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A Toxic Workplace
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- Parent Category: Upper-Intermediate News Lessons
- Category: Business Lessons
- Written by Chris Cotter
If an article can be believed, pressure, stress, and job insecurity form the foundation on which Amazon is built. In its quest to become the company where people can discover anything they want online, employees work past midnight; complain if coworkers are slow to respond to emails; bicker and argue in meetings; and betray colleagues. The corporate philosophy exists at every level of the organization. In addition, it goes against all of the ideas of good management.
Over one hundred former employees provided information on the article, giving such stories as grown men crying as they exited meetings. Each month, employees must justify their performance on a variety of metrics, with the bottom performers fired.
The result is a ruthlessly competitive environment. It has been called "rank and yank," which means employees are ranked and the least productive are fired. And evidence from other organizations show that such a system creates distrust. After all, if colleagues are likely to stab you in the back, no one values teamwork or knowledge sharing.
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, quickly responded to the article, explaining that the environment at Amazon is friendly but intense. He said that he couldn't recognize the toxic environment in the article, and doubted any tech company could survive, let alone thrive, with these kinds of policies. He concluded that unsupportive management practices would not be tolerated.
Preview some of the lesson material:
Warm Up: Do you agree or disagree? Why?
- A company's work environment should be supportive.
- The turnover rate of employees isn't very important.
- Money and stock options are the best employee motivators.
- I would want to work for an international company like Amazon or Apple.
- I would want to start my own company someday.
Fragments: Remember how the fragments were used, and complete the sentence from today's article.
- If an article can be believed, pressure, stress, and job insecurity form...
- Each month, employees must justify their performance on a variety of metrics, with...
- It has been called "rank and yank," which means...
- After all, if colleagues are likely to stab you in the back...
- Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, quickly responded to the article, explaining...
post-Comprehension: Talk about the following questions in pairs/groups. Remember to support your answers!
- If the article were true, why would anyone want to work in such an environment?
- Would you want to work at a company like Amazon? Why/not?
- What is the best place you have ever worked at? How about the worst place? Why?
- Who is the best manager you have worked for? How about the worst manager? Please explain.
- What are some ideas and practices to create a positive, supportive environment?
Google Search: Type "work environment" into Google. Look at the websites, and/or read additional articles on this topic. Discuss or write an essay about your findings.
