Welcome to Spotlight.
I’m Liz Waid.
And I’m Adam Navis.
Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting.
It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Imagine this.
Jessica is a young woman.
For two years, she has been a computer programmer.
But this morning, Jessica’s manager fired her.
Jessica no longer has a job.
She is very surprised.
She always came to work on time.
And she always completed her work.
She even had a university degree!
So, why did this happen?
Jessica’s boss thought she spent too much time on social media during work hours.
He told Jessica to not use Facebook or Twitter at work.
But Jessica did not think it was a big problem.
So, she continued doing it.
Jessica’s boss was disappointed.
He knew she was intelligent.
He knew she could have been doing much more for the company.
Being a good employee is very important for achieving success.
Today's Spotlight is on how to be a good employee.
One of the most important qualities of a good employee is honesty.
Employers need to be able to trust their workers.
Employees should never lie to their employers, even when telling the truth is difficult.
Imagine a young man named Jason.
Jason travels around the country selling medicine to hospitals and doctors.
Jason has a mobile telephone for his job.
He is only supposed to use this phone for work.
But sometimes, Jason uses his work phone to call friends.
Recently, he has been using his work phone for personal calls a lot.
And Jason’s boss has begun to suspect.
Yesterday, his boss came to talk to him:
Jason, you had a really large phone bill this month.
Really?
I did not notice.
It is probably because I made a lot of international business calls this month.
Jason, please remember the company policy about phone use.
No using work phones for personal calls.
Oh, I know the policy.
I never do that…
It must have been the international calls.
Jason’s boss was giving him a chance to tell the truth.
But Jason chose to lie.
After their conversation, Jason’s boss looked at Jason’s phone records.
He confirmed that Jason was lying.
If Jason had told him the truth, he would have let Jason keep his job.
But Jason’s boss could not keep an employee that he could not trust.
So, he fired Jason.
Another important quality of a good employee is working hard.
Good employees always try their best.
Sometimes, jobs can be challenging.
Other times, employees can lose interest in doing the same job over and over.
But in all situations, it is important for employees to do their very best.
Imagine a young woman named Sarah.
Sarah works for a company that sells car parts.
She enters sales information into the company’s computer system.
Sarah is good at this.
But, when there is not a lot to do, she gets bored.
Sarah could ask her boss for extra work.
But instead, she likes to talk to her co-workers.
And Sarah’s talking often keeps other people from doing their work.
Sarah’s boss is named Jim.
Jim has asked Sarah many times to stop talking so much.
One day Jim was talking with his boss.
Jim, every time I visit your offices, I see that one young woman talking and laughing.
Who is she?
Her name is Sarah.
She does talk a lot during work.
Does she do her work?
Well, yes...
Most of the time.
She can be very good at her job.
That is why I have not wanted to fire her.
Have you warned her not to talk so much?
Yes, I have.
She stops talking for a little while, but it does not last.
I will talk with her again.
If Sarah does not stop talking, her boss may have to fire her.
To be a good employee, she must decide that working hard is more important than talking.
The third important quality of a good employee is a positive attitude.
No job is perfect.
It can be easy to feel and speak negatively about problems at work.
But good employees stay positive.
They concentrate on the good parts of their job instead of the bad parts.
And if there is a conflict at work, good employees try to fix the problem.
Imagine a woman named Angela.
Angela is having a problem at work.
She sells educational materials to schools.
She is also responsible for sending the materials to the different schools.
Yesterday, one of her schools called the company.
They said the materials did not arrive on time.
Angela’s boss was not happy with her.
He yelled at her.
And he did not give her a chance to explain.
Angela knew she had finished her job on time.
She recognized that the people who worked in the mail room had made a mistake.
It would have been easy for Angela to blame the mail room or become angry with her boss.
But instead, she stayed positive.
And she decided to talk with the people in charge of mail:
Hello.
Do you have time to talk now?
Sure.
What do you need?
I know you have a difficult job.
Thanks for all you do.
Thanks!
Last week I gave you some materials to send to a new school.
Did you get them?
Oh yes, we did.
One of our workers was sick that day.
So we sent them off late.
Sorry!
Thank you for telling me.
Next time, if there is a problem like that, please ask me for help.
It is very important that the schools get the materials on time.
So I would be happy to help if you need it.
Angela stayed positive with her boss and with the people who made the mistake.
Instead of making excuses, she made sure the problem would not happen again.
Any employer would be happy to have Angela as their employee!
Being honest.
Working hard.
And staying positive.
These are three qualities that will make you a better employee!
Shawnice Meador is a business education expert.
She told Forbes magazine,
"Being better at your job can only help you.
The better you are, the more people notice, and the more that chances for success may
happen at work in the future.”
The writer of this program was Jen Hawkins.
The producer was Michio Ozaki.
The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom.
All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight.
You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at www.radioenglish.net.
This program is called, “How to be a Good Employee".
Tell us what you think about today’s program.
You can leave a comment on our website.
Or e-mail us at radio@radioenglish.net.
And find us on Facebook, just search for Spotlight Radio.
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program.
Goodbye!