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Changes - verbs 1

Learn the vocabulary in English to talk about the many changes that take place in a company or organization :

'to promote' = to move someone up to a higher position in the organization.

• He handed his notice in last month when he didn't get promoted to senior manager.
• She wants to be promoted to supervisor but doesn't have the interpersonal skills for that job yet.

'to renew' = to make new, to extend the life or replace something.

• I originally had a two-year contract but it has been renewed twice.
• We need to renew the work permits for the foreign workers who have been here a year.

'to lay off' = to make redundant, to stop employing someone

• When we closed the warehouse, we laid off more than fifty people.
• Technological advances means that we have had to lay off more and more unskilled workers.

'to demote' = to move someone to a lower level in the hierarchy

• She was demoted after the terrible changeover to the new accounting system.
• Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to demote anyone who does not live up to expectations.

'to sideline' = to not promote someone, to move them to a position with less effective power

• When the new CEO was nominated, he was sidelined to another department.
• After a period as a very ineffectual head of department, he was sidelined until he retired.

'to replace' = to exchange one thing for another, to put a person in the job of someone else.

• Ken replaced Tanya when she left to pursue another career.
• When David left, he was replaced by two people as the job had grown enormously.

'to retire' = to stop working due to ill health or age.

• Jack suffers from ill health and has had to retire early.
• The statutory age for retirement is 60 although people often retire early if they can.

'to increase' = to get bigger in amount or size.

• Contributions that employees pay increased faster than salaries so cutting their net incomes.
• Even though profits have increased, we are not in a position to increase salaries above the rate of inflation.

'to expand' = to increase in size, number or importance.

• We have expanded our retail operations very quickly over the last three years.
• The company expanded very quickly in the 1990s but has since stopped growing so fast.

'to restructure' = to organize a business or system in a new way to make it more efficient.

• Currently we are restructuring our organization and dividing it into five cost centres.
• He lost his job when the company restructured the department.

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Changes - verbs 2

Learn the vocabulary in English to talk about the many changes that take place in a company or organization :

'to streamline' = to improve the effectiveness of parts of an organization, often by simplifying procedures.

• We are streamlining the procedure to cut the time it takes to deliver to the customer.
• Streamlining administration and giving more responsibility to individuals will reduce costs considerably.

'to relocate' = to move to a new place

• Production is being relocated to Bulgaria next year creating lots of redundancies here.
• My company paid all the costs when I was relocated to my previous job in Scotland.

'to relax' = to make a rule less strict or severe.

• Unfortunately we can't relax the no-smoking ban. The law won't permit it.
• We have relaxed the dress code considerably and now people often wear jeans to the office.

'to enforce' = to impose a rule more strictly or to make people follow a rule.

• For health and safety reasons, we have to enforce the no-smoking rules.
• It is extremely difficult to enforce time-keeping rules without some form of electronic system.

'to adjust' = to change something a little to make it correct or suitable.

• We are adjusting the salary scales so that they reflect present responsibilities better.
• Salaries are adjusted annually according to the rate of inflation and the financial results.

'to reduce' = to make smaller in size, quantity or importance.

• We have reduced the number of workers with the introduction of more modern technology.
• In order to reduce expenditure in the department, we have introduced several cost-cutting measures.

'to deteriorate' = to become worse

• Morale has deteriorated since the rumours of closure began.
• Sales figures have continued to deteriorate despite the launch of the latest version.

'to downsize' = to make a company or organization smaller by reducing the number of people working for it.

• The organization has a plan to downsize in order to reduce costs.
• Many organizations downsized during the 1980s when new technologies were introduced.

'to phase in' = to introduce something in stages over a period of time

• The changes in pay scales will be phased in over the next three years.
• The new organization will be phased in gradually starting here in head office.

'to phase out' = to remove or stop doing something gradually over a period of time.

• That line of products has been phased out and replaced by the new range.
• It has taken us six months to phase out the old software and introduce the new.

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Useful phrasal verbs 1

Learn the most common phrasal verbs used in Human Resources in English:

'close down' = to shut

• We have closed down the small local branches and created bigger regional offices.
• The factory closed down in the 1970's because it was too expensive to produce here.

'fight against' = to make an effort to stop something happening

• All the workers fought against the closure but the plant was no longer profitable.
• The unions have been fighting against the proposed changes as they think it will mean job losses.

'go back on something' = to change an agreement

• We had come to an agreement but now she has gone back on it.
• The company promised to review the situation but went back on its word and didn't.

'put back' = to postpone, delay in time

• They promised to make a decision today but it has been put back until next week.
• My visit has been put back until a later date when it will be easier to plan.

'fall behind' = not risen as fast as, fail to do something as fast as required

• We have fallen behind schedule. It won't be completed on time.
• Our salaries have fallen behind the national average with the small increase we have had.

'turn down' = to refuse, not accept

• We offered a two per cent increase but it was turned down.
• We offered him a much higher salary but he turned it down and didn't join our team.

'fill in for someone' = to replace someone during an absence

• I need to brief the person who will be filling in for me while I am on maternity.
• I filled in for Jamie while he was on holiday.

'back someone up' = to support or to help

• Whenever there is a dispute with someone in my team, my manager always backs me up.
• Nobody backed him up when he said he had been discriminated against.

'work out' = to calculate

• I don't know how much holiday I have left. I need to work it out.
• We need to work out how much this is really going to cost.

'drag on' = to last a long time, go on longer than anticipated

• The negotiations are dragging on. I think we'll never reach an agreement.
• The meeting dragged on and on. I thought I'd never get home.

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Common Phrasal Verbs 2

In English, we use a lot of phrasal verbs. These are verbs with more than one part; the verb and one or two particles. Let's continue looking at some of the most common in the area of Human Resources:

'get on' = to have a good relationship

• I don't like my boss. We just don't get on.
• The atmosphere is terrible. He doesn't get on with his co-workers.

'follow up' = to find out more about or take further action on something.

• Before we offer her the job, we need to follow up on her references.
• The training is followed up by regular refresher courses over a six-month period.

'set up' = to arrange for an activity or event to happen

• I'd like to discuss it further. Can we set up a meeting?
• I've set up interviews with the remaining three candidates.

'make up' = do or pay extra to cover a difference.

• I'd like to leave early on Friday. I'll make up the time next week.
• There was an error in your expenses. We'll make up the difference next month.

'hand in' = to give something

• He's leaving at the end of the month. He has handed in his resignation.
• I haven't handed my time sheet in yet. I must do it now.

'work out' your notice = to continue working through the period after you have resigned.

• They asked him to leave immediately. He didn't have to work out his notice.
• He negotiated a deal so he didn't have to work out his notice and could leave sooner.

'sort out' = to resolve

• We don't know who is going to replace Sue. We have to sort it out soon.
• I have finally sorted out the error on the time sheets. It's all correct now.

'carry on' = to continue

• We still haven't found a suitable candidate. We'll have to carry on looking.
• Until we get the new software installed, we'll have to carry on using the old.

'back out' = to decide not to do something previously agreed.

• They had agreed to do it but then backed out.
• He had accepted the post but backed out at the last minute so we're considering other candidates.

'go with' = to adopt or support an idea or plan.

• I think your idea is a good one. I think we should go with it.
• We're not really sure which agency to go with. We don't think any of them are really what we are really looking for.

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