Synopsis

Transcript

PH: Sarah! Good to meet you again! And welcome on board!

ST: Thanks Philip, I’m very pleased to be here.

PH: I hope you enjoyed your holiday – where did you go?

ST: I went to Thailand...it was lovely - great beaches and lovely food...

PH: Lucky you! It’s time for hard work now, though!

ST: I’m ready for it!

MB: Let me show you to your office...

ST: I didn’t know I’d have my own office! So you don’t hot desk here?

MB: Well, most people do – as you can see - but we thought you’d need all your own private space...

PH: Yes, especially if you’re meeting clients directly...

MB: But the atmosphere is actually quite informal because it’s open plan.

ST: That’s good – I like that – you definitely get the sense of everyone being really busy!

PH: Yes, they are – I hope! 

MB: So – this is your space!

ST: Wow! Great – lots of space! My last office was much smaller...

PH: How many people did you work with there?

ST: I had a team of three.

PH: Well here you’ll have six people under you. We’ll introduce you to your sales team after lunch.

ST: Hmmm – that sounds good. What do you usually do for lunch?

MB: Some people bring it in, but there’s a canteen on the ground floor – the food’s actually quite good, and pretty cheap!

ST: Great.

PH: Now then, I’ll tell you about your schedule – there’s a sales and marketing meeting every Monday, as well as a meet up with the various heads of department on Thursday afternoon, just so we know what we’re doing...

MB: Other than that, how you organise your time is up to you...

ST: That’s fine – I’m a good time manager!

PH: Ok...we’ll leave you to it then!

ST: I think I’m going to like working here!

Glossary

on board - into an existing group or project

hot desk - the practice of using any available desk at work, instead of having a desk assigned to you

open plan - used to describe a large open undivided space, especially in a workplace

a canteen - place where food is served, especially at a military base or workplace

Business Notes

In the final video Sarah starts her first day at WebWare and Philip and Marcia show her around the office. Sarah is surprised to find that she doesn’t have to hot desk. Hot desking is the practice of using any available desk at work, instead of having a desk assigned to you and is quite common in UK companies. It is often associated with flexible working and work-life balance, two buzz words in corporate life these days.

Flexible working is a phrase that describes any working pattern adapted to suit the needs of the employee.

Common types of flexible working are:

part-time: working less than the normal hours, perhaps by working fewer days per week

flexi-time: choosing when to work (there's usually a core period during which you have to work) compressed hours: working your agreed hours over fewer days

staggered hours: different starting, break and finishing times for employees in the same workplace

job sharing: sharing a job designed for one person with someone else home working: working from home