(单词翻译:单击)
视频欣赏
Background:
Philip Hart, CEO of IT peripherals company WebWare, gives Sales Director Brian O'Dell some bad news.
当老板给你的文件被你弄丢了，结果会是怎样呢？一起来看一下吧
【视频欣赏】
【Audioscript】
PH: You what? What do you mean? You’ve lost the DollarMart contract? Oh Brian, tell me you’re joking! That’s our biggest contract! And you’ve lost it!
Ok...ok...yes, I know you’ve had some personal problems recently...yes, sure...yes, I know our competitors have improved their offer...but, really Brian, these are just excuses...
Oh Brian, come on – you failed to meet agreed targets for the entire last quarter. We talked about this at your last performance review and I told you then it had to improve and to be quite honest – it hasn’t. Losing the DollarMart contract is the last straw... No, I’m sorry Brian that’s it, that’s your last chance. I’m going to have to let you go.
Let you go. Yes. That’s what it means Brian. You’re fired.
Hi Jess, can you put me through to Marcia in HR please?
Hi Marcia. It’s Philip here. Listen, I’ve had to let Brian go. He lost us the DollarMart account. Yeah, but it had been going on for a while, he just wasn’t pulling his weight anymore. He’d been warned – his last performance review was really bad. He knew it was coming...
So - we’ll be looking for someone new and we’ll need to decide on who that is...
Who are we looking for? Good question...I was hoping you might be able to help me with that! Here’s what I’m thinking and let me know if you agree.
Well, obviously, they’ll need to have a first degree, doesn’t matter what subject, and then a masters or an MBA, I’d say.
Experience? At least five years relevant experience, in an international company – I want somebody with a proven track record. Oh they have to be a team player – Brian never was – so strong interpersonal skills. Oh and I want someone with vision...yes, “vision” – I know it’s difficult to define, but what I mean is, someone who knows we’re in a rapidly changing market, and they can use it to our advantage.
Experience with online sales, perhaps – but yes, I’d be interested in that. Oh, language skills – I can’t emphasise that enough – not necessarily a native speaker, but they must be very good at English, and another language as well, Spanish, or Mandarin is best.
Does that sound ok to you? Great! Ok can you get an ad out on the website as soon as possible, and the trade press, as well? Ok great thanks Marcia I want a new sales director by the end of the month!
- END -
日积月累
【Glossary】
IT peripherals - a computer device, such as a CD-ROM drive or printer that is attached to the main computer 电脑配件
last quarter – a quarter is equal to three months. The financial year is usually broken up into the four quarters of the year, for example January to the end of March, April to the end of June and so on. 上季
performance review - also known as an employee appraisal, is a method by which the job performance of an employee is evaluated 工作考核
the last straw - the final irritation that stretches your patience beyond the limit. This comes from an Arab proverb about ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’. 救命稻草
let someone go – this is an informal expression to mean fire or sack somebody from their job. 解雇
HR – Human Resources - the personnel department of an organization, dealing with the recruitment, administration, management and training of employees; abbreviated as HR 人力资源部
to pull one’s weight - to do the work that one is obligated to. If you don’t pull your weight you are not doing your share of the workload. 做自己的本分工作
a degree - an award conferred by a college, university, or other postsecondary educational institution as official recognition for the successful completion of a program of studies. 文凭
a masters - An advanced degree, past your first degree, but before PhD MBA - a master's degree in business 硕士学位
a track record - someone's past performances viewed as a whole 记录
a team player –someone who works well as part of a team 团队工作者
interpersonal skills – the ability to relate well to other people 人际交流技巧
vision – a term used to describe an image of the future. In business terms it is a clear, detailed picture of what can be achieved. 梦想
trade press – magazines and newspapers that are written for a particular sector of an industry 公司专栏
实战商务小结
【Business notes】
Business Notes
In this episode WebWare’s CEO Philip Hart sacks his Sales Director for underperforming. Philip uses 2 expressions to do this. The first is I’m going to have to let you go which is quite a gentle way of expressing the fact. The second is You’re fired, which is a little more direct.
在今天的视频中，我们看到，网络公司的老板Philip Hart因自己的员工表现不佳，而将对方开除，他用了2个短语来表达这个意思，一个是比较委婉的“let you go”, 另一个则是比较直接的表达“you are fired你被开除了”。
There are even more ways to express this in English. Dismiss and discharge are both quite formal下面给大家列出一些其他的表示“开除”的短语和句子:
He was dismissed for turning up late on a regular basis.
The director was discharged of his duties.
Other less formal, but more colourful ways of saying the same thing are:
give someone the axe
give someone their cards
give someone the boot
