Chapter 1: Workplace Environment
Introduction
Objectives
In this chapter, you will
- identify common Canadian workplace interactions and behaviours
- locate information in workplace documents
- identify sequence words in texts
- complete detailed workplace forms
- clarify information.
Video
Watch this chapter’s video. You will be introduced to a group of employees at CDN Malls. You will follow some new employees through the onboarding experience for their new jobs. While watching the video, think about the questions on the right. Write down any information that you think is important.
- Who are the people?
- What can you say about them?
- What do you notice about their actions, behaviour, and appearance?
- What do the two women think about the men? Are their observations important? Why?
- Why are they meeting?
Focus Questions
Hi! I am Sandy, your Workplace Mentor. Throughout this book, I will give you important pointers to help you understand the general environment in many workplaces in Canada.
In the video, you watched an interaction between four people at CDN Malls during their onboarding process.
Discussion 
Discuss the following:
- Who are the people in the video? What do you think their positions are in the company? How do you know? Put the names (Susan, Sima, Paul, Raja) beside their correct positions.
| Position | Name |
| Manager | |
| Senior employee | |
| New employee | |
| New employee |
2. What do you notice about the behaviour of the people in the video? Do they make eye contact? Why is this necessary? Why does Susan think Paul is confident and trustworthy? What do these two words mean?
3. Why is it important to show people we have these qualities? Can we show these qualities in other ways?
4. What do you notice about the language the people use when they interact? How formal/informal is it?
5. At the end of the video, Raja was going to ask a question. What do you think it was about? Can you complete it for him? Is it necessary to ask questions to make sure you have understood everything that is important? Why/Why not?
6. What do you think “onboarding” means?
7. The onboarding process involves three main stages. Which stage of the onboarding process do you think this video shows? Place an X on the continuum below:
