Comprehensive Guide to Company Structure, Career Development, and Compensation Benefits

The top person in the company is the president. The president can also be called the CEO. This stands for Chief Executive Officer. Under the president is the vice president. A large company may have multiple vice presidents of different areas. For example, vice president of sales or vice president of product development. Other top positions in a company often include the word chief. Two common ones are the chief financial officer, CFO, and chief operating officer, COO. Another senior role in a company is that of a director. Directors are often in charge of entire divisions or departments, sections of the organization. For example, director of marketing or director of human resources. Under the directors are several managers who are responsible for managing teams of employees. All of the people working for a company as a group are called the staff. Some job titles might include the word assistant or associate, for example assistant director of finance. This means the person helps the main director of finance. The words senior and junior can also be used to indicate who has more power and experience. A senior engineer has more authority than a junior engineer. These can use an organizational chart or org chart to show a visual representation of the company hierarchy, structure of power. We often use the expression report to to describe a lower employee's relationship to their supervisor. For example, a social media specialist reports to the website manager who reports to the director of publications.

Some of the most common departments of a company include sales, marketing, communications, publications or public relations, finance or accounts, human resources, operations or logistics, information technology or IT, research and development or R&D and legal. When talking about a company's history, we often say the company was founded, established on a certain date. For example, global tech was founded in 1983. The person who originally created and set up the company is called the founder. In the beginning, the founder is also the owner of the company. But if he or she sells the company to someone else, then the new person becomes the owner. Companies can grow or expand, get bigger and increase their areas of activity. Sometimes they acquire other companies, buy other companies. When two companies combine to become a single company, that is called a merger. A company's headquarters, HQ, is its main location where most of its important functions are handled. The additional locations can be called branches or simply offices.

When you first start your career, you might get an entry-level job, which is for people who have little to no work experience. If you do your job well and there are opportunities for advancement in the organization, then you might be able to move up in the company by being promoted to a higher level of responsibility and salary. Informally, this can also be called climbing the corporate ladder. If you perform poorly, you might be demoted, put down to a lower level of responsibility and salary. If you're not happy in your current area of work, you might be able to transfer to a different department within the same company. When you change to a new job that is at about the same level as your old position, that is called a lateral move. One thing that can be helpful for your career is to seek out a mentor. That's a person in your general field of work who is older and more experienced than you. A mentor can give you advice, teach you about the industry, and help you make good decisions to advance your career.

Let's learn a little about compensation, what you receive in return for your work. Some jobs pay minimum wage, which is the lowest salary allowed by law. Some jobs pay hourly, so you would earn for example $12 per hour, and others pay a salary, which is fixed at a certain amount per year, regardless of how many hours you work. If you work in sales, you might have the opportunity to get commissions, a percentage of every sale you make. Companies can offer other benefits in addition to paying their staff. Some of the most common benefits are health or dental insurance to help pay for your medical expenses, and a retirement or pension plan, providing money for you after you are older than 65 and stop working. What about time off from work? Companies offer their employees vacation time. Time you can take off from work to travel or do other things while still receiving your salary. As well as a certain number of sick days per year. Time you can take off from medical reasons while still receiving your salary.

Companies may also provide maternity leave. Time off to have a baby. Some companies offer additional perks. Those are special extra benefits, such as relocation assistance, meaning the company will help pay for your moving expenses if you have to move to a new place for the job. Another nice perk is the use of a company car. Some companies offer daycare or child care, a place for employees' small children to stay during the day. There is also tuition reimbursement, meaning the company will pay you back for money you spend on education and training. One more perk is profit sharing and stock options. These are ways to motivate employees by allowing them to get paid more if the company grows. If a company has a good compensation program, it can attract and retain top talent. Make sure you are fully skilled and experienced workers. You have finished lesson 4. Now try the quiz to practice the vocabulary from this lesson.

This is the end of the business English listening content about presentations, meetings, negotiations, and phone calls, collected and compiled by Xiao Wu from Qicai website. Hope it is helpful for you!