The Workplace "Whiner" - and Some Useful Business English

Back in June, this blog featured a post called, A SHORT FIELD GUIDE TO AMERICAN WORKERS (PART ONE). Read it below. This post examines another type of worker -- the workplace whiner. What's a whiner? It's someone who complains a lot. Perhaps you have one of these in your office? Hint: It's the person who is never quite satisfied. For example, let's say your company was throwing a holiday party in a very nice restaurant. The whiner would be the one to point out that the place is too noisy. Or let's say you work in an office where the refrigerator is slow to be cleaned out. The whiner is the one who goes around complaining about how dirty it is (typically without offering to clean it out himself or herself).

The Wall Street Journal ran an article recently called "What to Do With A Workplace Whiner." Let's read some of that article and then discuss the expressions and terms used (these are in bold below). Add these expressions to your business English vocabulary. They are sure to come in handy!

It's one of the diciest challenges of office politics, one that invades the cubicle farm and executive suite alike: How to deal with workplace whiners. While it's often best to walk away, that can be difficult in today's team-based workplace, where many people work closely in groups. 

Trying to stay neutral by just listening and nodding can also backfire, says Dana Brownlee, founder of Professionalism Matters, a corporate-training firm in Atlanta. "Before you know it, there's another version of the story circulating, saying you were the one saying something negative about the VP. And they're talking about you over by the Coke machine."

And it can be tough to object without seeming self-righteous. "If you approach someone about their complaining, they may take it in a completely wrong way, and then you've alienated them," says Jon Gordon, an author, consultant and founder of a Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., training firm. It's better to try to bond with co-workers, while setting an example by not griping yourself, he says.

When Kris Whitehead joined a new employer several years ago, his colleagues' frequent work complaints "had a direct impact on my ability to sell," says the Nashua, N.H., salesman. With the economy in a slump, "I had the same secret fears" of failure being voiced by co-workers, he says. Staying upbeat "was an extremely arduous task."
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Here we go with our vocabulary study:

dicey - risky; unpredictable. Example: Starting a business during a recession can be dicey.

office politics - the little games people in offices play to try to get ahead (get more money, get a promotion, get a better job, get more power, get better treatment, etc). 

cubicle farm - an office with cubicles (note: this term has a negative feel to it). This is often shortened to cube farm.

backfire - to bring about the opposite result of what was intended. Example: Our complaints about having the holiday party at our boss' house backfired. Instead of holding the party at a restaurant instead, the company just canceled the party.

self-righteous - always sure that one is right (and often being intolerant of others' points of view). This is definitely NOT something you want to be called!

(to) take something the wrong way - to understand or interpret something as insulting; to be offended by what someone says (often because you are not understanding it as the speaker intended). Example: Don't take this the wrong way, but I think it's time you start looking for another job.

(to) alienate - to make others hostile towards you; to push others from you by things you say or do. Example: Joe has alienated his entire staff with his bossy behavior.

(to) gripe - to complain; to whine (note: this term has been around for centuries -- it comes from the Old English term: gripan). Example: Please stop griping about working long hours. Everybody else is also working hard these days. 

in a slump - a slow period; a recession (Note: this has a second meaning -- when one is feeling down or depressed, you can say he's or she's in a slump).  

(to) stay upbeat - to remain positive. Example: Sales have been slow lately, but we're trying to stay update.

arduous - difficult; hard to achieve

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Companies Aren't Getting Employees They Need - but We'll Get the English We Need!

The unemployment rate in the USA is 9%. That means lots of people are out there looking for work. Meanwhile, companies are complaining that they cannot find enough skilled worker. A recent Wall Street Journal article discussed this situation -- and it was full of great business English terms for us to study!

We will study part of the article, entitled "Why Companies Aren't Getting The Employees They Need" and written by Peter Cappelli. Idioms and expressions we will examine are in bold:

Even with unemployment hovering around 9%, companies are grousing that they can't find skilled workers, and filling a job can take months of hunting. Employers are quick to lay blame. Schools aren't giving kids the right kind of training. The government isn't letting in enough high-skill immigrants. The list goes on and on. But I believe that the real culprits are the employers themselves. With an abundance of workers to choose from, employers are demanding more of job candidates than ever before. They want prospective workers to be able to fill a role right away, without any training or ramp-up time. In other words, to get a job, you have to have that job already. It's a Catch-22 situation for workers ...

To get America's job engine revving again, companies need to stop pinning so much of the blame on our nation's education system. They need to drop the idea of finding perfect candidates and look for people who could do the job with a bit of training and practice. There are plenty of ways to get workers up to speed without investing too much time and money, such as putting new employees on extended probationary periods and relying more on internal hires, who know the ropes better than outsiders would.

Now let's improve our English by studying some of the terms and expressions used above:

(to) grouse - to complain (a colorful way to say to complain, implying that there is not much basis to the complaint and the person doing the grousing would be better off closing his trap - or mouth - and doing something to improve the situation!).

(to) lay blame - to put the blame on somebody or something else. In English, we don't "give" blame, rather we "lay" it.

(to)go on and on - to continue (like this phrase because the repetition of "on" reflects the situation). We often use this phrase when talking about somebody who doesn't know when to shut his trap - or mouth. Example: "He went on and on at the meeting about what a great job he did. I thought he'd never be quiet."

ramp-up time - time needed to learn how to do a new job well.

Catch-22 situation - a frustrating situation in which one cannot do anything because the thing one needs to take action is the very thing one does not have (in this article, the person who needs a job must already have a job to get a job). Interestingly, the expression Catch 22 comes from a book with that title by the author Joseph Heller.

to pin blame on - to say it's somebody' fault. Okay, so we don't just "lay" blame as above, we also pin it on somebody else. Why so many ways to assign blame in English? Well, I guess we do a lot of blaming in our culture!

get someone up to speed - to train somebody so they know how to do their job well.

to know the ropes - to know how to get things done in a job; to know how things at a company run. This idiom comes from the world of sailing. To be a good sailor, you need to know how to work the ropes. You will also hear the related expressions: "to learn the ropes" meaning to get to know how to do a new job.

Want to keep improving your Business English? Check out Speak Business English Like an American and Speak Better Business English and Make More Money.

Better Business English Pays...And So Does Job Loyalty!

We know that learning to speak better business English pays ... and now it turns that job loyalty also pays. That's what career experts say in this recent Wall Street Journal article by Dennis Nishi. (So if you were sitting around thinking "The first thing I'm going to do when the economy improves is find a better job!" then read on). I'm including the beginning of the article below. The business vocabulary we'll study is in bold. Now we'll kill two birds with one stone: learn better Business English AND get some career advice! Here we go:

Daniel Nicholson firmly believes in the value of company loyalty. At 46, the vice president of global quality has worked at General Motors in Detroit for 29 years, though he admits that his longevity isn't the norm.

"When you've been at a company for a long time, you really build a network of people that know what you can do," he says. "They tend to trust you more and that brings opportunity. That's what's worked for me."


After years of layoffs and pay cuts, the thawing job market is giving some frustrated employees an opportunity to jump ship. But career experts say that staying put should be a top option.

"You've already weathered the worst of the recession. If you believe the company can turn it around, why not recommit yourself to your job and see what the hard work that you've already put in can get you?" says Patrice Rice, a Washington recruiter who specializes in the hospitality industry. She says loyalty can open doors to more opportunities, and loyal employees are more likely to keep their jobs.
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Now let's review the interesting terms used in the above article.

longevity - the amount of time an employee has worked at a job (in this context, it implies a long time); the word also means lifespan - the length or duration of life

(to) jump ship - to quit a job. Well, a little more colorful than just walking out the front door...suggests that one is really not happy at the job and decides to leave, often without giving much warning

(to) stay put - to remain at a job; to not leave a job. In this bad economy, many people have been afraid to go out and look for new jobs and have instead decided to stay put.

(to) weather - to survive a difficult period (a recession, a downturn, etc)

(to) turn around - to improve things (especially when they are going poorly). This phrase is often used when a new CEO is brought into a poorly performing company -- they're brought in to turn it around.

(to) open doors - to create new possibilities or opportunities