【一起听英语】经理

经理这一工作薪酬会比普通员工的高，但同时也要面临更多的工作上的压力，经理的职责是什么？

Rob: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com. My

name is Rob and I’m joined in the studio by Finn.

Finn: Hello. Today, we’re talking about managers – they are the people who

boss us around – in other words, tell us what to do. Don’t they Rob?

Rob: Well not our manager Finn – he is an example of a perfect manager – he

is inspirational – he is someone to look up to and admire!

Finn: Oh, yes, that’s right Rob – he might be listening! So apart from our

manager, we are discussing the question: what are managers for? And

we’ll be looking at some related words and phrases.

Rob: I imagine being a manager is a demanding and stressful job.

Finn: Yes but it sometimes comes with good financial reward – some

managers do get paid well.

Rob: Yes that’s probably why one demanding and stressful job - managing a

football team - comes with a big financial reward in many countries. And

for today’s question do you know who was the world’s highest paid

football manager in 2012? Was it:

a) Sir Alex Ferguson

b) Jose Mourinho

c) Fabio Capello

Finn: I think Ferguson or Mourinho. Mourinho was managing Real Madrid in

2012 so I’ll say him.

Rob: We’ll find out if you’re right at the end of the programme. But now let’s

talk more about everyday managers – the sort we work for or with –

people who run our departments, companies or schools and colleges.

Finn: There are a lot of them Rob. It’s been reported that in the UK there are

now five million managers – that’s ten times as many as there were 100

years ago. So what are they all doing?

Rob: I suppose they’re making important decisions for their businesses, and

have good organisational skills. They have to manage their staff too –

that’s people like you and me Finn. 

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Finn: Ah yes, a good manager needs good people skills – that’s where they

can talk and listen to a variety of people who all have different needs and

abilities.

Rob: A good manager is also approachable and they deal with problems quickly

and fairly too. What do you think makes a bad manager Finn?

Finn: One that is concerned about hierarchy 1 – so that’s their position in the

company. They want to show who is boss but actually they achieve very

little. Rob, you’ve been a manager, what was it like for you?

Rob: I was more of a middle manager, so I reported to the senior manager

but was managing a small team of producers. It was like spinning lots of

plates – so trying to do many things at the same time, speaking to

different people, organising the rota and attending many meetings.

Finn: All important things Rob. Maybe managers are necessary to keep

everything working smoothly 2 – and let’s face it, someone has to take

charge and make decisions.

Rob: True. But many of us think we are managers because of our job title –

that’s the name we are given at work. It’s something the author and

journalist Lucy Kellaway has been speaking about on BBC radio.

Finn: See if you can hear some of the job titles she mentions here:

Lucy Kellaway, author:

Even if you don't actually manage anyone, your title pretends you do. So a conductor is

a train manager. An administrator 3 is an office manager. A technician is an IT manager.

We've all become obsessed 4 with management.

Rob: So Lucy Kellaway says some job titles are false – they are made up and

pretend to be a managerial title when they are not. For example, we heard

a train manager…

Finn: That’s someone who sells tickets – we call them a conductor. And we

heard an office manager…

Rob: That’s an administrator – someone dealing 5 with paperwork and the dayto-day

running of the office. And what about an IT manager?

Finn: That’s really a technician. Other job titles have also been exaggerated or

changed so that people worried about their status can feel happier – titles

like executive 6, director or principal.

Rob: We could argue that everyone’s job involves some kind of managing: I’m

managing this programme by moving the faders in the studio and asking

you to read the script.

Finn: So instead of your normal job title – producer – what job title could you

give yourself? 

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Rob: I’m the director of programme engineering! How does that sound?

Finn: Or creative director? That is perhaps taking the definition of manager too

far. If we end up having too many managers who is going to do all the

real work? Me I expect!

Rob: There’s no time Finn, it’s time to reveal the answer to today’s question.

Earlier I asked you if you knew who is the world’s highest paid football

manager?

Finn: And I said Jose Mourinho.

Rob: And you were right! He earned over £12 million in 2012.

Finn: That is a lot. Maybe it’s time for me to work my way up the career

ladder, get a better job and earn some serious money!

Rob: It’s time to go now but do join us again for another edition of 6 Minute

English from BBC Learning English. Bye!

Finn: Bye!