The best companies to work for
The best companies to work for
A new report has identified the top
25 companies in the USA to work for. The report comes out every year and always
has some surprises. It ranked the best places to work in 2014 by taking a
survey of employee satisfaction. Top of the list was Google, which has become
famous for its excellent working conditions. Google knocked Facebook off of the
number one position. A Google software engineer earns an average salary of
$119,000 a year. He or she also gets free access to a gym, laundromat, sports
facilities and a place which looks after their pets when the employee goes on
holiday. One ex-employee said Google staff are so happy that it is unusual for
anyone to take time off.
Another survey released at the same
time shows a slightly different picture. The careers website Glassdoor asked
employees to rate how happy they are with their company, career opportunities,
pay, culture, and values. It found that the consulting firm Bain and Company
was the best place to work. Russ Hagey, Global Chief Talent Officer at Bain and
Co. said: "We are incredibly proud to be named the number one best place
to work." He added that: "For more than 40 years, we have placed
significant focus on creating an outstanding professional and personal work
experience that in turn has fueled our growth anchored in a mission of
delivering results for clients and organizations around the globe."
.
3. JOB: Complete
this table
|
|
How
Important |
|
|
Salary |
|
|
|
Clothes
Rules |
|
|
|
Colleagues |
|
|
|
Promotion |
|
|
|
Benefits |
|
|
|
Culture |
|
|
4. $119,000: Students
A strongly believe a $119,000 is too much when people are
starving; Students B strongly believe a million-dollar salary
is OK. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
5. WORKING CONDITIONS: Rank
these with your partner. Put the most important at the top. Change partners
often and share your rankings.
|
• pay
• uniform
• nice boss
• training |
• lots of overtime •
long holidays
• friendly co-workers
• responsibility |
6. WORK: Spend
one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word
"work". Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them.
Together, put the words into different categories.
BEFORE READING / LISTENING
1. TRUE / FALSE: Read
the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).
|
a. |
A
report listed the best companies in the world to work for. |
T / F |
|
b. |
The
report is made once every two years. |
T / F |
|
c. |
Facebook
was number one last year. |
T / F |
|
d. |
Google
has a kind of pet hotel for when staff go on holiday. |
T / F |
|
e. |
A
company called Glassdoor paints pictures. |
T / F |
|
f. |
Another
survey said a consulting company was the best place to work. |
T / F |
|
g. |
The
consulting company has been number one for 40 years. |
T / F |
|
h. |
The
company's mission is to help its clients around the world. |
T / F |
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match
the following synonyms from the article.
|
1. |
every
year |
a. |
job |
|
2. |
ranked |
b. |
issued |
|
3. |
survey |
c. |
strange |
|
4. |
salary |
d. |
ordered |
|
5. |
unusual |
e. |
bringing |
|
6. |
released |
f. |
annually |
|
7. |
slightly |
g. |
excellent |
|
8. |
career |
h. |
a
little |
|
9. |
outstanding |
i. |
questionnaire |
|
10. |
delivering |
j. |
pay |
3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes
more than one choice is possible.)
|
1. |
the top
25 companies in the |
a. |
the
number one |
|
2. |
famous
for its excellent working |
b. |
to a
gym |
|
3. |
earns
an average salary |
c. |
off |
|
4. |
she
also gets free access |
d. |
happy
they are |
|
5. |
take
time |
e. |
conditions |
|
6. |
Another
survey released |
f. |
experience |
|
7. |
asked
employees to rate how |
g. |
USA to
work for |
|
8. |
proud
to be named |
h. |
at the
same time |
|
9. |
work |
i. |
for
clients |
|
10. |
delivering
results |
j. |
of
$119,000 a year |
GAP FILL
|
A new
report has (1) ____________ the top 25 companies in the USA to work for. The
report (2) ____________ out every year and always has some surprises. It
ranked the best places to work in 2014 by taking a (3) ____________ of
employee satisfaction. Top of the list was Google, which has become famous
for its excellent working (4) ____________. Google knocked Facebook off of
the number one position. A Google software engineer earns an (5) ____________
salary of $119,000 a year. He or she also gets free (6) ____________ to a
gym, laundromat, sports facilities and a place which looks (7) ____________
their pets when the employee goes on holiday. One ex-employee said Google
staff are so happy that it is unusual for anyone to take (8) ____________
off. |
|
access |
|
Another
survey (9) ____________ at the same time shows a slightly different (10)
____________. The careers website Glassdoor asked employees to rate how happy
they are with their company, career opportunities, (11) ____________,
culture, and values. It found that the consulting firm Bain and Company was
the best (12) ____________ to work. Russ Hagey, Global Chief Talent Officer
at Bain and Co. said: "We are incredibly (13) ____________ to be named
the number one best place to work." He added that: "For more than
40 years, we have placed significant (14) ____________ on creating an
outstanding professional and personal work experience that in turn has fueled
our (15) ____________ anchored in a mission of delivering results for clients
and organizations around the (16) ____________." |
|
growth |
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
|
1. |
How
many companies were in the report? |
|
2. |
What
was the survey on? |
|
3. |
Which
company was number one last year? |
|
4. |
What is
the number 119,000 in the article? |
|
5. |
Why
don't Google workers take a lot of time off work? |
|
6. |
What
did a different survey show? |
|
7. |
What is
the name of the careers website that did the other survey? |
|
8. |
Who is
Russ Hagey? |
|
9. |
How
many years has Bain & Co. been focusing on work experience? |
|
10. |
Where
are the clients of Bain and Co.? |
ROLE PLAY
ROLE
PLAY
|
Role
A – Nice uniform You
think a nice uniform is the most important thing about a job. Tell the others
three reasons why. Tell them things that aren't so good about their things.
Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and why): lots
of training, friendly co-workers or lots of overtime. |
|
Role
B – Lots of training You
think lots of training is the most important thing about a job. Tell the
others three reasons why. Tell them things that aren't so good about their
things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and
why): a nice uniform, friendly co-workers or lots of overtime. |
|
Role
C – Friendly co-workers You
think friendly co-workers is the most important thing about a job. Tell the
others three reasons why. Tell them things that aren't so good about their
things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and
why): lots of training, a nice uniform or lots of overtime. |
|
Role
D – Lots of overtime You
think lots of overtime is the most important thing about a job. Tell the
others three reasons why. Tell them things that aren't so good about their
things. Also, tell the others which is the least important of these (and
why): lots of training, friendly co-workers or a nice uniform. |
WORKING CONDITIONS DISCUSSION
STUDENT A's QUESTIONS
|
a) |
What
did you think when you read the headline? |
|
b) |
What
springs to mind when you hear the word 'pay'? |
|
c) |
What
company would you really like to work for (and why)? |
|
d) |
What's
the best company you've ever worked for? |
|
e) |
What do
you think it would be like to work for Google? |
|
f) |
What's
the best company to work for in your country (why?) |
|
g) |
What
benefits do you think are important at work? |
|
h) |
What
kind of work environment do you like? |
|
i) |
Would
you prefer to work from home? |
|
j) |
Would
you prefer to work for Google or Starbucks? |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
STUDENT B's QUESTIONS
|
a) |
Did you
like reading this article? Why/not? |
|
b) |
What
are the things that would make you happy at work? |
|
c) |
Are you
a good employee? Why do you think so? |
|
d) |
What
score would you give the companies you worked for ? |
|
e) |
What's
more important, long holidays or pay? |
|
f) |
What's
the minimum salary you would work for? |
|
g) |
What
should a company do to be a professional employer? |
|
h) |
Would
you be a good boss (why do you think so)? |
|
i) |
What is
your ideal (perfect) job? |
|
j) |
What
questions would you like to ask Google's boss? |
LANGUAGE - CLOZE
A new report has (1) ____ the top 25
companies in the USA to work for. The report comes (2) ____ every year and
always has some surprises. It ranked the best places to work in 2014 by taking
a survey of employee satisfaction. Top of the list was Google, which has become
famous (3) ____ its excellent working conditions. Google knocked Facebook (4)
____ of the number one position. A Google software engineer earns an average
salary of $119,000 a year. He or she also gets free access to a gym,
laundromat, sports (5) ____ and a place which looks after their pets when the
employee goes on holiday. One ex-employee said Google staff are so happy that
it is unusual for anyone to take (6) ____ off.
Another survey released at the same
time shows a (7) ____ different picture. The careers website Glassdoor asked
employees to rate (8) ____ happy they are with their company, career
opportunities, pay, culture, and values. It found that the consulting firm Bain
and Company was the best place to work. Russ Hagey, Global Chief Talent Officer
at Bain and Co. said: "We are incredibly (9) ____ to be named the number
one best place to work." He added that: "For more than 40 years, we
have placed significant (10) ____ on creating an outstanding professional and
personal work experience that in (11) ____ has fueled our growth anchored in a
mission of (12) ____ results for clients and organizations around the
globe."
Put the correct words from the table
below in the above article.
|
1. |
(a) |
identified |
(b) |
identity |
(c) |
identification |
(d) |
ID |
|
2. |
(a) |
over |
(b) |
past |
(c) |
out |
(d) |
to |
|
3. |
(a) |
of |
(b) |
at |
(c) |
for |
(d) |
by |
|
4. |
(a) |
to |
(b) |
as |
(c) |
by |
(d) |
off |
|
5. |
(a) |
palaces |
(b) |
equips |
(c) |
facilities |
(d) |
faculties |
|
6. |
(a) |
break |
(b) |
holidays |
(c) |
work |
(d) |
time |
|
7. |
(a) |
small |
(b) |
slightly |
(c) |
margin |
(d) |
bit |
|
8. |
(a) |
what |
(b) |
how |
(c) |
whether |
(d) |
which |
|
9. |
(a) |
proudly |
(b) |
pride |
(c) |
proud |
(d) |
proudest |
|
10. |
(a) |
staring |
(b) |
look |
(c) |
view |
(d) |
focus |
|
11. |
(a) |
ahead |
(b) |
right |
(c) |
direction |
(d) |
turn |
|
12. |
(a) |
deliver |
(b) |
delivered |
(c) |
delivers |
(d) |
delivering |
SPELLING
|
Paragraph
1 |
|
|
1. |
idtfeednii the top 25 companies |
|
2. |
always
has some eprursiss |
|
3. |
a
survey of oeeeypml satisfaction |
|
4. |
software nnerieeg |
|
5. |
sports ecsifiitla |
|
6. |
it
is lunusua |
|
Paragraph
2 |
|
|
7. |
ladeeers at the same time |
|
8. |
a htiyglls different
picture |
|
9. |
ecarre opportunities |
|
10. |
We are
incredibly rdupo |
|
11. |
work riexcepnee |
|
12. |
a isisnmo of
delivering results |
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