Université de Reims Champagne-ArdenneUFR Sciences économiques, sociales et de Gestion

Licence Administration économique et socialeLicence Economie-Gestion

Licence Sciences sanitaires et sociales

English for Professional Purposes

2nd year / 1st semester

Academic year 2019/20

Useful vocabulary

The labour market Corporate culture

an employer a behaviouran employee a manageremployment managementunemployment a dress codean internship, a work experience a meetinga position to promotea trainee, an intern the staffa workplace hierarchya break hierarchicalovertime bureaucracyto work overtime bureaucraticflexibility a valueflexible to valuea wage, a salary a leadera framework, a legal framework efficiencyworkers’ rights profitabilityhealth and safety productivitya trade union a customerto strike, to be on strike a suppliera strike commitmentto guarantee to be committedon average self-fulfillmentfull-time, a full-time job fulfillingpart-time, a part-time job wellbeingpermanent, a permanent contract a goaltemporary, a temporary contractteleworking, remote workingto hireto dismiss, to fireto resign

The recruitment process

a job descriptiona job titlea positiona skillan applicant, a candidatean applicationa job ad, a job advertisementa job centrea job interviewa resume, a CVa cover letter, a covering lettera diplomaa degreeto graduatea graduate

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I - The labour marketSum up what you knowDefine what the labour market is.How is the labour market regulated? Which aspects of the labour market are regulated? What are the differences between European and American laws regarding labour? Which major changes have recently occurred regarding employment patterns?Think!In your opinion, what are the advantages of part-time and flexible contracts for employers? For employees? What are their drawbacks?

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France OECD EU28 Canada Germany UK Japan the Netherlands

14 16.5 16.6 18.7

22 23.2 23.9 37.3

Part-time employment rate 2018 (total % employment)

UK OECD Germany Canada EU28 France the Netherlands

11.7 12.6 13.3 14.2

16.8 21.5

5.5

Temporary employment 2018 (total % of employment)

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Why Finland leads the world in flexible work

The Nordic nation has embraced agile hours for decades. It’s a style of work well suited to the country’s deep-rooted culture of trust, equality and pragmatism.Miika Härkönen was fed up with the long, dark winters in the Finnish capital Helsinki, so he asked his manager if he could work remotely from Spain for six months.Since his wife had just had a baby and was on parental leave, the idea was to “work from home” from a rental apartment in Malaga, doing his regular job as a senior team manager for an IT company while also maximising time with his family.“It worked brilliantly actually, even a bit better than I thought,” beams Härkönen, who is now back in the Helsinki office. While Härkönen was the first employee at the company to be offered such an extreme approach to remote and flexible working, he says he wasn’t surprised that his line manager agreed. The IT firm he works for, Ambientia, which has around 200 staff, began opening smaller regional offices more than 15 years ago as a response to staff calls to cut commuting times to Helsinki. It actively encourages staff to do some of their tasks remotely, as part of efforts to promote efficiency and creativity.Few companies in Finland go quite as far as Ambientia when it comes to accommodating employees. But flexible working – still seen as a perk rather than a right in some countries – has been embedded in Finland’s working culture for more than two decades.This is largely thanks to the Working Hours Act, passed in 1996, which gives most staff the right to adjust the typical daily hours of their workplace by starting or finishing up to three hours earlier or later.By 2011, Finland was offering the most flexible working schedules on the planet, according to a study for global accounting firm Grant Thornton, with 92% of companies allowing workers to adapt their hours, compared to 76% in the UK and the US, 50% in Russia and just 18% in Japan. Since then, discussions about the benefits of flexible working have intensified around the world, with a boom in large global companies embracing the concept.But Finland looks set to remain way ahead of the curve thanks to a new Working Hours Act. Due to come into force in 2020, it will give the majority of full-time employees the right to decide when and where they work for at least half of their working hours. “It is about adapting to the modern world,” says Tarja Kröger, a senior civil servant and advisor at Finland’s Ministry of Employment and the Economy, who helped to draft the law.She explains that under the new legislation, workers will still be expected to put in an average of 40 hours a week, but this could include a multitude of different arrangements from regularly choosing fixed days to be based “at your summer cottage or your favourite coffee shop”, to starting and finishing early in order to manage childcare or be able to exercise outdoors while it’s still light. Some younger workers, she argues, are likely to ask to work longer hours for a fixed period to “bank” time off for long-haul travel. Employees and their managers will be asked to discuss their expectations in advance and draw up a contract for any new arrangements.

M. Savage, bbc.com, 8th August 2019

1. Which advantages of remote working does the article focus on?2. Why did Ambienta open regional offices?3. Why does the company benefit from remote working?4. Why could we say that Finnish organisations are more concerned with there employees’

wellbeing than their foreign counterparts? 5. As mentioned in the article, how does young people’s lifestyle influence their working choices?

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More regular work wanted by almost half those on zero-hoursAlmost half of people on zero-hours contracts want more regular work and greater levels of job security, according to a study that challenges the idea that workers want such terms for the flexibility they offer.It also found that as few as 28% of people on zero-hours contracts worked on that basis to take advantage of the flexibility offered, effectively undermining one of the key arguments against banning the contracts.The report comes after more than 20 years of rapid growth in the use of zero-hours contracts, and amid calls by the trade unions to make them illegal to prevent exploitation of workers.Almost a million people in the UK are not guaranteed any hours by their employer, compared with only 200,000 at the turn of the millennium, suggesting that work in Britain has become increasingly precarious.The research found that almost 30% of workers had no other option but to accept working on a zero-hours contract because of a lack of job opportunities. It also found that a large proportion of workers on zero-hours contracts were paid at, or slightly above, the minimum wage. Such relatively low pay, coupled with limited and fragmented hours, implies high levels of earnings insecurity for workers whose only option is to work on this type of arrangement.

R. Partington, The Guardian, 3 Oct. 2018

1. Explain why we can say that zero-hour contracts mainly benefit the employer? 2. From what you know, explain what the aim of a trade union is and why trade unions campaign

against these contracts.

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What is a zero-hour contract?

A zero-hour contract is an agreement between an employer and a worker that establishes a hiring arrangement but does not guarantee any working hours. They require the worker to maintain availability during the period covered by the agreement without promising that the services of the worker will actually be engaged at any point. Thus, workers must commit to the employer with no guarantee of receiving pay.

II - The recruitment process

Sum up what you know

What is a job description? What does it mention?

Where can you find job ads when looking for a job?

Which steps do you follow when applying for a job?

Writing a CV

• Personal details: name, address and contact details• Personal profile: introduction of yourself, your qualifications, skills and professional goals (1 or 2

lines)• Education and qualifications: institutions and courses you attended, diplomas and degrees,

projects you worked on as part of your studies (organised in reverse chronological order)• Employment history / work experience: organisations where you worked, job titles and

responsibilities, significant tasks performed using specific action verbs (ex.: creating, supervising…)

• Skills: languages and software with levels of proficiency, relevant soft skills• Hobbies and interests: extra-curricular activities and relevant interests

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III - Corporate culture

DefinitionCorporate culture, also called organisational culture, refers to the beliefs and behaviours which determine how employees and management interact and work in an organisation. It is ‘a way of working together’. Corporate culture is often implied: it is not a set of written rules. It develops organically over time from the cumulative traits of the people the organisation hires and reflects the state of mind of its management. The organizational culture will be reflected in its dress code (formal v. informal), working hours, office setup (open-space v. individual office), employee benefits, hiring decisions, treatment of customers (friendly v. strictly professional), client satisfaction and other aspect of operations.

(adapted from Investopedia.com)

Corporate culture is reflected in the way the organisation:• Runs meetings• Communicates internally (top-down and bottom-up) • Solves problems and makes decisions• Supports employees • Responds to stress and deals with conflicts• Hires, fires, pays and promotes people.It is a general vision of shared by managers and staff which reflects on the performance of the organisation.

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Types of corporate culture There are different types of corporate culture which correspond to different working modes and different types of relationship between staff, management and external partners.Read the text p.10 and report the keywords relating to each type.

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Stability and control

Flexibility and freedom

internal focusexternal focus

CLAN ADHOCRACY

HIERARCHY MARKET

Keywords: Keywords:

Keywords:Keywords:

4 types of corporate culture (Quinn and Rohrbauch matrix)

Hierarchy (control)Hierarchical organisations share similarities with the stereotypical large, bureaucratic corporation. As in the values matrix, they are defined by stability and control as well as internal focus and integration. They value standardisation, control, and a well-defined structure for authority and decision making. Effective leaders in hierarchical cultures are those that can organise, coordinate, and monitor people and processes. Good examples of companies with hierarchical cultures are McDonald’s (think standardization and efficiency) and government agencies (think rules and bureaucracy). Having many layers of management—like Ford Motor Company with their seventeen levels—is typical of a hierarchical organisational structure.Market (compete)While most major American companies throughout the 19th and much of the 20th centuries believed a hierarchical organisation was most effective, the late 1960s gave rise to another popular approach—Market organisations. These companies are similar to the Hierarchy in that they value stability and control; however, instead of an inward focus they have an external orientation and they value differentiation over integration. They are results-oriented with a strong customer focus. Market organisations are concerned with competitiveness and productivity through emphasis on partnerships and positioning. General Electric, under the leadership of former CEO Jack Welch, is a good example of a Market organisation. He famously announced that if businesses divisions were not first or second in their markets then, simply, they would be sold. Their corporate culture was (and still largely is) highly competitive where performance results speak louder than process.Clan (collaborate)With the success of many Japanese firms in the late 1970s and 1980s, American corporations began to take note of the different way they approached business. Unlike American national culture, which is founded upon individualism, Japanese firms had a more team-centered approach. Their Clan organisations operate more like families—hence the name—and they value cohesion, commitment and loyalty. Employees are encouraged to participate in determining how things would get done.A good example of a Clan in American business is Tom’s of Maine, which produces all-natural toothpastes and soaps. The founder, Tom Chappell, grew the company to respect relationships with coworkers, customers, suppliers, the community, and the environment. They aim to provide their employees with “a safe and fulfilling environment and an opportunity to grow and learn.” Typical of Clan culture, Tom’s of Maine is like an extended family with high morale and Tom himself takes on the role of mentor or parental figure.Adhocracy (create)In the values matrix, Adhocracy is similar to Clan in that it emphasises flexibility. However, it does not share the same inward focus. Instead it is like Market in its external focus and concern for differentiation. Success is now envisioned in terms of innovation and creativity with a future-forward posture. An entrepreneurial spirit reigns where profit lies in finding new opportunities to develop new products, new services, and new relationships—with little expectation that these will endure.Adhocratic organizations value flexibility, adaptability and project work. High-tech companies like Google are prototypical Adhocracy. Google develops innovative web tools, taking advantage of entrepreneurial software engineers and cutting-edge processes and technologies. Their ability to quickly develop new services and capture market share has made them leaders in the marketplace and forced less nimble competition to play catch-up.

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Vocabulary / Find the English equivalent in the text:(p.8) (p.10)une croyance: surveiller:

un comportement: efficace:

une règle: efficacité:

un bureau (pièce): accorder de la valeur:

des avantages: compétitivité:

un client (x2): une équipe:

une réunion: engagement:

résoudre un problème: sûr, en sécurité:

encourager: épanouissant:

licencier: une attente:

promouvoir: une part de marché:

Translate into English

1) Une culture d’entreprise efficace est une culture qui accorde de la valeur à ses salariés et les encourage.

2) Nous voulons promouvoir le travail en équipe.

3) L’entreprise a perdu beaucoup de part de marché et a licencié un tiers de son personnel.

4) Cette réunion a porté sur l’engagement de la direction envers les règles d’hygiène et de sécurité.

5) Nous répondons aux attentes de nos clients.

6) Les ouvriers ont appelé les syndicats pour résoudre le problème de sécurité sur le lieu de travail.

7) Nous avons réussi à trouver une façon de réduire les heures supplémentaires tout en augmentant notre compétitivité.

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‘‘Early in my career, I was part of a team tasked with transforming operations for a healthcare services provider. The CEO was worried that employees were not committed to the company’s new strategy, which required an enormous shift in the corporate culture. People had historically focused on quarterly targets, but they now needed to prioritize caring for patients, being easy to do business with, and developing long-term relationships. But when we met the staff for the first time, skepticism and caution were already threatening to derail the strategy — the employees were seemingly uninterested in raising their game. At one point, we noticed the company values statement on the wall, which declared, “We exist to make life better for our patients.” However inspiring those words might have been, they felt totally disconnected from the reality we were seeing.’’

‘‘Want to change corporate culture? Focus on action’’, strategy-business.com, Elizabeth Dotty, March 15, 2019

• What does this testimony show about corporate culture?

“Bruising.” “Relentless.” “Painful.” “Frequent combat.” “Burn and churn.” No one would fault you for thinking a company with a workplace culture described in these harsh terms is destined for failure. Yet, one such company recently nearly doubled its operating income, increased its annual revenue by 27%, and turned in its eighth straight quarter of profitability. That company is Amazon—and the scathing comments I quote above were part of a 2015 New York Times article examining its workplace. The piece reported on the “sometimes-punishing aspects” of Amazon’s culture and its “purposeful Darwinism” approach to managing staff. It shared stories of employees crying at their desks, suffering from incredible stress, struggling to keep up with the intense pace at Amazon—or being fired for failing to meet the exacting standards and metrics set by management.Amazon’s workplace culture is not for everyone—that much was exposed by the article. But its own employees’ response revealed something else: a company’s culture does not need to be “warm and fuzzy” to be effective.Amazon’s constant drive for innovation, rooted in a competitive, demanding, exacting organizational culture, has a lot to do with its success. What some describe as a “gladiator culture” is the very way CEO Jeff Bezos and other company leaders ensure Amazon managers clearly define their goals and meet them. Standards that seem unreasonably high are the tools by which Amazon managers drive their teams to deliver ever-increasing levels of service to customers.

 ‘‘Company culture doesn’t need to be “warm and fuzzy” to be effective’’, qz.com, Denise Lee Yohn, March 13, 2018

• What corporate culture type has Amazon implemented? • In your opinion, is Amazon’s culture successful? • What may be the long-term effects of Amazon’s strategy?

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What are the signs of a disconnected corporate culture?How can you recognize a disconnected corporate culture? General signs include high turnover, low morale, lack of productivity, unhappy employees and potentially dissatisfied clients. And watch out for these comments on employer-rating websites: "Employees are silenced and treated like lambs in a slaughterhouse », "the company would run a lot more smoothly with the CEO out of the way », "advice to management: Never enter the office. We are better without you."Clearly, no company wants such reviews popping up in Google searches.

‘‘Is Your Corporate Culture Connected or Disconnected?’’, inc.com

Grammaire: Discours direct / indirect1. On peut rapporter des paroles, déclarations ou pensées par• le discours direct :

The managers said: ‘’We want to promote flexibility.’’• le discours indirect :

The managers said that they wanted to promote flexibility.

• Le passage du discours direct au discours indirect peut entraîner une changement de pronom (ici, we > they) ou de temps du verbe (ici, want > wanted). Le temps de la proposition rapportée ( (that) they wanted…) devient celui de la proposition introductrice (The managers said). Il peut également entraîner des changements dans l’indication du lieu ou du temps:ex.: She said ‘‘There was a problem here yesterday’’. She said there had been a problem there the day before.

2. Rapporter des questions au discours indirect• Les questions à réponses yes/no sont introduites par if (ou whether dans un style soutenu) :

He asked me ‘‘Can you help me?’’ > He asked me if / whether I could help him. • Les questions à mot interrogatif sont introduites par le même mot interrogatif qu’au discours

direct:She asked me ‘‘When did they meet?’’ > She asked me when they had met.L’ordre des mots au discours indirect est le même que dans les phrases affirmative (comme en français) et on n’utilise pas les auxiliaires (do/does/did).

Application. Complétez les phrases pour rapporter au discours indirect les paroles entre ( ).1) They said that… (‘‘Our wages are too low.’’)2) He added that… (‘‘We will hold a meeting tomorrow.’’)3) She thought that… (‘‘The new organisation has had a positive effect.’’)4) The government informed them that… (‘’We will implement new measures to tackle

unemployment.’’)5) The manager promised her that… (‘‘You will get a pay rise next month.’’)6) We want to know… (‘‘Is it a fulfilling job?’’)7) She asked the HR manager… (‘‘Is it a permanent position?’’)8) He wonders… (‘‘Am I going to be fired for this mistake?’’)9) I’d like to know… (‘’How keen are they on team work?’’)

Traduire1) Il est important de créer une culture d’entreprise où l’on s’encourage les uns les autres. 2) 56% des personnes interrogées (=respondents) déclarent que la culture d'entreprise a plus

d’impact que le salaire sur leur bien-être au travail. 3) Pour développer l'engagement d'une équipe, chaque salarié doit se sentir impliqué dans la vie

de l’organisation. 4) Dans certaines entreprises, le respect de la hiérarchie est plus important que l’épanouissement

individuel. �13