Motivation in the Workplace _ LearnEnglish _ British Council

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Motivation in the workplace

Download audio 1.7MB (right click & sa ve)

(http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/sites/podcasts/files/professionals-podcasts-motivation.mp3)

Listen to an extract of an interview with a profess or of Busines s Studies about the subject of motivation.

Transcript

Interviewer: How important is m otivation for a manager?

Professor: Oh, motivation is extremely important. Id say its the mos t important aspect of a managers job. A managers job i s to get the job done, whatever that job

might be. So a m anager has to motivate the workers, both as a team and also on an individual basis . Without motivation, the job just wont get done.

Interviewer: So how do m anagers go about doing this? It doesnt s ound very easy.

Professor: No, it is a com plicated iss ue. But managers have special tools. They are trained to use them to boos t motivation and increas e production to a maximum.

Interviewer: Tools?

Professor: Yes, tools like prais e, approval and recognition. And then there is trust and expectation. They are all im portant for workers.

Interviewer: And money? What about money?

Professor: Yes, money is a factor but you mig ht be surprised to learn that it comes out las t on the list of these tools that we are talking about.

Interviewer: So, what comes before money? What sort of things are more im portant for workers?

Professor: Well, all of the things that I have already mentioned, and then job enrichment and good communication between the workers and the boss es.

Interviewer: And have you got any examples of real life s ituations to back up your claims ?

Professor: One good example is the firm Western Electric. When managers s tarted taking an interest in their workers, there was a h uge increase in production.

They started to talk to the workers and encouraged them to get involved in decision-m aking. Workers began to feel that their contributions were im portant. And it paid

off.

Interviewer: Productivity increased?

Professor: Yes, hugely. The Swedish company Kochums is a nother example. The company was on the verge of collapse when managers decided to try a change

in motivation practice.

Interviewer: What did they do?

Professor: Well, basically it was a change in attitude towards their workers. Managers decided to stop giving orders and to try persuading them ins tead.

Interviewer: And it worked?

Professor: Absolutely. In just ten years they managed to turn a 15 m illion dollar l oss into a 100 m illion dollar profit.

Interviewer: So, lets get this straight. Are you saying that workers are not interested in e arning more money?

Professor: Im s aying theyre not just i nterested in m oney. It is important of course. We need to enjoy a certain standard of living. But, as I mentioned before, there

are other things that are jus t as important: praise, approval, recognition, trust and expectation, job enrichment and good communication.

Instructions

Before you listen

Preparation Task Task 2 Task 3
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/sites/podcasts/files/professionals-podcasts-motivation.mp3http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/sites/podcasts/files/professionals-podcasts-motivation.mp3http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/?utm_source=lekids&utm_medium=header-tab&utm_campaign=learnenglish-kidshttp://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/?utm_source=te_medium=header-tab&utm_campaign=teachingenglishhttp://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/enhttp://www.britishcouncil.org/


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(http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/sites/podcasts/files/LearnEnglish_ProfessionalsPodcasts_MotivationAtWork.pdf)

Your rating: None (264 votes)

COMMENTS

Winner(/en/user/75479)replied on 2 February, 2011 - 15:16 PERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/8131#COMMENT-8131)

The test is easy to complete and easy to understand.

TheDebora(/en/user/76098)replied on 4 February, 2011 - 18:06 PERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/8209#COMMENT-8209)

Hi Adam,

can you tell m e what "let's get this straight" means?

Thank you for your help!

Jack Radford(/en/users/jack-radford)replied on 7 February, 2011 - 05:18 PERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/8270#COMMENT-8270)

Hi TheDebora

Match the words from the box with the descriptions below.

(http://gamedata.bcdev.org.uk/d/Matching_NjQ5Mw==.xml)
http://gamedata.bcdev.org.uk/d/Matching_NjQ5Mw==.xmlhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/comment/8270#comment-8270http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/users/jack-radfordhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/comment/8209#comment-8209http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/76098http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/comment/8131#comment-8131http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/75479http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/sites/podcasts/files/LearnEnglish_ProfessionalsPodcasts_MotivationAtWork.pdfhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/users/jack-radfordhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/76098http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/75479


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(/en/user/76098)

(/en/user/76098)

(/en/users/jack-radford)

(/en/user/54697)

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You use the expression 'let's g et this s traight' when you want to understand s omething or make it clear. If you want to check that you understand s omeone,

you m ight say this before you check that what you understand is correct.

In this podcas t, the interviewer is surprised by what the professor s ays and wants to check that it's true.

I hope that helps.

Jack Radford

The LearnEnglishTeam


Thank you very much Jack,

I've got i t now.

Debora


Whi did you discarded my post?

I only asked what "let's get this straight" meant.

Jack Radford(/en/users/jack-radford)replied on 7 February, 2011 - 05:20 PERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/8271#COMMENT-8271)

Hi TheDebora

We didn't discard your post, it's just that every post on the site needs to be checked before it is publis hed. Sometimes it takes a while to check all of the

posts.

Jack Radford

The LearnEnglishTeam

salah leil a(/en/user/54697)replied on 8 February, 2011 - 20:17 PERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/8345#COMMENT-8345)

Hi adam

thanks for all of you "the british cousi l team " . it was very easy and i'm waiting forward your next tasks

nahmj(/en/user/80227)replied on 15 February, 2011 - 19:47 PERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/8636#COMMENT-8636)

Thanks Adam,

thanks for all of you "the british cous il team

Regards

Yesman(/en/user/82947)replied on 21 February, 2011 - 15:18 PERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/8953#COMMENT-8953)

Hi The LearnEnglish Team,

This is the first time I login in the web however I am really happy because of m any interesting topics whi ch are suitable and

interesting with my career and life. The web seem to be the "Today for Tomorrow" slogan in m y soul. Thank you for your valued contribution.Best Regards, Hai Nguyen.
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/comment/8953#comment-8953http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/82947http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/comment/8636#comment-8636http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/80227http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/comment/8345#comment-8345http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/54697http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/comment/8271#comment-8271http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/users/jack-radfordhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/comment/8218#comment-8218http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/76098http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/comment/8617#comment-8617http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/76098http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/82947http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/80227http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/54697http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/users/jack-radfordhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/76098http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/76098


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Tanya from Kiev(/en/user/89581)replied on 15 M arch, 2011 - 20:45 PERMALINK(/EN/COMMENT/9978#COMMENT-9978)

Hi! I want to praiseall British counsl l team for great topics. You have my recognationand m y daughter's love (she is a mem ber of BritishLearning Kids). And

what is interesting - I kept in my mind almos t all new words which I met on this site - and it is a li ttle bit more than my expectattion.
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/comment/9978#comment-9978http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/89581http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/user/89581

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Motivation in the Workplace _ LearnEnglish _ British Council