Human resources

With so many people looking for a job, finding people to work for a company might seem very easy. However, finding and recruiting the best quality candidates is not an easy task. This is one of the jobs of the Human Resources Department (HR), they recruit the best people for the organization.

Usually, large companies have a formal hiring process which involves different steps. First, the decision is made whether recruitment is necessary, then the job description is prepared. The needs of the organization should be described in the job advertisement. In general, a job advertisement should include: a brief description of the organization, a description of the position, the duties and responsibilities, the qualifications required for the post, the salary and benefits attached to the post, the application deadline, the start date and a request for references. Once the description is prepared, plans are made on how and when this will be advertised.

Job advertisements have often been used as a method of recruitment, but there are others:

• Internal recruitment: existing employees are given the opportunity to apply for a vacancy, what sometimes is called “internal promotion”. The advantage of this sort of recruitment is that it not only rewards employees, but it also retains the organisation’s investment in the employee. At the same time, it reduces the amount of time necessary to train the person for the new position and the costs of recruitment.
• Employee referrals: employees are asked to recommend a person for the new job position because employees mostly refer to people who would be a good match for the position and the organisation. The advantage is that employees recruited by this system usually have some understanding of the work of the organisation. The disadvantage is that this system goes against the equality of opportunities and it often results in a high social cost for the company.
• Internet recruiting: the job is posted on an internet job website. The most outstanding advantages of this method are that the Internet job postings are available to potential candidates 24 hours a day and that most job-seekers looking for jobs use the Internet, so there is a wider range of candidates to choose from.

After receiving the applications, candidates are usually invited for interviews and selection tests. Psychometric tests help to assess an individual’s character and abilities, and they are often used to ensure that a candidate is suitable for a specific role. The most frequent kinds of psychometric tests measure cognitive abilities, e.g. numerical and verbal reasoning tests. In addition, many test batteries evaluate personality traits and decision making, e.g. personality questionnaires and Situational Judgement Tests (SJT).

When people work together, there is an unavoidable potential for conflict because individuals often have different characters and different points of view and therefore conflicts usually arise in the workplace. Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of workplace conflicts: conflicts of ideas, which happen when two people have opposite ideas about a specific issue, and a personality clash, that is, when two members of an organization simply do not get along.

Workplace conflicts may be a costly problem because they can lead to downturns in productivity and increases in absenteeism, but it may also be productive if it is managed skillfully. An effective conflict management will neither affect work productivity nor the health and quality of life of people at the workplace. On the contrary, it might be a good opportunity of improving the work conditions and the productivity of the business.

When a conflict at work arises, it is important to recognize and understand the possible causes, characteristics and solutions in order to solve the problem. To do so, it is advisable to follow these steps:

• Identify the problem.
• Talk it out until everyone agrees that there is a problem.
• Allow every person involved to clarify their perspectives and opinions about the problem.
• Identify the ideal end result from each party’s point of view.
• Figure out what can realistically be done to discover newer and deeper levels of understanding.
• Find an area of compromise or try to identify long-term goals which mean something to everyone.

Many conflicts at work happen between the workers and the management as a result of the difference in their respective interests. In order to defend their rights, the workers have organized themselves in trade unions. In many companies, the unions and the management have signed a collective bargaining agreement, which is a document that guarantees the rights of the workers. When there is a conflict between the workers and the management, the former may go on strike and stop the production of a company in order to put pressure on the management.

Very often, conflicts also arise between the company and the customers, especially when the customer is not satisfied with the product or the service which he or she has received. To deal with this type of conflicts, many companies have a customer service.

If you are in charge of a customer service and receive a complaint, you should remember to remain always polite, no matter how aggressively the customer might act. Explain things clearly and be sure that the other person understands what can be done. Do not hesitate to admit your own fault, if this might be the case, and do not promise any action that cannot be accomplished.

The job interview is one of the significant factors in hiring, which will help the employer to determine if the candidate’s qualifications, experience, workplace preferences, and salary needs are congruent with the position and the organization.

Before going for a job interview, candidates should prepare for it. First, they should conduct a research about the company or organization and read the job description thoroughly. They should also locate the place for the interview and plan the trip to reach there on time. They should dress properly, and feel confident. Previously, they should review common interview questions and prepare responses. See an example below:

Expressing a wish or give an opinion are very common functions in oral communication. We spend most of or time expressing our wishes and our opinions, or listening to other people’s. There are different ways of expressing a wish and giving opinions, so we should be familiar with all of them to choose the most appropriate way in each situation.

There are different options to express a wish in English. The most common one is with the expression would like, but we can also use the verb wish (Cat. desitjar) and a number of other expressions.

We can use would like in different sentence structures to refer either to the present, to the past and to the future.

1. Wishes referring to the present and to the future:

A) I WOULD LIKE + TO + BASE FORM + …

• I would like to see you. (Cat. Et voldria veure.)
• I would like to stay a little longer. (Cat. Em voldria quedar una mica més / M’agradaria quedar-me una mica més.)

B) I WOULD LIKE + DIRECT OBJECT + TO + BASE FORM + …

• I would like Mr Johnson to be nicer. (Cat. M’agradaria que Mr Johnson fos més simpàtic.)
• I would like you to call the director right now. (Cat. Voldria que truquessis al director ara mateix.)

C) I WOULD LIKE + NOUN

• I would like a coffee. (Cat. Voldria un cafè.)
• I would like a new opportunity. (Cat. Voldria una nova oportunitat.)

2. Wishes referring to the past:

D) I WOULD HAVE LIKED + TO + BASE FORM …

• I would have liked to be elected. (Cat. M’hagués agradat haver sortit elegit.)
• I would have liked to speak better French. (Cat. M’hagués agradat parlar millor el francès.)

E) I WOULD HAVE LIKED + DIRECT OBJECT + TO + BASE FORM…

• I would have liked him to be more polite. (Cat. M’hagués agradat que [ell] hagués estat més educat.)
• I would have liked the job to be more interesting. (Cat. M’hagués agradat que la feina fos més interessant.)

This verb appears in different sentence structures to express a wish in the past, the present or the future. The past tense of wish (wished) is very little used.

1. Wishes referring to the present and to the future:

A) I WISH + (THAT) + SUBJECT + VERB IN PAST SIMPLE + …

• I wish (that) you were more sociable. (Cat. Tant de bo fossis més sociable.)
• I wish (that) you came with us next week. (Cat. Tant de bo vinguessis amb nosaltres la setmana que ve.)

B) I WISH + TO + BASE FORM

• I wish to speak to you as soon as possible. (Cat. Voldria parlar amb tu el més aviat possible.)
• I wish to tell you something. (Cat. Voldria dir-te una cosa.)

C) I WISH + INDIRECT OBJECT + DIRECT OBJECT

• I wish you a very good morning. (Cat. Et desitjo un molt bon dia.)
• I wish the new secretary good luck. (Cat. A la nova secretària li desitjo bona sort.)

D) I WISH + FOR + NOUN

• I wish for a glass of water. (Cat. Voldria un got d’aigua.)
• I wish for a better salary. (Cat. Voldria un salari millor.)

2. Wishes referring to the past:

E) I WISH + (THAT) + SUBJECT + VERB IN PAST PERFECT (had + past participle)…

• I wish (that) I had been here before. (Cat. Tant de bo hagués estat aquí abans.)
• I wish (that) I had taken an umbrella. (Cat. Tant de bo hagués agafat un paraigua.)

Other verbs that can be used to express wishes are want (Cat. voler) and desire (Cat. desitjar). The difference in the use of want and wish is that want is used for something which is possible to obtain, whereas wish usually refers to something which is more difficult to obtain. On the other hand, Desire has the same meaning as wish, but it is used in more formal situations. Sometimes, the expression If only … (Cat. Si almenys …) is used instead of wish.

The uses of these forms are the following:

A) I WANT/DESIRE + TO + BASE FORM + …

• I want to go to Mr Smith’s speech tonight. (Cat. Aquesta nit vull anar a la conferència de Mr Smith.)
• I desire to be alone, please. (Cat. desitjo estar sol, si us plau.)
• I wanted to come earlier, but it was impossible. (Cat. Volia venir abans, però ha estat impossible.)

B) I WANT/DESIRE + DIRECT OBJECT + TO + BASE FORM + …

• I want you to sit down and listen. (Cat. Vull que seguis i escoltis.)
• I desired him to relax, but he was hysterical. (Cat. Desitjava que es calmés, però estava histèric.)

C) I WANT/DESIRE + NOUN

• I wanted some paper for the printer. (Cat. Volia paper per a la impressora.)
• I desire a peaceful evening. (Cat. Desitjo una tarda tranquil·la.)

D) IF ONLY + SUBJECT + VERB IN PAST SIMPLE… (referring to the present and to the future)

• If only I had money! (Cat Si almenys tingués diners!)
• If only you were a little more intelligent! (Cat. Si almenys fossis una mica més intel·ligent!)

E) IF ONLY + SUBJECT + VERB IN PAST PERFECT… (referring to the past)

• If only I had taken the mobile! (Cat. Si almenys hagués agafat el mòbil!)
• If only they had finished their work! (Cat: Si almenys haguessin acabat la feina!)

There are different ways of expressing our opinions and asking for and responding to other people’s opinions.

Asking for an opinion:

• What do you think of (the salaries)? (Cat. Què opines [dels salaris]?)
• Do you think that (the salaries are good)? (Cat. Creus que [els salaris estan bé]?)
• Do you believe in (justice)? (Cat. Creus en [la justícia]?)
• What’s your opinion about (the salaries)? (Cat. Quina és la teva opinió sobre [els salaris]?)
• What does the company think about (the present crisis)? (Cat. Què en pensa l’empresa de [la crisi actual]?)

Giving an opinion:

The most common ways of expressing opinions are:

• With the verb think (Cat. creure, opinar)
• With the verb believe (Cat. creure)

We can use both verbs indistinctly, but believe expresses a stronger opinion than think.

The common syntactical structure to these verbs is:

A) SUBJECT + THINK/BELIEVE + (THAT) + CLAUSE

In the spoken language, we can omit the conjunction that.

Here are some examples:

• I think (that) the film is very interesting. (Cat. Crec/Opino que la pel·lícula és molt interessant.)
• I think (that) you should wait a little longer. (Cat. Crec/Opino que hauries d’esperar una mica més.)
• I think (that) you shouldn’t talk to your boss like that. (Cat. Crec/Opino que no hauries de parlar-li així, al teu cap.)
• I believe (that) he has been wrong to leave his wife. (Cat. Crec que ha fet malament de deixar la seva dona.)
• I don’t believe (that) we can get out of this crisis so easily. (Cat. No crec que puguem sortir tan fàcilment d’aquesta crisi.)

The verb believe can also have the following structure:

B) SUBJECT + BELIEVE + IN + NOUN

For example:

• I believe in justice. (Cat. crec en la justícia.)
• I don’t believe in people’s stupidity. (Cat. No crec en l’estupidesa de la gent.)

Apart from verbs think and believe, we can introduce an opinion with a some expressions, as for example:

• In my opinion,… (Cat. En la meva opinió,…)
• In my view,… (Cat. En la meva opinió,…)
• From my point of view,… (Cat. Des del meu punt de vista,…)
• As far as I’m concerned,… (Cat. Pel que a mi respecta,…)
• As I see it,… (Cat. Tal com jo ho veig,…)

All these expressions are placed at the beginning of the sentence and, in the written form, they are separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma (,).

Examples:

• In my opinion, the director should resign. (Cat. En la meva opinió, el director hauria de dimitir.)
• In my view, you should take the bus to come to work. (Cat. En la meva opinió, hauries de venir a treballar en autobús.)
• From my point of view, the salaries are too low. (Cat. Des del meu punt de vista, els salaris són massa baixos.)
• As far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t say anything. (Cat. Pel que a mi respecta, jo no diria res.)
• As I see it, we shouldn’t go on strike. (Cat. Tal com jo ho veig, no hauríem de fer vaga.)

When people respond to an opinion, they can agree or disagree with that opinion. Accordingly, we can respond to an opinion in the following way:

• I agree. (Cat. Hi estic d’acord.)
• I don’t agree. (Cat. No hi estic d’acord.)
• I disagree. (Cat. No hi estic d’acord.)

For example:

• I think we should do something big. - Yes, I agree.
• I think Emma should learn English. - I disagree/I don’t agree (I think French is more appropriate in her case).

Other options to respond to opinions are these:

• I share/don’t share your opinion. (Cat. Comparteixo/No comparteixo la teva opinió.)
• I’m of the same opinion as you. (Cat. Sóc de la teva mateixa opinió.)
• I’ve got the same/a different opinion. (Cat. Tinc la mateixa/una altra opinió.)
• I don’t see things that way. (Cat. Jo no ho veig d’aquesta manera.)

To respond to opinions, it is very common to use expressions like: so do I, neither do I, etc. These expressions have a special structure:

• To agree: I believe he should wait. - So do I. (Cat. Jo també.)
• To agree: I believe he shouldn’t wait. - Neither do I. (Cat. Jo tampoc.)
• To disagree: I think he should wait. - But I don’t. (Cat. Doncs jo no.)
• To disagree: I think he shouldn’t wait. - But I do. (Cat. Doncs jo sí.)

The correct structures are the following:

1. Agree to affirmative statements:

• SO + AUXILIARY VERB/MODAL + SUBJECT

Examples:

• I like swimming. - So do I / So does John, etc.
• He’s very intelligent. - So am I / So are we / So is my little daughter, etc.
• You can speak English very well. - So can you / So can Laura, etc.

2. Agree to negative statements:

• NEITHER + AUXILIARY VERB/MODAL + SUBJECT

Examples:

• I don’t like swimming. - Neither do I / Neither do we / Neither does she, etc.
• He’s not very intelligent. - Neither are you / Neither am I / Neither is my daughter, etc.
• You can’t speak English very well. - Neither can you / Neither can Mr Larson, etc.

3) Disagree to affirmative statements:

• BUT + SUBJECT + AUXILIARY VERB/MODAL (in negative)

Examples:

• I like swimming. - But I don’t / But John doesn’t, etc.
• He’s very intelligent. - But I’m not / But we aren’t / But my daughter isn’t, etc.
• You can speak English very well. - But you can’t / But Mr Larson can’t, etc.

4) Disagree to negative statements:

• BUT + SUBJECT + AUXILIARY VERB/MODAL (in affirmative)

Examples:

• I don’t like swimming. - But I do / But John does, etc.
• He isn’t very intelligent. - But I am / But we are / But my daughter is, etc.
• You can’t speak English very well. - But you can / But Mr Larson can, etc.

The term ‘question tag’ refers to a short question which we add to a statement to make sure that the other person has heard or understood what said. Question tags are used in the spoken language. The Catalan equivalent to an English question tag would be: oi?, no és cert? The Spanish equivalent would be ¿verdad?, ¿no es cierto?

In English, the question tags are more complex than in Catalan or Spanish because the structure depends on the sentence to which it is attached.

Here are the different structures of the question tags.

1) Affirmative statements:

• AUXILIARY/MODAL VERB (in negative) + SUBJECT (pronoun)

Examples:

• Peter is always on time, isn’t he? (Cat. En Peter sempre és puntual, oi?)
• You can come at the weekends, can’t you? (Cat. Pots venir els caps de setmana, oi que sí?)
• Mary speaks German, doesn’t she? (Cat. la Mary parla alemany, no?)

2) Negative statements:

• AUXILIARY/MODAL VERB (in affirmative) + SUBJECT (pronoun)

Examples:

• They haven’t had dinner yet, have they? (Cat. Encara no has sopat, oi que no?)
• We shouldn’t eat in the office, should we? (Cat. No hauriem de menjar al despatx, oi que no?)
• You don’t like computers, do you? (Cat. No t’agraden els ordinadors, oi que no?)

We use a type of sentence called the reported speech when we repeat or explain what has been said before. What people actually say is called direct speech. In the written language, the direct speech is always in inverted commas (”…”).

Here is an example of a sentence in direct speech and in the reported speech:

• Direct speech: “I never get up before eight,” John said.
• Reported speech: John said that he never got up before eight.

A sentence in the reported speech is composed of:

1) A main clause: John said…
2) A subordinate clause: …that he never got up before eight.

The verb in the main clause is called reporting verb. Typically, the reporting verbs are: say, tell, explain, ask, etc. They are generally in the past simple. The structure of the suborninate (or reported) clause depends on whether we are reporting a statement, a questions, a command, a request or a suggestion.

The reported statements have the following characteristics:

• The most common reporting verbs are: said, told, explained, and a few others. Their use depends on how accurate we want to be in our description, but said and told are good for all occasions.
• The reported statement is introduced by the conjunction that. In spoken language, that is often omitted.

Examples of reported statements:

• Direct speech: “We don’t like sports very much”, Stephanie said.
• Reported speech: Stephanie said that they didn’t like sports very much.

• Direct speech: Mr Larson: “The company will invest in new areas”.
• Reported speech: Mr Larson explained that the company would invest in new areas.

• Direct speech: “I wasn’t at home last night”, Jack told me.
• Reported speech: Jack told me that he hadn’t been at home the night before.

• Direct speech: Mary Anne: “Look! My parents have given me these earrings as a Christmas present”.
• Reported speech: Mary Anne said that her parents had given her those earrings as a Christmas present.

We should distinguish between yes/no questions and wh-questions. The structure is a little different in one case or the other.

Reporting yes/no questions:

The characteristics of reported yes/no questions are the following:

• The most common reporting verb is asked.
• The reported question is introduced with the conjunction if or whether (Cat. si), with no difference in meaning. This conjunction is never omitted in the spoken language.
• The reported question has the same syntactical structure of a statement.

Here are some examples of reported yes/no questions:

• Direct speech: “Are you happy in your new job, Matias?”, I asked him.
• Reported speech: I asked Matias if he was happy in his new job.

• Direct speech: Sandra: “Did you go out yesterday?”
• Reported speech: Sandra asked me if I had gone out the night before.

• Direct speech: “Have you ever been to New Zealand?, Maggie asked me.”
• Reported speech: Maggie asked me whether I had ever been to New Zealand.

Reported wh-questions:

The characteristics of wh-questions are the same as those of yes/no questions, except for the following:

• the reported wh-question is introduced by the interrogative pronoun of the direct speech.

Examples of reported wh-questions:

• Direct speech: Danny: “How old are your children?”
• Reported speech: Danny asked me how old my children were.

• Direct speech: “When did you start working in this company?”, Peter asked Laura.
• Reported speech: Peter asked Laura when she had started working in that company.

• Direct speech: Bob: “Why didn’t you tell me that you had no money?”
• Reported speech: Bob asked me why I hadn’t told him that I had no money.

Reported commands, suggestions and requests have some distinctive characteristics. For this reason, it is necessary to study them in a separate section.

Reported commands:

The characteristics of reported commands are these:

• Typical reporting verbs are: asked (me), told (me), ordered (me).
• There is no conjunction to introduce the reported command.
• In reported commands, the verb is expressed in the infinitive form with the preposition to. In negative, the correct form is not to.

Examples of reported commands:

• Direct speech: Mr Wilson: “Come here, Jane!”.
• Reported speech: Mr Wilson asked Jane to go there.

• Direct speech: “Don’t leave until you finish you work!”, the boss ordered Jim.
• Reported speech: The boss ordered Jim not to leave until he had finished his work.

Reported suggestions:

The characteristics of reported suggestions are these:

• The reporting verb is: suggested (me).
• The reporting clause is with that and (usually) the modal should.
• With the reporting verb suggest, we can also use the gerund (V-ing) in the reported suggestion.

Examples of reported suggestions:

• Direct speech: “Let’s go to the mountains next summer”, Teresa suggested.
• Reported speech (I): Teresa suggested that we should go to the mountains the following summer/next summer.
• Reported speech (II): Teresa suggested going to the mountains the following summer/next summer.

• Direct speech: “Why don’t you speak to Mr Jameson about this?”, Peter suggested.
• Reported speech (I): Peter suggested that I should speak to Mr Jameson about that.
• Reported speech (II): Peter suggested speaking to Mr Jameson about that.

Reported requests:

The characteristics of reported requests are these:

• Requests are very much like commands.
• The reporting verbs are usually asked (me) or told (me).
• In reported requests, the verb is expressed in the infinitive form with the preposition to.
• In reported requests, we can also use the modal verbs could or would.

Examples of reported requests:

• Direct speech: “Could you speak louder, please?”, the audience told me.
• Reported speech (I): The audience told me to speak louder.
• Reported speech (II): The audience asked me if I could speak louder.

• Direct speech: “Will you translate this text for me please?”, Mark asked me”.
• Reported speech (I): Peter asked me to translate that text for him.
• Reported speech (II): Peter asked me if I would translate that text for him”.

• Direct speech: Can you help me?”, Sarah asked me.
• Reported speech (I): Sarah asked me to help her.
• Reported speech (II): Sarah asked me if I could help her.

When we need to change a sentence from direct speech to reported speech, we should consider the following:

• In the reported statement, the pronouns must maintain the same reference as in the direct speech. This means that we must often change the pronouns to adapt them to the new point of view.
• We must change the verb tense in the reported statement because there is a change in the time reference. The reported statement usually refers to words that were pronounced in the past.
• We must also change other elements like demonstratives and adverbial expressions of time to adapt them to the new point of view and maintain their validity.

The table shows the different changes that take place when changing from direct speech into reported speech.

Here is a practical example to help you change a sentence from the direct speech to the reported speech.

Imagine that you need to report the following question:

• “Where does your brother live?”, Mr Smith asked me.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. What type of sentence do I need to report? It is a wh-question, so I must think about the characteristics of reported wh-questions and remember an example that can serve me as a guide.
2. Which is the structure of the reported speech? The structure is: a main clause (which includes the reporting verb) and a subordinate clause (the reported question).
3. Which are the subject and the verb of the main clause? The subject is Mr Smith and the verb is asked me. So I can start like this: Mr Smith asked me…
4. How do I introduce a reported wh-question? I introduce it with the interrogative pronoun, so I must say: Mr Smith asked me where….
5. Which is the correct structure of a reported question? It is the same structure of a statement, so I must not use the auxiliary verb does. The correct structure is: S+V (conjugated in the correct tense).
6. What elements of the question do I need to change?: I need to change the verb tense because we change the time reference, and also the pronoun you because we change our point of view.
7. Do I need to change the subject, too? Sometimes we must change it, but not in this example because it is in the third person (your brother).
8. How do I change the verb and the pronoun? For the verb, I can check the list of changes: the verb in direct speech is does live and this is present simple, and the table says that the present simple changes to past simple, so the form must be lived (I should remember not to use the auxiliary verb do because it is a reported question, not a direct question).
9. And the pronoun? I must adapt it to my point of view because I am the person speaking. Mr Smith said to me: your bother, so this is my brother.
10. Is that all? Yes, that’s all. Now I can write the reported sentence: Mr Smith asked me where.., but I must think of the correct order: where lived my brother or where my brother lived? The correct order is: S+V, as in a statement, so it is: …where my brother lived.
11. Therefore, which is the correct sentence? The correct sentence is: Mr Smith asked me where my brother lived.