Workplace Trends (1)
SUMMARY
McMillan asks about recent trends in the workplace and Grace cites an employee benefit that has become particularly important for A&A staff. Salmans says that traditional performance reviews once conducted annually are now considered obsolete. Pearson adds that the atmosphere and clothing at workplaces have become more casual.
VIGNETTE
Pat McMillan: Now that Bill Nissen has boomeranged back to A&A, I'm seeing more and more people who left once and then return to the company in the course of just a few years. Boomeranging is all the rage now. Lidia, what else is happening in the office that's in line with current work place trends?
Lidia Grace: Well, maternity leave has become an important employee benefit. More companies are expanding their maternity benefits to compete for top talent and better retain current employees. We can expect this trend to accelerate in the next a few years because of the new baby boom created by the millennial generation.
Chuck Salmans: Another important trend I've learned about from Lidia is that annual performance reviews have become outdated. Employees think they're a clumsy, inaccurate way of delivering feedback. The trend now is toward more spontaneous and constructive ways of assessing people's work performance, instead of a formal evaluation once a year.
Paul Pearson: As we've all seen, office attire and workplace culture have become more casual. We can expect that to continue as more millennials join the workforce, and more people work remotely.
WORDS AND PHRASES
be all the rage 大きなブームである/大流行している
Be the latest popular trend; be very popular lately. "Yoga is all the rage these days". Or "Voluntourism is all the rage now". You can also say "the thing" or "the latest thing". Like "Wide neckties are the thing these days".
be all the rageに代わるものとして:
the thing /the latest thing
The latest thing in computers 最新のコンピュータ
in line with ～に合致にして/～に沿って
Or in keeping with; matching those trends; adjusting to those trends. "We're lowering our prices in line with market trends". Or "We're changing our design in line with consumer feedback".
employee benefit 従業員給付/従業員の福利厚生
Lidia Grace says, "Well, maternity leave has become an important employee benefit". A perk provided to employees. We also say "benefits" to refer to money that's paid to people who need financial help. Unemployment benefits are paid to people who are out of a job. Disability benefits to people who have suffered disability and can't work.
複数のbenefitsというと、従業員向けの金銭による給付ということ。人事の人たちはbenniesと略して言う。
compete for ～を求めてきそう/～の獲得競争をする
Grace could also say vie for top talent, v-i-e; try to be better than other companies so that talented people, top talent will work for you instead of other companies. "Students compete for scholarships". "Employees vie for promotions".
vie for top talent
top talent 最高の人材
retain 繋ぎ止める/保持する
Keep, in another words. "The team decided to retain their head coach for another year. And we also have the word "retainer" which can mean a fee paid to retain; to have on call the services of professional advisor like a lawyer, or consultant. "We have several tax attorneys on retainer".
retainer 弁護士、コンサルタントに支払う依頼料
活動の多少にかかわらず、毎月一定額を顧問料として支払うもの。
accelerate 加速する
annual performance review 年次業績評価/年次勤務評価
become outdated 時代遅れになる/陳腐化する
Become out of date, outmoded; no longer appropriate for a technology or ways of thinking. "He has very outdated ideas about women in the work place".
clumsy ぎこちない/下手な/扱いにくい
In this case "clumsy" means awkward, inefficient. A clumsy presentation might include confusing charts, for example. Or the speaker might talk too much about irrelevant things. And people who are physically awkward are also called clumsy ― if we trip a lot, drop things, bump into things. I'm very clumsy. Once I tripped and fell down some stairs.
physically clumsy
この場合のclumsyは、すぐにものを壊してしまうほど動きがぎこちない、といった意味。
inaccurate 不正確な
Not accurate; not correct. "The company released inaccurate sales data". Or to use the noun, "His bio had a few inaccuracies. He was born in 1965, not 1967".
deliver feedback フィードバックを与える/評価をする
spontaneous and constructive 自然で建設的な
assess 評価する
work performance 職務遂行能力/勤務成績
Down towards the bottom, Salmans says, "The trend now is toward more spontaneous and constructive ways of assessing people's work performance".
office attire オフィス用の服/仕事用の服
Attire usually refers to a specific kind of clothing. Like "Formal attire is required for this event. Men should wear black tie". It can also be a verb. In that case, it's usually "attired" and it's use mostly in writing. A newspaper article might say, "Fashionably attired celebrities gathered for the award ceremony".
office attireの反対はdaily attire 日常の服装
join the workforce 労働人口に加わる/社会に出る/社会人となる
work remotely インターネットを介して遠隔勤務をする/在宅勤務をする
WORD WATCH
maternity leave
産休/育休
ゴガクルの解説より:「母親が取得する出産と育児に関連した休業のこと。父親が取る場合には paternity leave だが、parental leave や family leave と呼ぶこともある。日本と違い、アメリカではまだ有給の休業制度があまり普及していない。」http://gogakuru.com/english/phrase/104782
SAY WHAT YOU MEAN
leave
Time-off for childbirth is maternity leave. As in "Carren's maternity leave will start six weeks before her due date".
accelerate
Another way to say speedup is accelerate. Such as "Sales of spring clothing have accelerated amid the warm weather".
constructive
Actions that promote improvement or development are constructive. For example, "Just yelling at employees doesn't fix anything. Offer constructive criticism".
QUOTE UNQUOTE
He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals. - Benjamin Franklin (U.S. statesman, diplomat, inventor and scientist)
自己愛が強い人にはライバルはいない - ベンジャミン・フランクリン (アメリカの議員、買い高官、発明家で科学者)
clumsyは,飲み物をこぼしたときに謝る言葉としてよく出てきますね。how clumsy of meとかtaht's very clumsy of meなど。
あと、映画「サウンドオブミュージック」の中で、トラップ大佐がナチス幹部にピシッと言い放つ印象に残る場面にもclumsyが使われていました。"Oh, how clumsy of me ― I meant to accuse you".