BUSINESS NEWS LESSONS How a sabbatical can benefit you — and your employer 2. Key words and expressions Level: Advanced (C1–C2) Students search for words and expressions in the text Time: 60–90 minutes and write them next to the definitions while noticing how the words are used in context. Business topics: work/life balance, taking time off work, employer/employee relationship Key: 1. work/life balance Business language focus: language 2. sabbatical associated with the benefits of taking time off work 3. advocate 4. misconception Activities: In this lesson, students will: 5. initiative • read a business article first published 6. norms in the Financial Times and look at the 7. flexibility language necessary to understand and 8. stress-test talk about the article; 9. raring to go • learn or revise some business collocations; 10. frugally • discuss aspects of the article in 11. impetus greater depth; 12. take someone up on something • discuss the pros and cons of taking a sabbatical. 3. Understanding the article Materials: One copy of the worksheet Students work individually to read the article again and per student, possible internet access for answer the questions. They then compare their answers Exercise 6 in pairs. Group size: All of the tasks can be completed in pairs or groups, so that as much communication Key: as possible takes place in the class. However, 1. She thought carefully about how she was going to this lesson plan can also be used in a one-to-one spend her time and what she aimed to get out of it. teaching situation. 2. They should not make snap decisions. 3. That they are just a big holiday so people taking sabbaticals should make clear to their employers This lesson is based on an what they have learnt. authentic article from the 4. She learnt about social media, marketing and Financial Times, republished advertising, and working in an environment of here with its full, original text. constant change. This showed that she had initiative and could challenge norms. The article discusses the pros and cons of taking a sabbatical. 5. They allow them to stress-test the company and see if it could survive a more unexpected employee departure. 1. Warmer 6. The downside for employees is loss of income and for employers it is the loss of an employee for a time. Students decide which of the benefits are the most important and which are the least important by ranking them from one to six. They should be prepared to give reasons for their choice. They can also be asked to think of further benefits that would be attractive to prospective employees. Teacher’s notes Teacher’s Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. Article: © The Financial Times Limited 2019. All rights reserved. Teacher’s notes and 1 worksheet: © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020. Business news lesson – Advanced (C1–C2). FROM WEBSITE •PHOTOCOPIABLE•CAN BE DOWNLOADED BUSINESS NEWS LESSONS How a sabbatical can benefit you — and your employer 4. Business language – Collocations 6. Wider business theme – Taking unpaid leave Students match the verbs with the nouns or noun phrases. They then check their answers by looking in the Ask students to work individually to consider the factors text and seeing the expressions in context as this will help listed in the instructions regarding preparing for a them to see how each collocation is used. sabbatical, what they will do during it, and how it will benefit their company. Make sure they provide reasons Key: for their choice in each case. When they have completed 1. d 5. h this stage of the task, ask each student to present their 2. g 6. c ideas to the class. If appropriate, ask the class to take a 3. b 7. a vote on which proposal would be the most beneficial for 4. f 8. e the company. 5. Discussion One-to-one teaching This task can be adapted so that the In small groups, students discuss the questions which student does the above as homework and pick up on and expand on topics and quotes from the then reports back (to you) in the next lesson. They article. Hold a short whole-group feedback session and should also be prepared to present their ideas as a compare and contrast each group’s answers and input. marketing strategy. Teacher’s notes Teacher’s Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. Article: © The Financial Times Limited 2019. All rights reserved. Teacher’s notes and 2 worksheet: © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020. Business news lesson – Advanced (C1–C2). FROM WEBSITE •PHOTOCOPIABLE•CAN BE DOWNLOADED BUSINESS NEWS LESSONS How a sabbatical can benefit you — and your employer 1 Warmer Rank these benefits that some companies offer their employees in order from 1 (the most important) to 6 (the least important). Give reasons for your choice. medical insurance the opportunity to take unpaid leave whenever you want it paid travel to and from work recreational facilities available for all staff membership of a private pension scheme four weeks’ paid holiday a year 2 Key words and expressions Find the words or phrases in the article that match the definitions below. The paragraph numbers are given to help you. 1. the relationship between the amount of time and effort that someone gives to work and the amount they give to other aspects of life, such as their family (three words, para 1) 2. a period away from work without pay when someone can rest, travel or engage in another activity (para 1) 3. to support publicly a particular policy or way of doing things (para 5) 4. a wrong belief or opinion as a result of not understanding something (para 8) 5. the ability to decide in an independent way what to do and when to do it (para 9) 6. things that are usual or expected (para 9) 7. the ability to make changes or to deal with a situation that is changing (para 11) Worksheet Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. Article: © The Financial Times Limited 2019. All rights reserved. Teacher’s notes and 1 worksheet: © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020. Business news lesson – Advanced (C1–C2). FROM WEBSITE •PHOTOCOPIABLE•CAN BE DOWNLOADED BUSINESS NEWS LESSONS How a sabbatical can benefit you — and your employer 8. to evaluate the strength of a business and find out how it could respond to extreme situations (two words, para 17) 9. excited about something and impatient to begin it (three words, para 19) 10. in a way that involves spending very little money and only on things that are really necessary (two words, para 21) 11. a force that helps something to happen or develop more quickly (para 23) 12. to accept an offer or invitation that someone has made (five words, para 24) Worksheet Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. Article: © The Financial Times Limited 2019. All rights reserved. Teacher’s notes and 2 worksheet: © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020. Business news lesson – Advanced (C1–C2). FROM WEBSITE •PHOTOCOPIABLE•CAN BE DOWNLOADED BUSINESS NEWS LESSONS How a sabbatical can benefit you — and your employer How a sabbatical can benefit you — and your employer Extended time off refreshes workers and allows employers to stress-test their teams BY JANINA CONBOYE In Ms Rosen’s case, she also had to think about how 8 ‘How a sabbatical can benefit you — she would sell her career break to a new employer. and your employer’, Janina Conboye, She believes there is a misconception that a sabbatical 21 February 2019, is a big holiday, so it is important to make it clear to © The Financial Times Ltd employers what you have learnt, she says. It is easier to sell the hard skills and focus less on the soft. 1 In the pursuit of a good work/life balance, employees “I learnt about social media, marketing and 9 are increasingly opting for sabbaticals. They are advertising. I’d learnt to work in an environment taking unpaid leave — for weeks or even months — to of constant change. I showed I had initiative and recharge batteries, pursue a project or even change could challenge norms,” Ms Rosen adds. Following careers. And despite knowing that some staff will not her experience, she is now a writer and speaker return, a growing number of companies now offer advocating for alternative ways of working. opportunities to take a break. Others just want a break and then to return to 10 2 If you feel it is time to take a break, how do you decide what type of break you need; how do you prepare; and their original roles — but perhaps with different how do you get the best out of your time off? working arrangements. 3 Emma Rosen, 26, is author of the Radical Sabbatical: Deloitte, the professional services firm, offers both 11 The Millennial Handbook to the Quarter-life Crisis. unpaid leave and longer career breaks of up to two She left a job she hated and used a sabbatical to try out years to employees who have served three years or 25 potential new career options. more. Emma Codd, the UK managing partner for talent, says some may think about what their next 4 Before leaving her job she still thought carefully about move might be once they are back in their job but how she was going to spend her time and what she quite often it is more a case of people wanting more aimed to get out of it. “For me, going to a yoga retreat flexibility on their return. wasn’t going to solve the problem,” she says. Liz Neate, an assistant director in financial advisory 12 5 If you are considering time out because you are at Deloitte, took four months off to do volunteer unhappy then it is important not to make any snap work for The Land and Equity Movement of Uganda.