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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS ISSUES · ADVANCED (C1-C2)

HIGH
ACHIEVERS
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1 Warm up

Individually, number the following aspects of being a high achiever from 1 - 7 (with 1 as the most
important) in the order of importance.

• Being helpful to others

• Being highly organized
• Completing all of your tasks on time
• Carrying out instructions
• Being fun to work with
• Looking for new ways to solve problems
• Showing you want more responsibility

Now, work with a partner.

1. Do you have the same answers? Why/why not?

2. Is there anything you would add to this list? How important is it?
3. Make a list of things a poor employee would do. Have you seen any examples of these things
during your career?

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2 Vocabulary

Part A: Match the following words and phrases to the definitions.

1. hallmark (n) a. a comparison of one thing to another in order to better explain it

2. go the extra mile (idiom) b. an aspect of something that is typical of it and can help identify
it
3. analogy (n) c. a wheel with teeth around its edge which turns, enabling a
machine to work
4. accordingly (adv.) d. do more than is strictly required in order to get the best results

5. inherently (adv.) e. give someone more tasks or information than is necessary

6. cog (n) f. in a manner that is appropriate to a particular situation

7. overburden (v) g. in a way that is a part of something which cannot be removed

Part B: Now complete the following sentences with the vocabulary from Part A. You may have to
change the form of the words.

1. I know you weren’t laughing about them, but it was still rude. It’s important to understand that
when we have visitors from Japan, you need to maintain professionalism and behave
.
2. I don’t dislike my work, but there’s a strong sense that I’m just a in the machine,
and I don’t really make any real difference.
3. I really want to thank you for all your amazing work on this project. You really
and the results are fantastic.
4. There are a number of aspects of the profit and loss sheets that I find difficult to
understand. I will never enjoy working with them.
5. He compared our department to a crew in a rowing boat, but I didn’t think it was a particularly
good . If a member of a rowing crew doesn’t row, the boat still moves.
6. I think we really need to get some freelancers working for us. With the shortage of staff, we are
in danger of the team.
7. I’d like to present this to senior management if you don’t mind. It has all the of
an incredibly successful project.

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Now in pairs, answer the following questions.

1. What is an example of when you, or someone you know, went the extra mile?
2. What measures do people take in your company when they are overburdened? What do you do?
3. In your opinion, what are the hallmarks of a good manager?
4. What analogy could you use to describe your job to someone who didn’t know what you do?
5. If someone visited your country for business and they had to act accordingly, what would be
expected of them that might be different from their own country?
6. In your job, do you feel like a cog in a machine? Why or why not? Do you think this is a positive
or negative thing?

3 Listening for details

Listen to the interview about high achievers and note who makes the following statements, Mark (M)
or Stephanie (S).

1. Managers want people who will be able to find solutions to problems.

2. I think you’ve touched on an important point there.
3. It’s a British expression.
4. I’m not so sure it’s really just about hard work.
5. Organizations change over time, and their needs change.
6. The business world has been through some particularly difficult times over the last few years.
7. Essentially, a good employee needs to be easy to work with.

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4 Listening comprehension

Listen again to the interview and the statements about being a successful employee that Mark and
Stephanie mention.

A high achiever is someone who ...

can help lead and present solutions to is good at managing their time.
problems.
looks for new opportunities. doesn’t involve themselves in gossip or bad-
mouthing other employees.
brings in doughnuts or cake for the team. will go beyond the defined areas of their job
if it improves the situation.
understands what is important to their can adapt to a changing work environment
manager and the company. and help others to adapt too.

5 Expressions and idioms

Look at the expressions and idioms in the box and use them to complete the sentences.

heavy hitters hits the mark the cream of the crop

throwing money at up to scratch working at optimum levels

1. Someone who consistently is always successful at what they do.

2. If you are , you are performing at your best.
3. If you are something, it means you are trying to solve a problem by investing in
it financially, but perhaps not in a wise way.
4. When something is , it is good enough to perform the particular function it is
needed for.
5. are people who are successful and have a lot of influence in their area of work.
6. People who are are the very best within a group of people.

Now scan through the article on page 5 and complete the gaps with these expressions and idioms.

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High achievers
...and how to keep them.

Looking through the self-help sections in your local book shop, you’ll find plenty of guides: how to be successful
at work, how to boost your career, and any number of habits of the successful businessperson. Finding people’s
thoughts on success for the individual is not hard. But what happens when you are the manager of an employee
1
who consistently ? While high achievers can deliver as much as 400% higher productivity
than the average worker, the bad news is that they are going to be harder to satisfy. What’s worse is that most
2
organizations have policies that are able to deal with workers who are not , but how do you
3
deal with the staff who are ?

It’s important to evaluate what the main motivators are for high achievers: both extrinsic and intrinsic. While
a good salary and pay bonuses, which are examples of external or extrinsic motivators, are obvious choices for
why a top employee would want to stay with a company, research shows that this is often not enough. Intrinsic
motivators, such as having a sense of adding value to a company, being given autonomy, and being able to develop
4
as a professional are vital to an employee’s sense of well-being. So if you’re just your best
person, but they’re not learning anything and they don’t feel valued, it may not be long until you’re getting their
5
resignation letter. Here are some ideas to keep the .

Firstly, help them to be visible outside of your department or team. Give them an opportunity to present ideas to
senior management or to other departments in the company. Ask them to head up a group on a particular task
and give them responsibility for that, allowing them the opportunity to lead and to be consulted. Showing them
that their opinion is valued and sought after, perhaps even beyond your department, is a good way to make them
feel a sense of purpose.

Avoid micro-managing top achievers at all costs. No one likes it, but if you don’t allow your best employees
to spread their wings and use their creativity to address problems without you constantly watching over them,
they will soon find other opportunities and move on. Highly productive employees are much more likely to crave
leadership opportunities and independence and will resent not having the freedom or the scope to grow.

Actively discuss future career pathways within the company with them. High achievers are not going to want
to stay in one position indefinitely. Talking with them about further possibilities within the company lets them
know that their work is noticed and appreciated and that you are paying attention to the possibilities that they
are creating. It also shows that you are interested in their development beyond the role that they are currently in.
It’s in your interest as a manager that when they inevitably leave, they stay with the company, or possibly with a
more advanced role within the department, rather than take their talents to a competitor.

Give high achievers say over their development. If possible, secure a budget for their development and allow them
to decide how they would like to use it and what they would like to learn, gearing their training to their interests
and needs. This gives them a sense of participating in their training and a sense of autonomy rather than a sense
of having to go to the mandatory training session. Again, this will make them feel valued and actively engaged in
what they are doing.

While retaining such employees may require allocating finances to them, it is a solid investment for the company.
Keeping high performers in the company is much simpler than attracting new ones. Equally, top employees tend
to have the effect of encouraging top performance in others and attracting like-minded individuals to the company
6
too. So making the effort to keep the will pay dividends, both seen and unseen.

Sources: Forbes; Fast Company; The BBC

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6 Finding vocabulary

Scan through the article on page 5 and find vocabulary which means the following.

1. : (n) reasons for doing a task that other people can easily identify (paragraph B)

2. : (n) reasons for doing a task that are personal and may not be obvious to others
(paragraph B)

3. : (v) deeply desire (paragraph D)

4. : (phr. v) making something suitable for a particular function (paragraph F)

5. : (v) keeping hold of (paragraph G)

6. : (v) to give something, often money, for a particular function (paragraph G)

7. : (adj.) having similar opinions and ways of thinking (paragraph G)

8. : (n) profits (paragraph G)

7 Reading comprehension

Read the article on page 5 and decide if the following statements are True (T), False (F), or Not Given
(NG).

1. Books on how to be successful as an individual in a business environment are rare.

2. Paying a top employee a lot of money is the best way to ensure they stay with you.
3. The opportunity to travel was found to be high on employees’ lists of main motivations.
4. It’s important that the best employees are able to learn and grow within their role.
5. If you have an important presentation to give, ask your best employee to do it as a way to give
them experience.
6. Regularly check in with your best employees and closely monitor their progress so that you can
give guidance and feedback.
7. It’s a good idea to talk to your best employees about other jobs within the company.
8. You should take the time to decide which training opportunities are the best for your top employees
and ask them to attend as a way of showing you are interested in developing their career.

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8 Talking point

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Did you agree with Mark and Stephanie’s opinions about what makes a good employee? Is there
anything that you felt they didn’t mention that you think is important?
2. Who do you work with, or have you worked with, that you think of as a good employee? Explain
your reasons.
3. In your company, what do you think are the ‘unsaid aspects’ of the jobs that good employees are
able to recognize?
4. Have you worked with anyone who could be described as a "jobsworth"? What did they do?
5. How do you think your manager sees you? Are you someone who they are able to rely on to help
them? Why/Why not?
6. Does your company take the actions with the best employees that were mentioned in the article?
Why/Why not? Does your company usually keep its employees, or do they move on? Why or
why not?

9 Extended activity/homework

Write an email from your manager to yourself giving you an appraisal of how well you do your job.

Consider the following questions:

1. What do you do well in your job?

2. What could you do better?
3. What training do you need?
4. What do you think you will be doing five years from now?
5. Are you developing in your job?

You should:

• Write at least 250 words

• Check your grammar, spelling, and punctuation

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