A Toxic Workplace
Advanced - Vocabulary
the ARTICLE (for teachers)
A Toxic Workplace
If the veracity of an article can be trusted, pressure, stress, and job insecurity form the foundation on which
Amazon is built. In its quest to become the company where people can discover anything they want online,
employees are encouraged to work well after midnight; complain at slow responses regardless of the time of
day (or night); bicker and argue in meetings to poke holes in any suggestion; and rat one another out. The
corporate philosophy permeates every level of the organization, and it ignores all that gets preached and
practiced as good management these days.
Over one hundred former employees provided information on the article, providing such personal accounts of
grown men crying as they exited meetings. Each month, employees must justify their performance on a variety
of metrics, with the bottom performers culled.
What results is a ruthlessly competitive environment. It has been called "rank and yank," which alludes to
ranking the performance of employees and yanking the least productive. And evidence in other organizations
demonstrates that such a system sows distrust. After all, if colleagues are likely to stab you in the back,
teamwork and knowledge sharing get thrown under the bus.
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, quickly responded to the article, explaining that the environment at Amazon is
friendly but intense. He explained that he couldn't recognize the toxic workplace portrayed in the article, and
doubted any tech company could survive, let alone thrive, with such practices. He concluded that callous
management practices would not be tolerated.
Teacher's Notes:
* Underlined words in red typeface are the answers.
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A Toxic Workplace
Advanced - Vocabulary
the Article (for students)
Fill in the blank with the correct word.
bicker
justify
variety
regardless
accounts
thrive
portrayed
foundation
veracity
permeates
callous
ruthlessly
toxic
sows
preached
A Toxic Workplace
If the (a. _______________) of an article can be trusted, pressure, stress, and job insecurity form the
(b. _______________) on which Amazon is built. In its quest to become the company where people can
discover anything they want online, employees are encouraged to work well after midnight; complain at
slow responses (c. _______________) of the time of day (or night); (d. _______________) and argue in
meetings to poke holes in any suggestion; and rat one another out. The corporate philosophy
(e. _______________) every level of the organization, and it ignores all that gets (f. _______________)
and practiced as good management these days.
Over one hundred former employees provided information on the article, providing such personal
(g. _______________) of grown men crying as they exited meetings. Each month, employees must
(h. _______________) their performance on a (i. _______________) of metrics, with the bottom
performers culled.
What results is a (j. _______________) competitive environment. It has been called "rank and yank," which
alludes to ranking the performance of employees and yanking the least productive. And evidence in other
organizations demonstrates that such a system (k. _______________) distrust. After all, if colleagues are
likely to stab you in the back, teamwork and knowledge sharing get thrown under the bus.
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, quickly responded to the article, explaining that the environment at
Amazon is friendly but intense. He explained that he couldn't recognize the (l. _______________)
workplace (m. _______________) in the article, and doubted any tech company could survive, let alone
(n. _______________), with such practices. He concluded that (o. _______________) management
practices would not be tolerated.
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A Toxic Workplace
Advanced - Vocabulary
STEP ONE
Brainstorm: Brainstorm with a partner(s) words and ideas associated with "toxic workplace" for 2 minutes.
Spend another 5 minutes or less discussing the words and ideas together.
STEP TWO
Vocabulary Match: Match the words in column A (from the article) with the best choice in column B. Use a
dictionary for any words you don't know, but be sure to check your English-English dictionary, too.
a. veracity
b. bicker
q. proclaim
c. permeate
s. succeed
d. preach
e. account
t.
u. describe
f.
v.
r.
justify
support
fight
insensitive
g. sow
h. portray
w. story or narrative
i.
thrive
y.
j.
callous
z. pass through every part of something
x. truthfulness
plant or create
STEP THREE
Fill in the Blanks: Fill in the blank with the correct word.
permeates
justify
accounts
veracity
callous
preached
sows
thrive
portrayed
bicker
a. If the (
) of an article can be trusted, job insecurity form the foundation on which Amazon is built.
b. Employees (
) and argue in meetings to poke holes in any suggestion.
c. The corporate philosophy (
d. It ignores all that gets (
e. There are personal (
f. Employees must (
) every level of the organization.
) and practiced as good management.
) of grown men crying as they exited meetings.
) their performance on a variety of metrics.
g. Evidence in other organizations demonstrates that such a system (
h. Bezos couldn't recognize the toxic workplace (
) in the article.
i.
He doubted any tech company could survive, let alone (
j.
He concluded that (
) distrust.
), with such practices.
) management practices would not be tolerated.
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A Toxic Workplace
Advanced - Vocabulary
STEP FOUR
The Article: 1) Read the article, but don't worry about the missing words. 2) Fill in the blanks with today's
vocabulary, followed by all the other words. 3) Read the article again, and circle any unknown words/phrases. In
pairs/groups, use your dictionaries to understand the words or phrases your circled. 4) Answer the questions to
check your comprehension.
a. According to the article, what are employees encouraged to do?
b. What is mentioned about good management?
c. What must employees do on a monthly basis?
d. What is "rank and yank?"
e. What did Bezos say about the article?
STEP FIVE
Discuss: Write down five vocabulary words from today's article that you want to use.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Now talk about the following questions in pairs/groups. Every time you use a vocabulary word, place a check
next to it.
a. Did you like this article?
b. Would you want to work at a company like Amazon? Why/not?
c. What is the best place you have ever worked at? How about the worst place? Why?
d. What are some ideas and practices to maximize employee productivity?
Score yourself:
10 or more times: Fantastic! Be sure to review the words at home.
6-9 times:
Pretty good! You're on your way to acquiring today's vocabulary. Try writing your own
sentences at home for additional practice.
5 or less times:
Try harder next time! To acquire new vocabulary, you need to use the new words as much
as possible.
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