Section C

What a lovely place Xerox is to work Kim Moloney, a client services executive, can’t say enough nice things about her employer. ‘It’s a very special environment,’ she says. ‘People describe Xerox as a family and I was amazed at the number of people who have worked here for so long.’ It’s tempting to take Moloney’s comments with a pinch of salt, especially considering that when you’ve been working somewhere for only two years, as she has at Xerox, everyone seems old and established. But there’s truth behind her enthusiasm.

Take Carole Palmer, the group resources director. She joined Xerox in 1978 as a temp and has been in her present role for seven years. ‘Xerox has been good to me over the years,’ she says. ‘It has supported me through qualifications … and last year I took part in the vice-president incumbent program.’ Human resources is taken seriously at Xerox, Palmer says, and the company has a policy of promoting from within (which would explain Moloney’s amazement at her colleagues’ longevity). The company takes on only fifteen to twenty graduates each year and Moloney was part of an intake who joined having already acquired a couple of years’ work experience. She started as a project manager for Xerox Global Services before moving into sales. Now her responsibility is to ‘grow and maintain customer relationships’.

Moloney is based at the head office in Uxbridge. ‘It’s great in terms of working environment,’ she says. ‘We’ve just got a new provider in the canteen and … we have brainstorming rooms and breakout areas.’ Much of Moloney’s role is visiting clients, so she doesn’t have a permanent desk at head office. ‘I’m a hot-desker, which is good because you get to sit with different people in the hot-desk areas. And you’re given a place to store your things.’ Head office staff numbers between 1,200 and 1,500 people, Palmer says. The company has four other main offices in the UK. The nature of the organization, which encompasses sales and marketing, global services (the biggest division), developing markets, research and development and manufacturing, means that the opportunities at the company vary from service engineers to sales roles and consultants.

Perks include a final-salary pension scheme and various discount schemes. The reward and recognition scheme is a little different, and rather nice: ‘Each manager has a budget every year to recognize and reward staff,’ Palmer says. ‘It can be in the form of a meal for two, or a bottle of wine. It can be up to £1,000. There’s the recognition, and then there’s putting money behind it.’ Moloney, however, likes the non-cash rewards. ‘Xerox takes care of all its staff but it also recognizes the people who put in the added effort,’ she says. ‘It offers once-in-a-lifetime incentive trips, and recently I organized a sailing trip for my team.’

The idea of working abroad with the company appeals to her, and she says that her career goal is to be part of the senior management team. Here’s another employee, it would seem, who is in it for the long haul.

( )1.The journalist of this article thinks that .

A. staff at Xerox are not telling the truth abut the company.

B. Xerox offers great benefits to staff.

C. Xerox is the best company in the world.

D. Xerox has the best working environment.

( )2.The company tends to find its new manager .

A. only form graduates B. on training courses

C. from existing staff D. from job markets

( )3.What does the phrase “to take on” in the sentence “The company takes on only fifteen to twenty graduates each year and …” of the second paragraph mean? .

A. To train B. To employ

C. To interview D. To maintain(A)

( )4.As well as recognizing its staff through promotion, Xerox .

A. gives cash bonuses

B. gives unpaid leave to take trips of a lifetime.

C. provides a number of perks.

D. provides huge end-of-year bonuses.

( )5.One common feature of Xerox staff is that they tend .

A. to work hard B. to get promoted

C. work longer hours each day D. not to change employer

Investingthousandsofpoundsintherecruitmentandtrainingofeachnewgraduaterecruitmaybejustthebeginning.Choosingthewrongcandidatemayleaveanorganisationpayingforyearstocome.

Fewcompanieswillhaveescapedallofthefollowingfailures:peoplewhopanicatthefirstsightofstress;thosewithlongimpressivequalificationswhoseemincapableoflearning;hypochondriacswhoseabsenteerecordbecomesastonishing;andtheunstablepersonlaterdiscoveredtobeathieforworse.

Lessdramatic,butjustasmuchaproblem,isthepersonwhosimplydoesnotcomeuptoexpectations,whodoesnotquitedeliver;whoneverbecomesahigh-flierorevenasteadyperformer;theemployeewithafinefuturebehindthem.

Thefirstpointtobearinmindattherecruitmentstageisthatpeopledon’tchange.Intelligencelevelsdeclinemodestly,butchangelittleovertheirworkinglife.Thesameistrueofabilities,suchaslearninglanguagesandhandlingnumbers.

Mostpeopleliketothinkthatpersonalitycanchange,particularlythemorenegativefeaturessuchasanxiety,lowesteem,impulsivenessoralackofemotionalwarmth.Butdatacollectedover50yearsgivesaclearmessage:stillstableafteralltheseyears.Extrovertsbecomeslightlylessextroverted;theacutelyshyappearalittlelessso,butthefundamentalsremainmuchthesame.Personalcrisescanaffectthewaywecopewiththings:wemighttakeupordropdrink,drugs,religionorrelaxationtechniques,whichcanbehaveprettydramaticeffects.Skillscanbeimproved,andnewonesintroduced,butatratherdifferentrates.Peoplecanbegroomedforajob.Justaspoliticiansarecarefullyrepackagedthroughdress,hairstyleandspeechspecialists,sopeoplecanbesentontrainingcourses,diplomasorexperimentalweekends.Butthereisacosttoallthiswhichmaybemorethanthepriceofthecourse.Bettertoselectforwhatyouactuallyseeratherthanattempttochangeit.

()1.Thepurposeofthispassageistogivemanagerstheadvicethat.

A.Employersshouldselectcandidatesfortheirpotential.

B.Employersshouldselectcandidatesforwhattheyareratherthanfortheirpotential.

C.Employersshouldselectthenewlygraduatedandsendthemontrainingcourses,diplomasorexperimentalweekends.

D.Employersshouldselectexperiencedcandidatestoavoidspendingthousandsofpoundsintraining.

()2.Accordingtothepassage,whichofthefollowingstatementsistrue?.

A.Absolutely,Peopledon’tchangeduringtheirworkinglives.

B.Generally,peoplechangetoalargeextentduringtheirworkinglives.

C.Fundamentally,peoplestaythesameduringtheirworkinglives.

D.Normally,peopledon’tchangeatallduringtheirworkinglives.

()3.Whatdoesafinefuturebehindthem(line3ofparagraph3)means?.

A.Somepeoplewillcertainlyhaveapromisingfuturethoughtheyarenotverycompetentintheirpresentwork.

B.Somepeopledon’thaveanypotentialfortheirworkthoughtheyareemployed.

C.Somepeoplecanhaveabrightfuturethoughtheycan’tdotheirworkwell.

D.Somepeoplehavepotentialwhentheyareemployed,butneverrealizethatpotential.

()4.Accordingtothepassage,people’sbasicabilitieslikelanguagelearningandnumeracy.

A.changelittleovertheirworkinglife.

B.neverchangeovertheirworkinglife.

C.changefundamentallyovertheirworkinglife.

D.changeprofoundlyovertheirworkinglife.

()5.Theworddeliver(line2ofparagraph3)means.

A.totakegoodstotheplacesorpeopletheyareaddressedto

B.togiveaspeech

C.todowhatyoupromisedtodo

D.tohelpawomantogivebirthtoababy.

Thepoliceman[halted]thespeedingcartoseeifthedriverwasdrunk.

Thestoreisinanideal(　)todrawtourists.

Thethief’s(　)ofguiltclosedthecase.