·You will hear part of a conversation among an interviewer, John Chambers and Carly Fiorina, CEOs of two companies.
·For each question 23—30, mark one letter A, B or C for the correct answer.
·You will hear the recording twice.
单选题
During the peak of the war for talent, how many employees has Cisco been able to hire?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[听力原文]23-30
M: (interviewer): Good Morning, nice to meet you, Carry and John. Do sit down.
M: (John Chambers) / F: (Carly Fiorlua) :Thank you,
M: (interviewer): You've both been able to develop strong effective cultures. Cisco's been able to hire a 1, 000 employees a quarter even during the peak of the war for talent. And both of you enjoy an unusually low turnover levels, despite being located in a mobile Silicon Valley, What do you do to recruit and retain the employees who will best fit into the culture you're trying to cultivate and to weed out those who don't?
F: (Carly Fioriua): I think the thing that Hewlett-Packard has always been wonderful at is the loyalty of its employees. What we were not so good at is dealing with employees who were not performing up to par. And so one of the changes we've had to make is to get much more focused about what is an acceptable level of performance. And if that performance is not occurring, then we have to act with that employee. We have to coach them to better performance, we have to put them in a job that is more suited to their skills; or if beth of those things fail, we have to help them find another opportunity and let them depart with dignity, but let them depart. And se that's really been the focus we've historically been very good at attracting people. And interestingly, people have come to Hewlett-Packard not just because of technology, but also because of the company's values. They like what the company stands for. That's turned out to bo a competitive advantage for us, and I think the same thing is true of John and his company.
M: (John Chambers): I would agree. I think HP has the strongest culture in the valley and much of it very, very good. Keeping the culture is probably the most challenging thing we face, so we literally put it on the board for everybody, in terms of what the culture it along with the three to five year goals and one year objectives. And then you've got to reward people in terms of the culture that you're creating, but it's more important to have them in a nurturing environment that has the right culture. And it's amazing how powerful that is in retaining employees and attract them—particularly the ones that you want.
M: (interviewer): In terms of staying in touch with employees, I want to ask you both about this, but I want to start with you because you've got something called these birthday breakfasts. Tell us... I mean, it seems so astonishing to me that you could pull this off in a large company, but I don't want to be inaccurate, so you tell me what you do.
M: (John Chambers): Well, it again starts with what you are trying to accomplish and this is just one of the tactics that you use. And the birthday breakfasts are the most effective way we interface to our employee base. Once a month, if you have a birthday in that month, you get to come and grill the president for an hour and a half. And any topic is fair, we don't invite directors or VPs to come, and it's my best way of keeping the fingers on the pulse of what's occurring. Every session I learn two or three things that I did not know going in, and when you hear the question again and again and again from one session to the next, it means that you're not answering effectively or your answer was wrong.
M. (interviewer): You're on his board, right?
F: (Carly Fiorina): Yes.
M: (interviewer): Do you like this idea?
F: (Carly Fiorina): Yea, I think...
M: (interviewer): I mean, do you have a version of this?
F: (Carly Fiorina): Yep, I think what the principle that John is outlining which is absolutely critical is leadership cannot become disconnected from customers, disconnected from employees. Every time I visit a city, I go and spend time with the employees in that location for O and A, for walking around, for what's on your mind, for what's going on. So I think every leader has their own set of tactics, but the principle of staying connected is the same.
M: (John Chambers): Then there are other ways
单选题
Which of the following behaviors is not what the Hewlett-Packard did to the people who were not performing up to par? A. The Hewlett-Packard will let them depart immediately. B. The Hewlett-Packard may coach them to better performance. C. The Hewlett-Packard may put them in a job that is more suited to the people's skills.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】
单选题
Which is not the reason that people come to Hewlett-Packard?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】
单选题
Which is the competitive advantage for Hewlett-Packard? A. How employees work in the company B. How fast employees can get a higher and higher position C. What the company stands for
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】
单选题
Which of the following statements is not what the HP company has to do? A. The company provides the birthday breakfast for every employee. B. The company should ask all the employees to know the culture. C. Tie employees should know the three to five year goals and one year objectives of the company.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】
单选题
What is the real meaning of "birthday breakfast"? A. When it is an employee's birthday, the company will hold a breakfast together with all the people who work in the company. B. If one employee has a birthday in this month, he or she can go to the office of the president and talk with him for an hour and a half. C. The company will prepare a breakfast for the employee when it is his or her birthday.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】
单选题
According to what Chambers said, which of the following is correct? A. In the birthday breakfast, the employees can only praise the president and express how satisfied they are with the company. B. The directors or VPs will also be present at the birthday breakfast. C. The birthday breakfast can make the president exactly know what is occurring in his company.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】
单选题
Does Fiorina have the same opinion as Chambers about the birthday breakfast? A. Fiorina agrees with what Chambers said and thinks that leadership cannot be disconnected from customers. B. Fiorina does not agree with what Chambers said and thinks that the leadership can only need to deal with the things of the people in the high position. C. Fiorina thinks that part of what Chambers said is right and every company can have its only culture.