Answer the questions

Semco

Match the jobs with the duties. Use dictionary to help you.

People

Benefits

Teamwork

Read the article and answer the questions.

Text 2 Not always hospitable

1. Where do you think the article is taken from?

a) a newspaper

b) a career guide

c) a hotel brochure

1) Find five jobs or areas of work that are mentioned in the text.

2) Why is the hospitality industry not always hospitable?

3) What responsibilities does a hotel manager have in a small hotel?

4) In what ways is the hospitality industry different from other industries?

5) Find five adjectives that describe a career in the hospitality industry.

Hospitality may be one of the most exciting industries to work but as Asha Khan reports, it isn't an easy life.

The hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. It offers some exciting careers and a lot of job satisfaction. But it isn't easy working in a hotel – the peak holiday season is hard work, with employees often working long hours and sometimes seven days a week.

Every member of staff, from the housekeeper to the hotel manager, is responsible for the hotel. In smaller hotels and motels one manager is usually responsible for rooms, the food and beverage service, registration and general management. There is a wide variety of jobs in larger hotels, including administration jobs such as accountant and marketing executive.

Hotel employees get paid sick leave and holidays as well as other benefits like free food and, occasionally, free holidays! Many hotels also offer free or cheap live-in accommodation and have resident managers and concierges.

The hospitality industry is different from other industries. Hospitality is people dealing with people, from the porter to the hotel manager. If you don't like people, this isn't the career for you.

1) chambermaid	a) carries guests' bags to their rooms
2) hotel manager	b) cleans guestrooms
3) bartender	c) serves guests in the restaurant
4) accountant	d) manages all the hotel staff
5) concierge	e) serves guests at the bar
6) porter	f) finds business for the hotel
7) waiter	g) gives information and helps guests
8) marketing manager	h) does the hotel's finances

1. Which workers normally do these things?

ñ wear uniforms

ñ meet guests in reception

ñ decide/start/finish times/working hours

ñ set salaries

ñ fix equipment

ñ do the photocopying

ñ type letters

2. a) Read the introduction to the text. Who is Ricardo Semler? What problem did he have?

At 21, Ricardo Semler became boss of his father's business in Brazil, Semco, which sold parts for ships. Knowing his son was still young, Semler told him, “Better make your mistakes while I'm still alive”.

Semler junior worked like madman, from 7.30 a.m. Until midnight every day. One afternoon, while touring a factory in New York, he collapsed. The doctor who treated him said, 'There's nothing wrong with you. Yet. But if you continue like this, you'll find a new home in our hospital.' Semler got the message. He changed the way he worked. In fact, he changed the way his employees worked too.

b) What changes do you think Semler made? Read the rest of the text to find out.

He let his workers take more responsibility so that they would be the ones worrying when things went wrong.

He allowed them to set their own salaries, and he cut all the jobs he thought were unnecessary, like receptionists and secretaries. This saved money and brought more equality to the company.

'Everyone's at Semco, even top managers, meets guests at the reception, does the photocopying, sends faxes, types letters and dials the phone.'

He completely reorganised the office:instead of walls, they have plants at Semco, so bosses can't shut themselves away from everyone else. And the workers are free to decorate their workplace as they want. As for uniforms, some people wear suits and others wear T-shirts.

Semler says, 'We have a sales manager named Rubin Agater who sits there reading the newspaper hour after hour. He doesn't even pretend to be busy. But when a Semco pump on the other side of the world fails and millions of gallons of oil are about to spill into the sea, Rubin springs into action. He knows everything there is to know about our pumps and how to fix them. That's when he earns his salary. No one cares if he doesn't if doesn't look busy the rest of the time.'

Semco has flexible working hours; the employees decide when they need to arrive at work. The employees also evaluate their bosses twice a year. Also, Semco lets its workers use the company's machines for their own projects, and makes them take holidays for at least thirty days a year.

It sounds perfect, but does it work? The answer is in the numbers:in the last six years, Senco's revenues have gone from $35 million to $212 million. The company has grown from eight hundred employees to 3, 000. why?

Semler says it's because of 'peer pressure'. Peer pressure makes everyone work hard for everyone else. If someone isn't doing his job well, the other workers will not allow the situation to continue. In other words, Ricardo Semler treat his workers like adults and expects them to act like adults. And they do.

1. What do employees at Semco do that they probably wouldn't do in other companies. Look at the list in Ex.1.

2. How does Semco and its staff look different from other companies?

3. Who is Rubin Agater and why he is important at Semco?

4. How does Semco show that it trusts its workers?

5. Do Semco's methods work? How do we know?

6. What is 'peer pressure' and why is it important at Semco?

Дата добавления: 2014-12-23