2016年剑桥商务英语阅读辅导(1)

　　PROSPECTS ARE GROWING

　　Jane Woodford, head of Prospects recruitment group, talks about how the company is set to grow.

　　How many jobs have managing directors reading this article had already? Five? More than ten? Well, Jane Woodford, head of the Prospects recruitment group, has had an amazing seventeen jobs. Woodford has kept a careful count of jobs, which include working in fast food, at a theatre and as a dress-maker. (0) …… In February of this year, after several years as a partner in the business, she became the managing director of the Prospects group.

　　Prospects was started in 1988 as the Job Shop group, by Hilary Marks. A former estate agent, she decided to go it alone and launched the company in a three-metre by three-metre office, after a downturn in the property market. (8) …… ‘I don’t think she believed she could find anybody who cared as much about her ‘baby’ as she did,’ says Woodford.

　　Surely it must have been difficult for Marks when Woodford became the MD and she became marketing director? Yes, Woodford agrees it was: ‘It was extremely hard for Hilary, because originally she had been her own boss. But how to manage changes in the company was something we all had to learn about.’ (9) …… Some benefited from this opportunity while others didn’t, though the company has only lost two of its long-serving managers.

　　The change in the head of the company happened at the same time as the company’s name changed. A brainstorming session between Woodford, Marks and their accountant produced the name Prospects. The company now has three separate trading divisions, each with its own internal management structure. One of Prospects’ operations, New Directions, provides IT training for clients and courses about employment affairs for students, teachers and educational advisers. (10) …… ‘We need to be closely involved with the educational system,’ she says.

　　Always looking to encourage and motivate staff, Prospects has appointed team leaders, giving them extra responsibility for dealing with the company’s accounts, budgeting and day-to-day operations. (11) …… ‘We accept that they may go on to become directors of other companies,’ Woodford explains.

　　So, what are Woodford’s own ambitions for Prospects? ‘I’d like to consolidate all the work we have already done and continue to build up a good team of people,’ she replies simply. (12) ……

　　‘When a recruiter has been with us for three years we offer financial bonuses towards the cost of opening his or her own Prospects branch,’ she says.

　　A

　　The reasoning behind this decision was that these people will help the company to progress, and yet their own careers will benefit at the same time.

　　B

　　Originally, she wasn’t looking for a business partner at all.

　　C

　　She joined the company in 1995 as business development manager, and became a shareholder in 1996 and a director in 1997 before taking on her current position.

　　D

　　Woodford sees this activity as particularly important for Prospects because recruitment isn’t something she believes should stand on its own.

　　E

　　She is also keen for her trusted consultants, as she calls them, to share in the company’s success through its internal reward scheme.

　　F

　　Discussion group were set up to help staff at every level make necessary adjustments.

　　G

　　This very wide experience of working life has without a doubt helped her as a highly successful recruiter.