Learn more about the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine. We provide you with new vocabulary and interesting idioms.

The current pandemic does not only bring global health issues but also has a negative effect on the economy – die Wirtschaft. Another shift is becoming visible now. In the wake – inmitten – of the pandemic many industries experience a labour shortage – der Arbeitskräftemangel. This has far reaching consequences like supply chain disruptions – die Unterbrechung der Versorgungskette. As the economies reopen many workers quit – kündigen – roles and demand – die Nachfrage – rises.

Why do we have a labour shortage?

One factor behind the labour shortage are changing demographics. For example, many poeple are leaving into early retirement – frühzeitige Rente. Many people experienced the benefits of home office during the pandemic. And the thought of returning to the office is not an attractive one. Additonally, a slower birth rate means that less younger workers are entering the workforce – die Belegschaft/ die Arbeitskräfte. On top of that, border controls and immigration limitations and demands for better pays and more flexible working arrangements – die Arbeitsvereinbarungen – have an influence on the job market. Latest surveys – die Umfrage – show that more poeple are willing to switch employment or walk out on a job. In the US the so-called quits-rate rose to 4.3 million.

The sectors that are effected the most are accomodation and food services – die Gastronomie -, wholesale trade – der Großhandel – and governement education – die Bildung.

Key industries struggle to keep up with demand due to a lack of workers and raw materials. This disrupts global as well as local production. Furthermore, it hampers – beeinträchtigen – economic growth. And leads to a product and service shortage for customers. Experts state that while the pandemic is accentuating – etw hervorheben – the labour shortage the problems started beforehand. One reason might be, that workers have built up savings – das Ersparte – buffers and dont feel the urgency – die Dringlichkeit – to return to work.

What it means for the future…

In the UK the situation has been exacerbated – verschärfen – by Brexit. The many foreign workers the country relied on – sich verlassen – have left the UK. Industries that are effected most are meat production, transporttation and agriculture – die Landwirtschaft. This has led to a shortage of fuel at as stations. This situation could go on longer than expected at the moment. Not only that, it could mean that companies have to raise pay in order to keep their current staff – das Personal.

In order to stop redundancies – die Entlassung – during the pandemic governements have introduced furlough – Urlaub, Freistellung – and subsidized – bezuschussen – worker´s earnings. The situation could mean one good thing for job seekers. Namely, more leverage – das Druckmittel – to negotiate for better pay and conditions in the future.

Going public means that a private company becomes publicly-traded – börsennotiert – and owned – staatlich. This is also called a stock launch oder initial public offering (ipo) – der Börsengang. Shares – die Aktien – of a company are sold to institutional and individual investors. This is a way of companies to expand – expandieren – and raise capital – das Kapital, Geldmittel. Furthermore, it increases a company´s prestige – das Ansehen.

The first step is to contact an investment bank. And to make decisions on how many shares will be issued and on their price. The investment bank then becomes owner – Eigentümer – of the shares and assmues legal responsibility – rechtliche Verantwortung. This is also called underwriting. The underwriter will try and seel the shares to the public for more than what was padi to the original owners of the company.

The earliest form of a company issuing public shares was the publicani during the Roman Republic. These shares were sold to public investors and at a market in the Forum. The first modern IPO occured – sich zutragen – in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company. They became the first company in history to sell bonds – die Anleihen – and shares of stock to the general public.

How to go public?

But before a company can think about going public it needs to meet a few requirements – die Voraussetzungen. For one, the company needs to have predictable – vorhersehbar – and consistent revenue – der Umsatz. Furthermore, the company should have extra cash to fund – etw finanzieren – the process of going public as it is not cheap. However, the funds from going public should not be used to cover the costs – die Kosten decken. The company should also still have room to grow while being amongst the top players in their field. Potential investors will compare companies in that field to one another. Additionally, the company should have a strong management team. Beyond the financials one of the biggest factors for investors is the quality of leadership – die Führungskraft.

And last but not least, a company should have a long term business plan – der Wirtschaftsplan – for the next three to five years. This helps the market and potential investors to see that the company knows what they are doing and what they want to achieve.

For a company to go public is a big decision. And as with almost every issue there are advantages and disadvantages – Vor- und Nachteile – that need to be taken into consideration.

At the moment we are bombarded by one horror story after the other. Social media feets are full with catastrophic news and problems. Reading this day after day has a negative effect on our mental health – mentale Gesundheit. While work can boost our mental health a negative working environment – das Arbeitsumfeld – can lead to health problems. And these can have an impact on the economy – die Wirtschaft. According to the World Health Organisation an estimated – geschätzt– 264 million people suffer – leiden – from anxiety and depression. This brought about – mit sich bringen – ca US$ 1 trillion per year in lost productivity.

Of course mental health issues can have many reasons, personal problems, traumas or financial struggles. But unhealthy working conditions can also lead problems. For example, increased attrition – die Abnutzung, Zermürbung – through unsastainable and overwhelming – erdrückend – work. Furthermore, nowadays there is a high prevalence – die Verbreitung – of mental health issues. They are now the norm among all organisational levels.

Take care of yourself!

In 2020, mental health support went from a nice-to-have to a true business imperative – die Notwendigkeit. Awareness – das Bewusstsein – for mental health issues has increased a lot over the last few years.Employers have responded to ideas such as four-day-weeks, mental health days or enhanced counselling – die Beratung – support. A healthy workplace requires – erfordern – both employers and employees to contribute – beitragen – to a healthy and safe environment – das Umfeld. Here are some tips:

• culture change – managers should lead by good example and not just relegate – etw. übergeben, verweisen – a problem to HR. Mental health issues are often connected to shame and its important to create a safe and open environment. Managers should be trained to navigate difficult conversations.
• sustainable ways of working – flexibility is a key word. For example, many workers experienced the advantages of working remotely – fern – during the pandemic. It leads to a better work-life-balance. It is important to promote – fördern – , to establish boundaries and to create norms around responsiveness – die Reaktionsfähigkeit – and urgency – die Dringlichkeit.
• deeper connection – it is important to check in with each other frequently. There should be regular opportunities to communicate a problem.

We hope this spreads the awareness of the risk of an unheathly workplace. Please, take care of yourself and stay safe!

You applied – sich bewerben – for a new job and they invited you to come in for an interview – das Bewerbungsgespräch. In a short English course we will help you be prepared for all eventualities – Möglichkeiten.

Now it is important to make a good first impression – erster Eindruck – and to be prepared. It helps to read up on the company, to know some of the key dates, current projects and customers. Look at the company´s website, their social media and recent press releases – die Pressemitteilung – to get an understanding. Furthermore, you should be prepared to answer questions about your salary expectations – die Gehaltsvorstellung. It might help boost your confidence if you prepare your outfit in advance. By researching the company you can find out about the dress code as well to know what is apropriate – angemessen. Make sure to arrive at the company 10 – 15 minutes early, its important to be on time. Use those to calm youself, take a deep breath and focus on the task in front of you.

Another tip, dont talk negatively about your previous employers. Companies want to hire problem solvers, just focus on what gained – erhalten – your job and what comes next. Also, have specific examples ready of how your previous work experience might be relevant to the new job position.

Common Interview Questions

Here are a few of the most common – häufig, gebräuchlich – interview questions. It is not necessary to memorise all the answers but it helps of you take time before the interview to have answers ready. Keep your answers short and concise –prägnant – and make sure to maintain eye contact. On top of that, while it seems tempting to embellish – ausschmücken – on your skills, interviewers usually find honesty more refreshing.

• tell me about yourself – explain your current role, major achievements and responsibilities, summarise previous experience and how it helped prepare you for this job
• what is your greatest strength/ weakness?
• How do you handle failure – Fehlschlag / success – der Erfolg?
• What can you contribute – beisteuern – to our company? Why should we hire you and not someones else?
• What applicable – relevant – experience do you have?
• Describe what motivates you and how you would motivate a team.
• What major challenges or problems did you face and how did you handle them?
• Why do you want this job?
• What would be your ideal company culture?
• Where do you see yourself in fiv/ ten years from now?

It is also important to have some questions ready you can ask yourself. This shows that you came prepared and that you ar serious about the position.

• What departments does this teamwork with regularly?
• Can you explain some of the day-to-day responsibilities this job entails – mit sich bringen?
• What does the career path for someone in this role usually look like?
• What do you like best about working here?

Hopefully that helps you in preparing for a new job, best of luck!

This week´s business English blog post deals with advertising strategies – this is a step by step plan to reach customers – der Kunde – and convince –jdn überzeugen – them to buy specific products. A well-planned strategy might help a company to sell more products than their competitors – der Konkurrent. But, its important to adapt the strategy to the product and the market. An advertising strategy that worked for a product in the past might not be the right choice for a campaign at present. People change their perspective and with that their requirements – Ansrpüche. Planning an advertising strategy is a creative process. In order to launch an effective advertisement campaign you need to understand your business and your target audience – die Zielgruppe.

Steps to an effective advertising strategy

Determine the purpose – der Zweck – the first decision is to decide why you want to advertise. To boost sales? Or to launch a new product? To increase tarffic on the website or foot traffic?

Determine the target audience – this is a crucial – maßgeblich – step. Companies create a profile of the customer that is supposed to buy the product and create the campaign around their interests.

Decide on advertising budget size – it is essential to decide on the budget size before deciding on an advertising strategy

Select media and schedule – there are a few media outlets – Medienkanäle – a company can choose to advertise their product. Such as print media, digital media, direct mails, radio advertising, trade shows, outdoor medias (billboards, posters)

Implement – etw. umsetzen – advertising program – implementing the advertising strategy is referred to as an advertising campaign. It is important to have consistency – Übereinstimmung – when advertising a product on different platforms.

Measure – etw messen – effectiveness – the effectiveness can be measured by the return on investment you get by implementing an advertising strategy.

Different types

• seasonal advertising – this means advertising a product during a specific season, for example, around christmas.
• social media advertising – this is one of the most popular advertising strategies used in order to stay in contact with customers. This way people can not only learn about a companies new product or service but also interact with the company.
• ownership advertising – here a company makes their customers participate in the ad itself. For example, Coca Cola asked people to share a selfie wih their coke bottle.
• modeling advertising strategy – this means to make use of a celebrity or famous person to advertise a product
• utility advertising strategy – advertising a product by helping people achieve their goals.
• evocation advertising strategy – this strategy grabs the attention of potential customers by evoking – etw. hervorrufen -strong emotions. Thus companies create a positive image of their brand – die Marke.

A performance review – das Mitarbeitergespräch – is a conversation between an employee and a manager to evaluate – beurteilen – the work performance. By offering feedback and setting goals the employee has the opportunity to improve – sich verbessern. And by identifying the strengths – die Stärken – and weaknesses – die Schwächen – of an employee their performance can be further enhanced – etw. steigern.

In the past companies conducted – etw durchführen – an annual performance review for all their employees. But nowadays companies move towards a more frequent feedback performance management system – with quarterly, monthly or even weekly reviews. This can help detecting and correcting issues early on and avoiding them in the future. Furthermore, it is important for the employee to understand what is expected of them and how their work aligns – etw. anpassen – with larger company goals.

What to do…

Here area few tips for an employee going into a performance review. You can prepare yourself by doing the following:

• prepare notes – have topics prepared you want to discuss, like strengths and weaknesses, accomplishments – Erfolge -goals you have set or ideas that would help you improve
• brainstorm examples – have examples ready of when you improved or of goals you have reached since the last performance review
• self-evaluate – give yourself a mock performance review to prepare yourself, this will help you answer questions
• come with questions – make sure ask everything you want to ask, this also shows a willingness to improve yourself.

…and what not to do!

Here a few things a manager should avoid during a performance review:

• comparisons – this will only turn employees against each other. Its important to focus only on the employee in front of you and their performance, this is not a ranking.
• false praise – of course it is important to say something positive about the someones performance but false praise will not help the employee improve. Its better to be honest and give them a chance to do better in the future.
• speculations – avoid sharing rumours about the company or hinting at a promotion – die Beförderung – when this is not certain yet.
• generalisations – avoid using terms like “always” and “never”. This can make the employee feel defensive and these blanket satements – die Pauschaussage – are usually not true.

This week we will teach you about giving presentations and how to go about it – learn some useful vocabulary and idioms. And some interesting facts on top that might help you with your next presentation.

A presentation should always be individual and tailor made – maßgeschneidert – to your audience. Are you addressing colleagues or internatioal partners? Clients or potential investors? For a good presentation preparation and research is key, you need to be the expert on the topic. Give the audience afterwards time to ask questions. As a presenter – Vortragender – you should make sure to connect with your audience. For example, it is important to keep eye contact and speak freely. Also, speak loud and clear so everyone in the room can understand you. Furthermore, dress appropriatley for your audience.

One rule for a good presentation is to keep it simple. Concentrate on the core message – die Kernaussage – and communicate this briefly to the audience. As a recommendation – you should be able to summarise – zusammenfassen – the key message in 15 words or 30 seconds. Another important rule is to start strong. You need to grab the audiences attention right at the beginning. This is the time for some light entertainment, for example, a joke or an anecdote before getting to the point.

6 types of presentation

• informative presentations – informative Präsentation – its educational, concise – präzise – and to the point, the main goal is to share and provide information. For example, a human resources benefits presentation.
• instructive presentation – lehrreiche Präsentation – it goes beyond sharing facts, its teaching and instrucing the audience on a certain topic. An example would be workshops or training sessions.
• persuasive presentations – überzeugende Präsentation – this type wants to sell soemthing or evoke – etwas hervorrufen – a certain action from the audience. A business pitch or a sales meeting are good examples.
• motivational presentations – motivierende Präsentation – its supposed to generate interest or gain the approval – Zustimmung – of the audience. For example, a company overview presentation or TEDTalks
• decision-making presentations – Entscheidungsführende Präsentation – it helps to speed along a decision by disclosing – offenlegen – the problem and suggesting a solution. Good examples are business or government meetings.
• progress presentations – Präsentation zum Fortschritt – it shares status updates and collected data, potential problems that might need to addressed. An example would be a team stand up presentation.

Every week we provide you with a new topic and with it useful vocabulary and idioms. This week it is time to vote – wählen! The German federal election – die Bundestagswahl – is coming up on Sunday, September 26th and we have a few interesting facts for you.

A quick history on votes

Elections have been the main means by which modern democracy has operated since the 17th century. But elections have been held long before that, in ancient Greece and Rome. These were used to select – auswählen – rulers and the pope. Suffrage – das Wahlrecht – is typically only for citizens of the country. But the question who is allowed to vote is crucial to the process of elections. The electorate – die Wählerschaft – does not automatically include everyone. In Australia, for example, the Aboriginal people were only allowed to vote after 1962. And for a long time only male citizens in general were allowed to vote. In many countries this is still the situation.

In order to convert a vote into a political decision we need an electoral system – ein Wahlsystem. There are different counting systems and ballot types – proportional, majoritarian – nach Mehrheit – and mixed systems. In most elections the secret ballot – geheime Abstimmung – is now considered crucial for a free and fair result. Furthermore, elected officials are accountable – rechenschaftspflichtig – to the people and must therefore return at prescribed intervals to be reelcted. But there are different schedules for different countries – for instance, the president of the US is elected for four years, the president of Ireland for seven years and the president of France for five years.

Sometimes an election is in danger of being rigged – hier: manipulieren. As a result, the winning party might not actually have the trust of the majority of the electorate. Furthermore, a sham election – die Scheinwahl – is held purely for show while the outcome has already been decided in advance.

My vote for this years election

The last German federal election took place 4 years ago in 2017. Evey German citizen who is at least 18 years old is eligible – hier: berechtigt – to vote. Everyone has the opportunity to vote per postal vote – Briefwahl. On top of that, right now politicians and their supporters attempt to win voters over to their side by campaigning – Wahlkampf. The city of Leipzig is full with campaign posters by the top candidates – Spitzenkandidat:in. And in order to keep track on how your candidate is doing people can consult opinion polls – Meinungsumfrage. Of course, people can also abstain – sich enthalten – from their vote.

Learn new english vocabularies and idioms about a new business related topic every week. Small Talk is crucial – ausschlaggebend – for your success in business. It is light, informal conversation and is commonly used when you are talking to someone you dont know that well. Or during networking events organised by your company. The number one advice is to ask questions. Because as long as the other person is talking you dont have to say anything. But dont just ask one question and move on to the next topic. Rather, listen and ask follow-up questions. To help you we have a few golden rules that will help you make small talk at the next work event.

1. Do a little homework – collect some information on the event and the key speakers – Hauptredner*in – or the host.
2. Greet people appropriately – a firm handshake – fester Händedruck – is generally the safe option and a smile goes a long way
3. Remember names – it is not a problem to repeat a name to make sure you pronounced it correctly and wont forget it immediately
4. Dont hold back – if you are asked a question, dont just give the short answer but elaborate – weiter ausführen.
5. Ask open-ended questions – give the other person the opportunity to talk about themselves and listen actively
6. Make a clean get-away – end the conversation on a good note and exchange contact details

Small Talk Topics

These topics can help you to get the conversation going and might make you feel more confident.

• your location or venue – Veranstaltungsort – talk about the hotel/ restaurant or then city your are in, have you been here before?
• their professional interests and responsibilities – this is a tricky topic since you dont want the conversation devolving – in etw. übergehen – into a comparison of what you do. Instead ask them about their favourite part pf the job
• their hobbies – to show interest in something the other person is passionate about helps building the relationship. And maybe you even find common interests?
• art – you can talk about exhibitions – Ausstellungen – or museums you have visited, ask them if they have any recommendations – Empfehlungen
• travel – a question about the last trip opens up many possibilities for a conversation
• climate – usually the weather is not the most scintillating – schillernd – topic but everyone can say something about it. Ask them about the climate in their hometown, maybe its different from where they live now, for example.
• taboo topics – age, religion, politics, physical appearance

How to start or end a conversation

• “What’s the most exciting thing about your business/ product / team/ industry?”
• “As an expert in…, I’d love to hear your thoughts on [event, announcement, major change].”
• “What’s the most significant change at your company in the past six months?”
• How has business changed since we talked last?”
• “What’s your biggest priority right now?”
• “Which industry events are you planning on attending?“
• “Would you advise your children to go into [field]?”
• “How did you choose to work in [field]? If you could go back in time, would you make that same choice again?”

• “This has been great — thanks for telling me about X. Do you have a card?”
• “The next session is starting soon, so I’m going to go find my room. It was nice meeting you!”
• “I see my [friend, coworker, client] over there and should probably go say hi. Want to exchange contact info?”
• “Can’t wait to hear how [initiative, project, personal decision] goes! Let’s catch up at the next [work party, conference, meeting, get-together].”