Every area of business has its own jargon. Jargon is that specialist vocabulary that people who work in a particular field use to talk to each other.
Human Resources has a lot of jargon. However, we all need to know this HR jargon. It describes our position in the company, how and what we get paid, whether we will keep our job if things change in the company and all the processes we have to go through to get a new job.
Louise has created a set of mind maps covering all the areas of Human Resources vocabulary. People and places is the first.
You can see the mind map on Popplet or download a pdf.
Once you have studied the mind map, you can test yourself with the activity in the second part of this blog post.
Test yourself
How well do you know the words in the mind map? Test yourself with this activity. The answers are at the end of this blog post.
Don’t forget you can use a dictionary to help you. The Cambridge English Dictionary has a special business English section.
Activity
Choose the correct word to complete each sentence.
1. “Who’s Juan Valera?” “Oh, he does the same job as me in our Spanish subsidiary. He’s my ___________ .”
colleague / counterpart / subordinate
2. Now we’re expanding, we need another ___________ to manage the workers on the new production line.
supervisor / technician / director
3. They’ve hired a new ___________ . She’s responsible for implementing the financial strategy.
CFO / COO / CEO
4. There’s an emergency meeting of the ___________ because a senior manager has been accused of financial misconduct.
board of directors / management board / supervisory board
5. A ___________ ‘s role is to provide independent oversight to issues in the company.
chairman / vice president / non-executive director
6. How many ___________ work in the company?
workforce / employees / personnel
7. Someone who works for the state is a ___________ .
civil servant / foreman / superior
8. People who work in offices are called ___________ workers.
manual / skilled / white collar
9. The ___________ always opens the AGM with a review of the last year.
foreman / superior / chairman
10. “Why’s the ___________ being relocated?” “Because the rent in London is way too high now.”
head office / operations / management
Answers
1. “Who’s Juan Valera?” “Oh, he does the same job as me in our Spanish subsidiary. He’s my counterpart.”
2. Now we’re expanding, we need another supervisor to manage the workers on the new production line.
3. They’ve hired a new CFO. She’s responsible for implementing the financial strategy.
4. There’s an emergency meeting of the supervisory board because a senior manager has been accused of financial misconduct.
5. A non-executive director‘s role is to provide independent oversight to issues in the company.
6. How many employees work in the company?
7. Someone who works for the state is a civil servant.
8. People who work in offices are called white collar workers.
9. The chairman always opens the AGM with a review of the last year.
10. “Why’s the head office being relocated?” “Because the rent in London is way too high now.”
Did you find that useful? Download a pdf of the mind map.
There are lots more HR vocabulary mind maps to come. We will add a new one each month.
If you can’t wait until then, check the website again soon for extra activities using the words from this mind map.
There are lots more mind maps on the Stratford Teachers blog.
If you have any questions about the mind map, leave a comment below.
Do you need to develop your business English vocabulary? Send us a message.
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