aad workplace Pe ues peor creed feeling stressed et Pere present perfect Participating in discussions Per eter eres STARTING UP I A ry Add the verbs from the box to the phrases below to create some common stressful situations. being finding gaing having making moving shopping waveling tang wating 1 _geing.tothe dentist ‘ house 2 in along queue 7 an interview 3 stuck na trafficjam 8 speech 4 a parking space 9 byair 5 with your partnee/family 10 an examortest Which of the above situations is the most stressful for you? Can you add any others to the list? What do you do to relax? Which of these activities are the most effective for you, and why? In what other ways do you relax? playing a sport reading + eating/drinking + having abath + walking ‘ardening massage *shopping «listening tomusic * watching TV + meditating *browsingenline * Blogging + using Facebook/YouTubeStress in the workplace UNITS ++ STRESS Rank these situations from 1 (most stressful) to 10 (least stressful). Then discuss your choices. + making a presentation to senior ‘+ meeting important visitors from abroad executives for the Fest time + leading 2 formal meeting ‘+ asking your boss fora pay rise + telephoning in English ‘© dealing witha customer who has a ‘+ writing a report with a tight deadline lor complaint + negotiating avery valuable contract covering [or Wcohesueto Sea, 4 taking part ina conference call Match the words (1-8) to their definitions (ah). estyie 2) a system where employees choose the time they start ae and inish work each day a 1) a time or date by which you have to do something ©) how personally satisfied you are with the way you live and work flexiime 91 someone wine cannot stop working and has no time work: fife balance for anything else duality of ite ©) the ability to give a good amount of time to your work 1 2 3 4 deadiine 5 ‘ 7 - and to outside interests, eg. family working environment the amount of work a persons expected te do 2) the people, things and atmosphere around you at work h) the way people choose to organise their lives Complete each sentence with an appropriate word or phrase from Exercise A. 41. | worked until 11 o'lock at right to meet the for presenting the report 2. work six days a week and never have a holiday. My gifriend says fm a 3. Karl has a heavy at the moment because several colleagues 2 off sick 4 She gave up a hight paid job to join a meditation group in india. She's completely changed her. 5A system can help to reduce stress levels of employees by giving them more control over their working hours 6 you have children, working from home may help improve your. 7 Many people argue that technology has greatly improved our and the way we feel about work. Others disagree, arguing it actually increases stress @ Aclean, quiet, comfortable and friendly can actively reduce levels of stress, Make sentences using some of the vocabulary items from Exercise A to describe your own situation. Discuss where to put the jobs in the box in the stress league on the next page. Rating is from 10 to 0: the higher the rating, the greater the pressure. ‘Then turn to page 132 and check your answers. ‘Advertising executive Architect Banker Diplomat Hairdresser Firefighter Salesassistant 45UNITS »» STRESS Your place in the stress league Miner 83) Film producer 65, [Psychologist 5.2, [Optician 40 Police officer 77 aa 63. 48 {Postman 40 Construction worker 7.5 | Musician 63. Farmer 48 37 Journalist 75, Teacher 6.2 Vet 45 | |Minister/Viear 35 Aline plot 75 Social worker 60 Accountant 43. | Nursery nurse 33, 73 52. : 43, |Ubrarian 20 Actor 72, | Stockbroker 5.5 |Lawyer/Solictor | 4.3, Seurce: University of Manchester iste of Science and Doctor 68 |Busdriver 5. Ga es G1 choose three jobs from the stress league in Exercise D. What do you think makes these particular jobs stressful? Compare your G's your own job (or one you intend to do) included in the stress league? Do you think itis in the right place? What about the other jobs in the league? If your job is not included, where would you place it? Discuss these questions. 1. Do you like working under pressure? Why? / Why not? \What deadlines do you have to meet in your daily fe? Which ae the most difficult to meet? 2 Seethe DVD-ROM 3. Why do people become workaholics? forthe Glossary. 4 How important isthe working environment in reducing stress? What are the main causes of stress at work? Dealing with stress +49 01.43 Jessica Colling is Director of Marketing at Vielife, a consultancy that advises businesses on health at work. Listen to the first part of the interview and answer these questions. 11 What three examples ae given of things that make people feel under pressure at work? 2 What is resilience to stress? +40 c01.46 Listen to the second part. What can happen if you have to manage stress for a long time without a break? Jessica Colling BD +40 01.46 Listen again and complete this extract. Ws difficult to say realy what's a * level of stress for somebody to feel at work. The problem with that is that what one person finds really. ” and it excites them to be able todo ther job well, somebody else might find realy, really 2. what we do see is that actually a high evel of continued ‘can actually sometimes spill over into Feelings of tress. TB 4+ cous tistento the third part. what two examples are given of companies being flexible in how they expect staff to work? ne es ee Gh. «ecousstistento the final part, What two reasons ae given for why women report higher levels of stress than men? Discuss these questions. 1 Wtisageodwotifbaarcefer yu sear forme than wonen tobe a manage? 2s itinpetanttohave acetal of sess nthe wokace? “units STRESS. In pairs, rank these countries according to those where you think business Business: leaders feel the most stress (1 = most stress, 9 = least stress). owners feeling sAustalia *China + Denmark Finland + Greece stressed Sitexico Sweden Turkey Vietnam El Read the first two paragraphs of this article. Then check your answers to Exercise A. Over half of business owners feeling increasingly stressed More than halfthe leaders of privately owners in mainland China, Vieinam, Not surprisingly, the mos! common held businesses globally feel their > ‘and Turkey 2 all high cause during 2009 was the economic slress levels have increased over Table and are mate, with 38% af respondents the last year. The research from working i is where high 1 globally saying this was one of th the Grant Thornton tnteraational growth is expected, But i's nol Iajor causes of siess. This was Business Report (IBR) 2010 covers countries expecting high geowih that flowed by pressure on cashflow the opinions of over 7.400 business stress levelsare high -al the opposite (2656), competitor activities (24%) owners across 36 economies. endofhegrowih sca, Ireland, Spain and heavy workload (19%). Alex Mainland China tops the league for and Greece areal high on the league ss MaeBeath comments, “The causes of 10 the most stressed Icaders. with 769 table. Said Alex MacBeath, Global workplace siress can be pul ito three fof business owners saying their Leader ~ Markets at Grant Thornion distinct groups ~ economic, business Stress levels have increased over the International, "We have businesses at and personal An employee may pkice last yea. both ends of the GDP grosvn scale moreimportace on personal elemes Other economics that were high in experiencing high stress for very a such as their work-life balance ts the siress league table were Mexico dlflerent reasons. In mainland C ‘The business owner has addtional (749). Turkey (725). Vitam (7254) the pressre isan to keep up withthe pressures to comside and Greece (X%).Atthe oppositcend speed of expansion, while wm eland, The survey also found a link oftescale,businessovmmersin Sweden [Link], between sexs levels and the number (23%), Denmark (25%), Finland and business ovnersare worried about 6s of days taken of by an individual in a 2» (335) and Austesis (35%) have the how they will Keep. their year. Countries a the tp ofthe sess lowest siress level inthe world business ative.” feague are those where business There appearsio be a link belween 45 Business owners were asked about owners, on average, take fewer siress levels and GOP. Business the majorcausesof workplace ress. _holidayseae adapted from http:/[Link] Read the whole article and answer these questions. 11 What isthe difference between these groups of countries in terms of reasons for high-level stress? 8) China, Vietnam, Mexico, India and Turkey b) Ireland, Spain and Greece 2 According to Alex MacBeath, how do business leaders experience stress differently in China and ireland? 3 What are the four major causes of workplace stress? 4 According to Alex MacBeath, what three types of pressure are there? Look at this list of countries. Vietnam Sweden Denmark Mexico China finland In which countries do business owners take: 1 fewer holidays? 2. more holidays? (You will need information from paragraphs 1,2 and 5.) EB inpairs, discuss these questions. 1 What ae the adional pressures that business ores might have? 2. Should companies do more oreduce stress at work? What oul they do? 3. How many days’ holiday per year do you think people should get? a7UNITS. > STRESS Past simple and present perfect 48 ‘Answer the questions in brackets about the sentences in italics 1 She has worked in Paris or ie years (Does she work in Pars row?) 2. She worked in Hong Kong or thre years. (Does she workin Hong Kong now?) Which sentence above (1 r2) uses the past simple? Which uses the present perfect? We use the past simple to ‘+ tak about completed actions that happened in the past. Larry Page and Sergey Brn ereoted Google in january 1996 ‘= refertoa definite moment ar period in he past. | spoke theron Tuesday. ‘The present perfect connects the past andthe present. We use the present perfect to: ‘+ tak about past actions that affect us row. The boss has just given her a pay ise, and she's very pleased. ‘+ tak about life experiences. ‘ve worked with manycompanies where stress was a problem, + announce recent news Coca-Cola has just confirmed thas dropped Wayne Rooney. (Grammar reference page 145 Cross out the incorrect sentence in each pair. 1a) Stress levels have increased in recent years Uy) Bejags leecinnene teenies ves 2a) The finance sector changed dramatically over the past five years. b) The finance sector has changed dramatically over the past five years. 3 a) The ris factors for stress have risen significantly since 2008. 1b) The risk Factors for stress rose significantly since 2008. 4 a) Lesigned three months ago. ) | have resigned three months ago 5. a) Have you ever been toa stress counsellor before? b) Did you ever go toa stress counsellor before? ‘Write the time expressions from the box in the correct column of this chart. Past simple Present perfect ‘two years ago sofar sofer twoyeersage ever in2009 yet just yesterday for the past two weeks | already never last Friday during the 1990s. in the last few days since 2005, when | was at university Now talk about your life using the time expressions. The present perfect is often followed by more detailed information in the past simple. Work in pairs. Ask and answer questions about these subjects. attend a conference + travel abroad on business + belateforan important meeting + make a presentation ‘+ make atelephone callin English + goon training course exams: A: tlave you ever travelled abroad on business? B: Yes, have. A: Where dd you go? B: FrosMfurt I went there three years age, ono sales trp Scanned fer Agus SuwantoUNITS: o> STRESS ‘You are going to hear three members of the human resources department of Participating in a transportation company discussing ways of improving the staff's health discussions and fitness. What ways do you think they witl mention? PY GA 40.cor47 Listen to the conversation and check your answers. 49 01.47 The speakers use several expressions to make suggestions. Listen to the conversation again and complete the gaps in these sentences. 1 Wel, think catty outa survey, find out wy the staff are so stressed x 2 Ihave another idea. we encourage staff to keep ft? paying their subscription to a gym? 3 We more staf for them, give them an assistant. 4 Wel it might be a to set up a counselling service . 5 meet tomorrow, same time, and ty to come up with a plan DD 41co1.8 at the next meeting, the team discusses plans for staff to attend a local sports centre. Listen and tick the expressions they use in their ‘conversation. Then write’ ifthe expression shows agreement or ‘D’ifit shows disagreement. 1M, don't know. 2 ould be popular, but could be expensive 3. Ithink agree with you. 4 Ok, butwe can solve it. The sports centre has great facilities 5) Exacty it would really help staff to be more healthy 6 tmnotin agreement, Danelle. it isn'ta great idea 7 \stillthink i's a good idea. i's well worth trying [Work in pairs. You work in the human resources department of a large company. Discuss how you would deal with these problems. Use expressions from the Useful language box below to help you. 1 More and more staff are taking medicine, es. ant-depressants, because they Fel highly stressed at work. They are often sick, or pretend they are sick, and take days off work 2. Many employees feel uncertain about their jobs and careers inthe company. They worry about the future. They are constantly anaious and don't sleep well 3. Some staff are stressed because they eel they have no control over their work and they don't participate in decisions, They say they feel ‘worthless’ and are not valued by management. MAKINGSUGGESTIONS GIVING OPINIONS AGREEING DISAGREENG Itinkwe shoulcaryoute We've goto do something suppose we could do that, rm, dont ow ane, aboutit. | think | agree with you. | can't agree with you there. Why dovt we encourage staff Ithinkwe should deteitely Yeah yu rig topeisierss ere Fe oeeeaanrcudm ania aie Hansa Sunscrpton asym? could be expensive Goel Essie ese ae a at Iemight bea good idea to set itd costa lot, and attendance upa counseling service would be dificult to monitor. {completely agree, 49 Scanned fer Agus SuwertoCasestudy uw Ey Ne ADVERTISING Too much stress is damaging work ata large advertising agency Background Davies-Mile ng agency on Madison Avenue in New Yo expanded rapid number wanies ‘There is very strong competition in the US advertising industy. Agencies compete to new contracts or take clients away from their rivals. A nd bec ad a significant ef Discuss how the high levels of stress could affect the performance ofthe agency. Lsten to / read on page 51 about four incidents at Davies-Miller which involved stress. In each case, note down briefly the key points of each incident.1 James, Account Executive 4901.49 Jessica Parker, 2 junior account executive, calls Shela Murray in the human resources department from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, about her boss, james. They are currently negotiating an important contract witha client there sentto Head of HR advertising, but it doesn’t seem to shouts at me if make a mistake. 1 never praises anything | do No chance ofthat. 1. You are members ofthe HR department. Wotk in small groups and discuss these questions. 1 What are the main reasons winy the staff mentioned above are hi 2 What action(s) should the HR department take in each case? 2 Compare the results of your discussion with other groups. 3 Meet as one group. Make suggestions for practical ways of reducing the stress levels of staff In the agency. Watch the Cose study commentary on the DVD-ROM, Writing As Head of Human Resources, write the ‘recommendations section of 2 report to Davies-atiter’s CEO. Outline your practical suggestions for reducing stress in the company, both n the short and long term Juliana, Art Director Extract from an e-mail Jolanta, Assistant to Art Director Patt ofan informal conversation between Jolanta and a member ofthe HR department. be looking for another job soon. I feel realy stressed out. Juliana never tes ‘me anything. She never asks for my opinion I's incredible. 've got a Masters in think she'lhave a nervous breakdown soon. She itreally upsets me. | was hoping te have a career here 2 Birgitte, ‘Schedule Coordinator Summary of an intervie 5 interview with Birgitte bya member of staff (HR) Bireterepustes ne owe wok cootates sehen andorepares cost estimates coring ne she seed because ste is oren nt en nteruped at work by visits from other ; Inemberscf tlt she belaves theres to much doing he ork he ay that her Iervisor Favours certain Seeger f members of stath (© send her on training courses, y rom work. Because. has no time to relax She fives a fone wa home very fate and Te never been under such pressure in my work since | joined the agency. | have no time tolisten to the problems of my colleagues. ! spend all my ime tying to meet mpossioic eadiines lo produce designs forthe Account Executives. We're competing for to many Contracts, that's the problem, | ust dont understand the policy ofthe agency. It won't olp to hire more staff. Most of the creatve ideas in he agency come from me. Sometimes | ‘wonder they want me to leave and bring in someore younger. m worried because the ‘sivation’s beginning 0 affect my health | cant seem to relax when | get back home. impress her. She only gives me boring jobs and ly stressed or demotivated? ° Recommendations “The mana ways of dealing wih stress inthe company. ‘The Following recommendations were made sgt Ye4m melon July Sto discuss fed for Agus S '0SSiping in the office, which stops her hom ‘of this, she gets back UNITS = STRESS. 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