"Life in the office" - chapter 3

ROBERT:   Jane, can you please call  Mary and ask her to come and see me right away? Oh! And I would like to talk to you too.

JANE:       Of course Sir! I’ll be right there.

FEW MINUTES LATER

MARY:       I was told that you wanted to see me.

ROBERT:    Yes Mary, sit down please. Jane, please sit down as well. I want to talk to you both. As you probably know, I have to make some changes here. I have been watching all of you for some time now and I believe that we have to fire some people and we have to hire some people as well.

MARY:        I have noticed that you are not really pleased with Steve’s department. Is he going to get sacked?

ROBERT:    Well! I can’t say that I wasn’t thinking about it but I realize that he is under a lot of pressure now so I decided to give him one more chance but … on one condition. He’s got to replace some of his people.

JANE:       He is not going to be pleased with that idea.

ROBERT:    I get the impression that he feels here as if he were the sole king in his department.

MARY:        He does feel like that, boss. He doesn’t like when somebody tells him what to do there. He gets really picky about it.

ROBERT:    Well! he’s got to change his attitude or else …. I will talk to him about it anyway. Jane, you are doing a very good job as a secretary but I get the impression that you have so much to do that you could use some help.

JANE:        I can manage, really, Sir

ROBERT:    I know you can, but that’s not the case. I am not in favor of slaving people to their limits. I want to have people who are happy, who like their job and who are rested enough to do it well.

JANE:        But Sir ….

ROBERT:    Jane… I don’t want to replace you, really. I want to make you my private assistant and you will hire one more person, a secretary, who will be answering the phones, sending mail etc. etc. You have more important things to do here than making coffee for everyone .

JANE:        Thank you Sir! I appreciate it.

ROBERT:    Don’t sell yourself short Jane. You will get a rise and you’re worth every penny. Think about all the qualifications a new secretary should have and place an ad tomorrow. You’ll be in charge of hiring that person.

JANE:        Anything I should keep in mind?

ROBERT:    It’s all up to you Jane. And Mary … Your department is doing so much and so well that you should also hire some additional help. Think about who you might need and tell Jane. She’ll post an ad for you too.

MARY:     How many people can I hire?

ROBERT:   Let’s say … will two be enough?

MARY:   Perfect

ROBERT:    OK. So that’s settled. Jane, please tell Steve that I want to talk to him tomorrow at 9 and then set the meeting with his whole department at 10.

MARY:      Would you like to meet them all here?

ROBERT:    There are too many people and we would be packed like sardines here. That huge conference room would be fine.

JANE:        Of course, Sir. Would there be anything else?

ROBERT:    No, thank you Jane. Oh! did you book my flight already?

JANE:       Not yet, Sir.

ROBERT:    Good, come and see me at 1 and I will tell you what to do. There’s been some changes. If you don’t have any other matters than I will see you later.

JANE:        I will be here at 1, Sir.

MARY:       Thank you Sir.

ROBERT:    Robert

MARY:       Thank you Robert.

VOCABULARY:

to fire sb – wyrzucić kogoś z pracy
to be pleased with sth – być z czegoś zadowolonym
to replace – wymienić
to get picky about sth – być drażliwym na jakimś punkcie.
to change attitude – zmienić podejście do czegoś
I can manage – dam sobie radę
to slave – tyrać
to sell yourself short – nie doceniać siebie
to be Worth etery penny – być wartym swojej ceny