0:00

This is the BBC. This

0:03

podcast is supported by advertising

0:05

outside the UK.

0:30

Have you ever quit your

0:30

job because of a bad boss?

0:48

New research says you're not alone.

0:51

This is News Review from BBC

0:54

Learning English. I'm Beth.

0:55

And I'm Phil. Make sure

0:57

you watch to the end to learn the vocabulary

1:00

that you need to talk about this story.

1:03

And don't forget to subscribe

1:05

to our channel, like this video and

1:07

try the quiz on our website. Now,

1:10

today's story.

1:12

Bad bosses make

1:14

people quit. Almost a

1:17

third of British workers in a recent

1:19

study say that they've left the job

1:22

because of their manager. Nearly

1:24

a fifth of people say that their managers

1:26

were ineffective. Unhappiness

1:29

with management means workers

1:31

are less likely to be motivated and

1:34

less likely to stay. The

1:37

survey also shows that most

1:39

bosses are accidental managers,

1:42

having never been taught how

1:44

to run a team. You've been looking

1:46

at the headlines, Phil. What's the vocabulary?

1:49

We have prompted, formal

1:52

and attrition. This is

1:55

News Review from BBC Learning

1:57

English.

2:07

Let's have a look at our first headline.

2:09

Yes, this is from The Guardian.

2:13

Bad management has prompted one in

2:15

three UK workers to quit

2:18

survey fines.

2:20

As this headline says, a third

2:22

of British workers have quit because

2:25

of bad management. We're going

2:27

to learn about the word prompt.

2:29

Phil, what's the connection between bad

2:31

managers and people leaving their jobs?

2:34

It's quite simple. One

2:36

thing causes something else to

2:38

happen. It prompts it to happen.

2:41

So having a manager who's not very

2:43

good might prompt you to leave

2:45

your job. If you see another

2:48

job advertised with a really high salary,

2:50

that might prompt you to apply for

2:53

that job.

2:54

Yeah, that's one meaning. I

2:56

remember when I was studying for exams,

2:58

I used prompt cards. I would

3:01

write information on them to try and

3:03

help me remember.

3:05

Yes, we call them prompt cards

3:07

because they prompt you to do something. They

3:10

prompt you to remember. In fact, you could say they

3:12

prompt your memory. And actually,

3:14

Beth, what's that you've

3:16

got in your hand?

3:17

It's my script. You have one too. And

3:20

if I forget what I'm going to say, I can look down

3:22

and it prompts me. OK, let's

3:25

look at that again. And remember to make

3:27

some notes to prompt your memory

3:29

in the future.

3:39

Let's have our next headline.

3:41

This is from Fortune. Nearly

3:45

all bosses are accidental with

3:48

no formal training and research

3:50

shows it's leading one in three

3:53

workers to quit.

3:56

This headline is about accidental

3:58

managers and how.

3:59

they can lead people to leave

4:02

their jobs. We're going to learn about the

4:04

word formal. Now Phil,

4:06

I know formal language,

4:08

like putting yours sincerely at the

4:10

end of a letter. Formal dress might

4:13

be a suit or something like that, but

4:15

what do we mean here?

4:16

Well we're talking about formal

4:18

training, but it's related

4:20

to all those examples you've just given. If

4:23

you're using formal language, there

4:25

are rules and you have to follow them. If

4:28

you want to dress formally, then you

4:30

need to follow the rules. Formal

4:32

training is officially organised

4:35

so there are rules to follow and

4:37

there's probably an exam at the end of it as

4:39

well.

4:40

OK, so my university degree

4:43

and my teaching qualifications were

4:45

formal training. I had to follow

4:47

the rules, do exams and

4:49

assignments. But can we have

4:52

informal training, like we have informal

4:55

language and informal dress? Yeah,

4:57

of course. Think about all

4:59

the things that you've learnt without having

5:01

to do a course. Maybe you taught

5:03

yourself or maybe you asked someone to help

5:05

you. Bev, is there anything

5:08

that you've learnt to do informally?

5:10

I suppose I

5:12

learnt to sing, I learnt to cook,

5:14

that's all informal training. I suppose

5:17

you could say that learning English

5:20

on our website is informal

5:22

training. OK, let's look

5:24

at this again.

5:33

Next headline, please.

5:34

This is from personnel

5:36

today. Accidental

5:39

managers are driving attrition.

5:42

Now, we're going to learn the word attrition.

5:44

To me, Phil, this sounds like

5:47

something quite bad or negative

5:50

and here we're talking about managers.

5:52

So does it have a business

5:55

meaning?

5:55

Well, there are a few meanings. None

5:58

of them are good and there is a bad meaning. business

6:00

meaning. What

6:02

would happen to a company if lots

6:04

of people left and they didn't get replaced?

6:07

It'll get smaller I suppose

6:09

that means the company can't do as much.

6:11

And that's the meaning that we're using

6:14

in this headline. The business meaning of attrition

6:17

is that companies get smaller as

6:19

people leave and they're not replaced.

6:22

Okay so can we use attrition

6:24

outside of a business context?

6:26

Yeah there is a more general meaning

6:28

and it means to make something

6:31

gradually weaker by continually

6:33

attacking it or causing it problems. And

6:36

in fact we have this phrase a war

6:38

of attrition which is a long disagreement

6:41

or conflict where each side is

6:43

always making the other side more angry.

6:46

That sounds like my neighbours.

6:48

They are always arguing about

6:50

one thing or another. It's become a

6:53

real war of attrition. Okay

6:55

let's look at that again.

7:03

We've had prompted, made

7:06

something happen, formal according

7:08

to the rules, attrition, gradually

7:11

getting weaker.

7:12

Don't forget there's a quiz on

7:14

this website. Thanks

7:15

for joining us. Bye. Bye.

7:21

you