Talking about CULTURE at work - Business English vocabulary lesson (Ep.63)

Workplace culture is important, but sometimes what a company says it does and what it actually does are two different things. Today we talk about the vocabulary that native English speakers use to talk about this problem at work. So when your company's goals don't match how they use their resources, or their values don't match how they treat their staff, today you'll learn the vocabulary you can use to discuss this in a natural and native sounding way.

If you speak English at work and want to sound more native and natural when talking to colleagues, customers, or clients, then I hope that the vocabulary, grammar, and communication tips in today's episode will be useful for you. 

🔗 Book a one-to-one coaching session with me at breakoutbusinessenglish.com
🎁 Use code PODCAST30 for 30% off your first coaching session

Do you want to see what I do? Click here:
https://youtu.be/MYsqlV3nkHs?si=mn3dXVAz5MF1dgSW

Also, if you're studying for the IELTS, TOEFL, or Cambridge English tests and exams then you might find some of the vocabulary in this episode really useful.

This podcast is all about helping you to communicate better, in English, at work. I work with international English speakers from around the world who use English, at work, as a second or third language and I hope that I can bring some of the ideas, vocabulary, and grammar, from those sessions, to you in this podcast.

Don’t forget that my full time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills. So, if you need English to do your job but don’t speak it natively then maybe we can work together to help you to achieve your language goals. 

👉 Don’t forget to leave a review, and request future topics!
📅 New episodes released every Wednesday
📺 Watch English speaking analysis on the Breakout Business English YouTube channel

#businessenglish #englishtips #englishclass #ielts

Transcript

Welcome back to the breakout business English podcast. My name is Chris. I'm a business English and communication coach and I have personally worked with over 1,000 international professionals likely just like you to improve the way that they communicate That's work. In English. Thank you so much for listening and for your time. I really do know how valuable it is. And our topic today is a little bit psychological. But definitely necessary for the modern workplace. And today we're talking about cultural dissonance. Cultural dissonance and we'll come on to what that noun means in a moment.So, I wonder if anyone listening to this podcast has ever joined a company Because the website said they valued work-life balance. But then you get there and you realize that sending emails at midnight and replying to emails at midnight is considered normal. Or maybe you work for a company that claims to have a flat organizational structure, a flat org chart. Where everyone is involved in decision making and the managers are really approachable. But then in reality, it actually, Italy has a very strict hierarchy and everyone has to stay in their place, in their position. This feeling where the company says one thing and what it really does is completely different. This is called cultural dissonance. When a company says that it has a certain set of values, but the reality of working there doesn't really matter. Dissonance, that's D-I-S-S-O-N-A-N-C-E, dissonance, usually refers to a lack of harmony in music. When two notes don't sound like they go together, they don't sound like they're supposed to be in the same song. In business, it means a gap. Between what we say we do and what we actually do in reality. Between what we say and what we really do.So today we're going to break this down into two ideas, into two halves. We're going to look at the vocabulary you need to identify and describe this gap without sounding like you're just complaining. And second, we are going to look at the skills and vocabulary needed to discuss and fix these issues with your manager. We're going to hear some natural and native sounding nouns, verbs, phrasal verbs and idioms that we can use to describe these situations. And we'll hear some interesting grammar structures too. Let's get started by listening to some natural and native sounding ways to describe a situation where company values don't really match reality. There seems to be a disconnect between the values we advertise on our website and the daily grind. There seems to be a disconnect. Between the values we advertise on our website and the daily grind. I feel like the focus on wellness is a bit performative given our current hours. I feel like the focus on wellness is a bit performative given our current hours. We need to address the misalignment between our goals and how we're using our resources. We need to address the misalignment between our goals and how we're using our resources. Let's start with the first example. And specifically the word Disconnect. In the first example, we heard, "There seems to be a disconnect between our stated values and the daily grind. There seems to be a disconnect between our stated values and the daily grind. Now, you might know the verb 'to disconnect'. For instance, when your internet disconnects in the middle of an important video meeting, that's never a good thing. Or maybe we can use this when you're on vacation. You can say, I really want to disconnect for a while. I really want to disconnect for a while. But here we're using it as a noun. A disconnect. When we use it as a noun, We're describing a situation joined correctly. Or do not understand each other. It's a very safe, professional word. Instead of saying, you are lying about our values, you're not telling the truth, you can say there's a disconnect. Between our values and the reality. It removes the blame from a person. And places it on the situation. For instance, as a manager, you might work with a HR person, a recruiter, to make sure that the new staff that you're interviewing fill every requirement for the person you need, for the role you're hiring for.And then you get handed some CVs, maybe some interviews are scheduled, and these people just are not suitable. Maybe there was a disconnect between the conversation you had and the actual process of booking these people in for interviews. There was a disconnect. In that same sentence, I use the phrase the daily grind. The Daily Grind. We heard, There seems to be a disconnect between our stated values and the daily grind.So the grind... Is an informal English word for hard, repetitive, maybe boring work. Which makes sense when you think about where this word originally came from. If you grind... Brain then it becomes flour. But it takes a lot of physical work to turn that grain into flour. Or maybe you grind your coffee beans in the morning. That's a little bit less effort than making flour, but it's still a lot of physical effort. To achieve your goal. Another place you might hear this is on Monday mornings, or maybe at the end of a vacation. When people say, well, It's back to the grind. Back to the grind. To talk about returning to their daily work. It implies that work wears you down slowly. Now let's look at a fantastic adjective from that second example. Performative. Performative. In the second example, we heard, I feel like the focus on wellness is a bit performative given our current hours. I feel like the focus on wellness is a bit performative given our current hours.So this word performative, the adjective, comes from the noun "performance". Performance.Like, in a play or being a musician on stage. If a company's is performative. It means they are doing it just for show. To look good to the public or to employees, but they don't really mean it. If your boss buys pizza for the team, but refuses to hire enough staff to actually do the work, you might describe this free pizza as performative. It looks nice and hey, if you tell people just about this one story, my boss bought us pizza, it sounds great. But it doesn't really reflect your boss's approach. To managing their team. It's a bit performative. In the third example, we heard misalignment. That's the noun misalignment. As in... We need to address the misalignment between our goals and how we use our resources. We need to address the misalignment between our goals and how we use our resources. Just like disconnect. This is a great non-aggressive word. It's a really professional word, maybe the kind of thing politicians might use when they're answering difficult questions. Alignment, that's the noun in the positive form, alignment. Means that things are in a straight line. We're always aiming for alignment. We want to be aligned on things.So misalignment means that they are not. If you've ever parked your car or tried to and then realized that you're not aligned with the parking space. Then you've experienced misalignment in the real world. Physical sense of two things not being aligned. Or maybe as a phrasal verb again, two things not being lined up. And if you want to make this the year that you really become confident using high level vocabulary like misalignment and performative at work, then maybe we can work together. My full-time job. Is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills.So. If you need English, to do your job. But you don't speak it natively. Then I would love to meet you. If you'd like to book some time to meet with me through one-to-one video calls, just you and me, then you can go to BreakoutBusinessEnglish.com. That's the title of the podcast, BreakoutBusinessEnglish.com and find out more. Starting on our very first call, we can focus on the specific opportunities that you personally have to improve your English and communication skills. And right now, you can use the code PODCAST30, that's PODCAST30, at checkout to get a 30% discount off your first booking. Of 30, 45, or 60 minutes, whichever is best for you.Sometimes my calendar gets a little busy, so if you have trouble finding a time that works for you can always send me a message through the contact page on the website. I've worked with well over 1,000 non-native English-speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you. Okay. Now that we've analyzed the problem, Let's move on to discussing the solution. We've identified the problem, how do we talk about fixing it? Here are some natural and native sounding ways to discuss fixing these culture gaps without sounding like you are complaining. I'm struggling to reconcile the new targets with our quality standards. I'm struggling to reconcile the new targets with our quality standards. I'm concerned that a lack of visibility is creating bottlenecks in the process. I'm concerned that a lack of visibility is creating bottlenecks in the process. We need to consider the opportunity cost of ignoring these new tools. We need to consider the opportunity cost of ignoring these new tools. Okay, let's look at that first verb which is one of my Absolute favorites for difficult conversations, and that is to reconcile. To reconcile. In the example, we heard, "I'm struggling to reconcile the new targets with our quality standards." I'm struggling to reconcile the new targets with our quality standards. To reconcile. Means to make two different ideas or facts exist together. It is often used in accounting. And in that context, it means that you look at two different sets of numbers and make sure that they agree with each other. They make sure that they're consistent and accurate. Maybe you're looking at the amount of sales you've made in a day and the amount of money that is in your cash register, your till, when you close the shop. In communication. This is kind of a power move. If you tell your boss, I can't do this, you sound... "Incapable." You sound like you're maybe not very skilled or good at your job. But if you say, "I'm struggling to reconcile this with that." I'm struggling to reconcile these two things. You're asking for their intellectual help. To solve a puzzle. You want to work as a team with your boss. You're putting the two conflicting things in front of them. And asking, how do these fit in? Together. Help me put this puzzle together. It makes you sound like a strategic partner. And not a complainer. Next. Let's look at visibility. In the second example, we heard, I'm concerned that a lack of visibility is creating bottlenecks. I'm concerned that a lack of visibility is creating bottlenecks. Now, outside of work, if you hear someone use the word visibility, then they're often talking about how far you can see. We often hear the word visibility used when the weather is foggy.Someone might tell you not to drive because visibility is really low today, for instance. Of course, we have the word invisible that is maybe more well known. If something is invisible, then you can't see it. In professional English, visibility can have a couple of meanings depending on the context. But it often refers to knowing what is happening in other parts of the company. If information is hidden from other areas of the business, then you lack visibility. What does this cause?Well, this causes bottlenecks. So a bottleneck is the narrow part of a bottle that slows down the flow of liquid or water as it comes out of the bottle. If you have a glass of water, then it gets bigger at the top. However, a bottle is the opposite. It gets very small and narrow at the top. This is the neck of the bottle. Or the bottleneck. When we use this term at work, A bottleneck is a person or process that slows everything down. For instance, I could have a factory with a thousand people producing a product. But. If there's only one person whose job it is to actually test these and put them in boxes before they go out of the factory, then that's a pretty big bottleneck because all of those people are going to be handing work to this one person who can only work so fast.So that slows everything down. So. Using visibility and a bottleneck together. Is a very professional way to say, I don't know what is going on, and this is making us slow. I don't know what is going on. There's low visibility here. I have no visibility. And it's making us slow. That's our bottleneck. Next, let's look at the phrase opportunity cost. In the third example, we heard we need to consider the opportunity cost of ignoring these new tools. We need to consider the opportunity cost of ignoring these new tools. This is a term borrowed from economics. The opportunity cost is the potential benefit you lose when you choose one alternative over another. A lot of people when they turn 18 need to decide whether to go and get a job or go to university.Well, getting a job sounds great, you can earn money straight away. But the opportunity cost there is you're spending all of your time working. You can't get a degree. But at the same time, this works the other way around. If you go and get a degree, you spend all of your time in lectures. Think of the thousands of dollars or the thousands of euros that you could have earned in that time. Maybe the experience, the real life professional experience you could have built up over those three or four years that you're studying. That is the opportunity cost. If a company claims to be innovative, They claim that they innovate a lot, but maybe they refuse to use AI or new software. There is an opportunity cost to that decision. By using the phrase opportunity cost, you're talking about your objection in financial terms, in economic terms. You aren't just saying, I want cool new tools. You're saying, we're losing value by not doing this.So, today we've covered disconnects, a disconnect as a noun, performative actions, and how to reconcile them. And of course, you have had to deal with the opportunity cost of spending this 20 minutes listening to me. Think of all the wonderful things you could have done with these 20 minutes.Well, I do greatly appreciate you spending this time with me. So don't forget that if you would like to discuss any of the ideas, vocabulary or grammar, etc. In today's episode or work on your communication skills more generally, then you can book a session to work with me by going to www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com. That's breakoutbusinessenglish.com or clicking the link in the show notes. And use the code PODCAST30 at checkout to get a 30% discount off your first booking. I've worked with over 1,000 non-native English-speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you. Between episodes of the podcast, you can get new videos every couple of days on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Just search for Breakout Business English. And on YouTube, most recently, I posted a video of a BBC News vocabulary breakdown. What was the topic? I think this was to do with Nvidia's $5 trillion valuation becoming the most valuable company in the world. I'm currently editing another vocabulary breakdown, which is going to be really exciting. It's a really famous keynote speech, a really famous presentation.So if you want to see that, then head over to the YouTube page now. As soon as you get the chance. If there's a topic you'd like to hear me talk about on the podcast, then I'd be excited to hear your ideas. Leave me a message or comment on one of my YouTube videos and I look forward to hearing from you. If you're on Apple Podcasts, then I invite you to leave a review. Every review really helps me out and helps to push the podcast to new listeners and to grow the show.So if you found this podcast useful and you think that there is some value here that other people might find interesting, then please feel free to leave that review. I think I've got three reviews, maybe four reviews on Apple Podcasts right now.So every review really is a big help there. A review is another great place to request a topic for a future podcast. That is it for today. Thank you so much for listening as always. And thank you for your time. I know how valuable it is. And I really do appreciate and respect your choice to spend some of your time today with this podcast. Even given the opportunity cost of doing that. I hope you have a great week and I'll talk to you again next time on the Breakout Business English Podcast.