Bad bosses make people quit: BBC News Review

Have you ever quit your job

because of a bad boss? New research says

you're not alone.

This is News Review from BBC

Learning English.

I'm Beth. And I'm Phil. Make sure you watch to the end

to learn the vocabulary that you need to talk about this story.

And don't forget to subscribe to our channel, like this video

and try the quiz on our website.

Now, today's story.

Bad bosses make people quit.

Almost a third of British workers

in a recent study say that they've left a job because of their manager.

Nearly a fifth of people say that their managers were ineffective. Unhappiness

with management means workers are less likely to be motivated

and less likely to stay. The survey also shows that

most bosses are accidental managers,

having never been taught how to run a team.

You've been looking at the headlines,

Phil. What's the vocabulary?

We have: prompted, formal and attrition.

This is News Review from BBC

Learning English.  

Let's have a look at our first headline.

Yes. This is from the Guardian.

Bad management has prompted one in three UK

workers to quit, survey finds. As this headline says,

a third of British workers have quit because of bad management.

We are going to learn about the word prompt. Phil,

what's the connection between bad managers and people leaving their jobs?

Well, it's quite simple. One thing causes something else to happen –

it prompts it to happen.

So, having a manager who's not very good might prompt you to leave your job.

If you see another job advertised

with a high salary, that might prompt you to apply for that job.

Yeah, that's one meaning and I remember when I was studying for exams,

I used prompts cards.

I would write information on them to try and help me remember.

Yes, we call them prompt cards because they prompt you to do something.

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

they prompt your memory and, Beth,

what's that you've got in your hand?

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

And if I forget what I'm gonna say I can look down and it prompts me.

OK, let's look at that again.

And remember to make some notes to prompt your memory in the future.

Let's have our next headline.

And this is from Fortune.

Nearly all bosses are accidental with no formal training

and research shows it's leading one in three workers to quit.

This headline is about accidental managers

and how they can lead people to leave their jobs.

We're going to learn about the word formal.

Now, Phil. I know

formal language, like putting 'yours sincerely'

at the end of a letter. Formal dress might be a suit, something like that.

But what do we mean here?

Well, we're talking about formal training,

but it's related to all those examples

you have just given. If you're using formal language,

there are rules and you have to follow them.

If you want to dress formally,

then you need to follow the rules, and formal training

is officially organised

so there are rules to follow.

There's probably an exam at the end of it as well.

OK, so my university degree

and my teaching qualifications were formal training.

I had to follow the rules, do exams and assignments,

but can we have informal training like we have informal language

and informal dress? Yeah. Of course.

Think about all the things that you've learnt without having to do a course.

Maybe you taught yourself

or maybe you asked someone to help you. Beth, is there

anything that you've learnt to do informally?

Erm, I suppose I learnt to sing.

I learnt to cook.

That's all informal training.

I suppose you could say that learning English

on our website is informal training.

OK, let's look at that again.

Next headline please.

This is from Personnel Today.

'Accidental managers' are driving attrition.

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

this sounds like something quite bad or negative.

And here we are talking about managers.

So does it

have a business meaning?

Well there are a few meanings.

None of them are good.

And there is a business

meaning. Beth,

what would happen to a company

if lots of people left and they didn't get replaced?

It'll get smaller.

I suppose that means the company can't do as much.

That's the meaning that we're using in this headline. The business

meaning of 'attrition'

is that companies get smaller as people leave and they're not replaced.

OK. So can we use attrition outside of a business context?

Yeah. There is a more general meaning

and it means to make something gradually weaker by continually attacking it

or causing it problems and in fact, we have this phrase, a war of attrition,

which is a long disagreement or conflict

where each side is always making the other side more angry.

That sounds like my neighbours!

They are always arguing about one thing or another.

It has become a real war of attrition.

OK, let's look at that again.

We've had: prompted - made something happen,

formal - according to the rules , attrition - gradually getting weaker.

Now, if you're interested in problems at work,

Check out this episode of 6 Minute English all about being unhappy at work.

Click here to watch

And don't forget to subscribe to our channel by clicking here,

so you never miss another video.

Thanks for joining us, bye. Bye.