shift work
- Sick days
- Smokers
- Socialising with colleagues
- Spending on training/ Training budget
- Staff autonomy
- Staff motivation
- Staff on temporary contracts
- Staff turnover
- Stress
- Trade union membership (= Labor union membership)
- Training periods
- (Long term) unemployment
- Unsolicited CVs/ job applications
- Use of agency staff/ dispatch staff
- Use of consultants
- Use of freelancers
- Use of head hunters
- Use of panel interviews
- Use of psychometric tests
- Use of recruitment companies
- Women in (top) management positions
- Working hours
- Working mothers
When your teacher stops you, describe a trend you agreed on and see if the class has questions, comments, etc. Then ask about any vocabulary above which you don’t understand, working together to describe associated trends each time.
Change partners, Do the same, but imagining it is a presentation with a final Q&A etc.
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