LESSON 5: Transfers and Promotions

LESSON 5

TRANSFERS AND PROMOTIONS

In this lesson you will learn vocabulary related to the topic of transfers and promotions in a company.

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Revision from the last lesson:

Explain the following words in English and Polish:

facilitate subordinate pattern whereby peer
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facilitate to make possible or easier / ułatwiać
subordinate a person who has a less important position than you in an organization – podwładny / niższy rangą
pattern particular way in which something done, organized or happens / wzór
whereby by which way or method / za pomocą którego
peer person who is the same age or has the same social position or the same abilities as other people in a group – równy rangą / rówieśnik

What elements of employee’s performance are usually assessed in an appraisal form?

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job knowledge

attitude & service

quantity of work

motivation

flexibility

teamwork

overall rating

reliability

learning ability

LESSON 5

Transfers and Promotions

LEAD – IN ACTIVITY – speaking

  1. What are the ways of promotion in your company?
  2. Are employees transferred in your company? Why? Why not?

Exercise 1 – Reading

Complete the text using the words below:

Glossary:

  • circumstances– a fact or event that makes a situation the way it is / okoliczności
  • appointment
    – when someone is officially chosen for a job, or the job itself / mianowanie
  • demanding
    – needing a lot of time, attention or energy / wymagający
  • lesser
    – used to describe something that is not as great in size, amount or importance as something else / pomniejszony, mniejszy
  • ladder
    – a piece of equipment used for climbing up and down / drabina
  • layoff
    – when someone stops employing someone, sometimes temporarily, because there is no money to pay them or because there is no work for them / wypowiedzenie / przestój
  • demote
    / demotion – to lower someone or something in rank or position / degradować / degradacja
  • lateral
    – relating to the sides of an object or to sideways movement / boczny
  • bring about
    – to cause something to happen / doprowadzić do
  • termination
    ? the act of ending something, the end of a word, something that results, to come to an end of a contract period / wygaśnięcie, wypowiedzenie (umowy)
  • dismissal
    – when an employer officially makes someone leave their job / zwolnienie

A promotion is the of a member to another position, within the same department or elsewhere in the organization, involving duties and responsibilities of a more or nature and are recognized by a higher pay grade and salary.

A transfer is the appointment of a member to another position within the same department or elsewhere in the organization, involving duties and responsibilities of a comparable nature and having a similar pay grade and salary. In certain , the transfer may be at a pay grade or salary.

A promotion is a move up the organizational ; job rotation and transfers are moves; are downward moves; and move employees out. Layoffs, in contrast to are , sometimes temporary, required for business needs unrelated to worker behavior or performance. All of these changes shifts in status, and often in pay, of the employees involved.

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A promotion is the appointment
of a member to another position, within the same department or elsewhere in the organization, involving duties and responsibilities of a more complex
or demanding
nature and are recognized by a higher pay grade and salary.

A transfer is the appointment of a member to another position within the same department or elsewhere in the organization, involving duties and responsibilities of a comparable nature and having a similar pay grade and salary. In certain circumstances, the transfer may be at a lesser
pay grade or salary

A promotion is a move up the organizational ladder; job rotation and transfers are lateral
moves; demotions
are downward moves; and layoffs
move employees out. Layoffs, in contrast to dismissals
are terminations, sometimes temporary, required for business needs unrelated to worker behavior or performance. All of these changes bring about
shifts in status, and often in pay, of the employees involved.

 

Exercise 2 – READING 2

Complete the text with the sentences below:

  1. Some groups might contain only one job classification, others several.
  2. At some point, someone has to make a judgment about an employee?s relative merit.
  3. Merit, in contrast, refers to „worth” or „excellence.”
Seniority
Seniority

the advantage that you get by working for a company for a long time / staż pracy


vs.
vs.

versus

Merit
Merit

/ wartość, zaleta, zasługa

in Promotions
Seniority is an employee?s length of service in a position or job grouping. An individual who has worked somewhere for three years has more seniority than one who has worked for two.

Merit is more difficult to measure than seniority. In the context of promotion, it relates to relevant qualifications as well as effectiveness of past performance.

Promotion by seniority
In a straight seniority system?where the only factor in allocating jobs is length of service?a worker would enter the organization at the lowest possible level and
advance
advance

to go or move something forward, or to develop or improve something / awansować

to higher positions as vacancies
occur
occur

happen / zdarzać się, mieć miejsce

. All prospective supervisors and managers would
work their way up
work up

to increase one’s skill, responsibility, efficiency, or status through work / rozwijać się

through the ranks. In a seniority system, length of service is the chief criteria for moving up the ladder.

More typically, seniority counts only within specified job groups.

All managers, for instance, would have once worked as

foremen
foremen

a skilled person with experience who is in charge of and watches over a group of workers / przewodnik, brygadzista, drużynowy, przewodniczący

. The most obvious strength is its undisputed
objectivity
objectivity

based on real facts and not influenced by personal beliefs or feelings / objektywność

. Seniority systems tend to reward loyalty and promote cooperation?
albeit
albeit

although / acz, chociaż, aczkolwiek

not excellence.

Promotion by merit
Promotions based on merit advance workers who are best qualified for the position, rather than those with the greatest seniority. When present employees are applying for a position, a worker?s past performance is also considered. Effective performance appraisal helps build trust in the system.
Merit is not easy to define and measure?it often requires difficult
subjective
subjective

influenced by or based on personal beliefs or feelings, rather than based on facts / subjektywny

evaluations.

Employees may find it difficult to

make a distinction
make a distinction

to make a difference / rozróżniać

between merit?because it is so hard to measure in an objective way?and favoritism.

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Seniority
Seniority

the advantage that you get by working for a company for a long time / staż pracy

vs.
vs.

versus

Merit
Merit

/ wartość, zaleta, zasługa

in Promotions
Seniority is an employee?s length of service in a position or job grouping. An individual who has worked somewhere for three years has more seniority than one who has worked for two. Merit, in contrast, refers to „worth” or „excellence.”
Merit is more difficult to measure than seniority. In the context of promotion, it relates to relevant qualifications as well as effectiveness of past performance.
Promotion by seniority
In a straight seniority system?where the only factor in allocating jobs is length of service?a worker would enter the organization at the lowest possible level and
advance
advance

to go or move something forward, or to develop or improve something / awansować

to higher positions as vacancies
occur
occur

happen / zdarzać się, mieć miejsce

. All prospective supervisors and managers would
work their way up
work up

to increase one’s skill, responsibility, efficiency, or status through work / rozwijać się

through the ranks. In a seniority system, length of service is the chief criteria for moving up the ladder.

More typically, seniority counts only within specified job groups. Some groups might contain only one job classification, others several.
All managers, for instance, would have once worked as
foremen
foremen

a skilled person with experience who is in charge of and watches over a group of workers / przewodnik, brygadzista, drużynowy, przewodniczący

. The most obvious strength is its undisputed
objectivity
objectivity

based on real facts and not influenced by personal beliefs or feelings / objektywność

. Seniority systems tend to reward loyalty and promote cooperation?
albeit
albeit

although / acz, chociaż, aczkolwiek

not excellence.

Promotion by merit
Promotions based on merit advance workers who are best qualified for the position, rather than those with the greatest seniority. When present employees are applying for a position, a worker?s past performance is also considered. Effective performance appraisal helps build trust in the system.
Merit is not easy to define and measure?it often requires difficult
subjective
subjective

influenced by or based on personal beliefs or feelings, rather than based on facts / subjektywny

evaluations. At some point, someone has to make a judgment about an employee?s relative merit.

Employees may find it difficult to

make a distinction
make a distinction

to make a difference / rozróżniać

between merit?because it is so hard to measure in an objective way?and favoritism.

Exercise 3 – CROSSWORD

Do the crossword using the highlighted words from the text above.

You can write down your answers in the white input fields


1

3

2

4
5

6

7
8

9

Across

1. to increase one’s skill, responsibility, efficiency, or status through work
2. difference
4. influenced by or based on personal beliefs or feelings, rather than based on facts
6. although
7. happen
8. to go or move something forward, or to develop or improve something
9. the quality of being good and deserving praise

Down

3. based on real facts and not influenced by personal beliefs or feelings
4. the advantage that you get by working for a company for a long time
5. a skilled person with experience who is in charge of and watches over a group of workers
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Across: Down:
1.work up 3. objectivity
2.distinction 4. seniority
4.subjective 5. foreman
6.albeit
7.occur
8.advance
9.merit

EXERCISE 4

The advantages and disadvantages of seniority-based promotions have been mixed up. Separate them and put in a proper box.

    1. Some employees may not be able or want to do certain jobs into which a strict seniority system would
      propel
      propel
      to cause someone to do an activity or to be in a situation / popchnąć kogoś do czegoś, dać komuś bodzieć do czegoś
      them.
    2. Employees get to experience many jobs on the way up the promotional ladder,
      provided that
      provided that
      if, only if / zakładająć, że
      they stay long enough and openings develop.
    3. Employers would tend to hire overskilled people at entry level, so they have the
      capacity
      capacity
      the total amount that can be contained or produced / możliwość, zdolność (produkcyjna)
      for promotion.
    4. Jobs can be grouped into different ladders such that experience on one job constitutes good training for the next.
    5. Ambitious workers may not be willing to
      „wait their turn”
      „wait their turn”
      czekać na swoją kolej
      for higher level jobs that they want.
    6. Workers need not seek
      to gain favor
      to gain favor
      to win somebody?s acceptance / zyskać przychylność
      with supervisors (through nonproductive means) to obtain advancement. If, for example, a supervisor?s direction
      violates
      violate
      to break or act against something / naruszyć, pogwałcić, łamać
      the interests or policy,

employees would have less fear of

reprisal
reprisal
activity against another person / odwet
for not following it.

  • Employees should be able
    to opt
    to opt
    to make a choice, especially for one thing or possibility in preference to any others / optować
    not to accept an opportunity for promotion.
  • Cooperation between workers is generally not
    hindered
    hinder
    to limit the ability of someone to do something / utrudniać
    by competition for subjectively determined promotions.
  • Employee motivation to work as well as possible is not
    reinforced
    reinforce
    to make something stronger / wzmocinić
    .

 

Advantages Disadvantages
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Advantages:

  1. Employees get to experience many jobs on the way up the promotional ladder, provided that they stay long enough and openings develop.
  2. Jobs can be grouped into different ladders such that experience on one job constitutes good training for the next.
  3. Cooperation between workers is generally not hindered by competition for subjectively determined promotions.
  4. Workers need not seek to gain favor with supervisors (through nonproductive means) to obtain advancement. If, for example, a supervisor?s direction violates the interests or policy,
    employees would have less fear of reprisal for not following it.

Disadvantages:

  1. Some employees may not be able or want to do certain jobs into which a strict seniority system would propel them.
  2. Employees should be able to opt not to accept an opportunity for promotion.
  3. Ambitious workers may not be willing to „wait their turn” for higher level jobs that they want.
  4. Employee motivation to work as well as possible is not reinforced.
  5. Employers would tend to hire overskilled people at entry level, so they have the capacity for promotion.

HR – HUMOUR

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WHAT ARE THE SIGNS THAT YOUR COMPANY IS PLANNING A LAYOFF?

  • Windows shutdown screen reads, „It is Now Safe to Start Looking for Work.”
  • Company softball team downsized to chess team.
  • Guard at front desk nervously fingers his revolver whenever you pass by.
  • Company president now driving a Hyundai.