Finanse, ludzie i innowacje
Język angielski w zastosowaniu zawodowym
Vocabulary
Vocabulary for this seminar is grouped into three thematic blocks: finance (how organisations manage money and report on their activity), people (how organisations recruit, retain, develop, and protect their talent), and innovation (how organisations build, protect, and commercialise new ideas). Terms that span more than one block — for example R&D, which belongs to both innovation and people management — are listed under the block where they are most commonly used.
Finance: financial statements and reporting
These are the three core documents that every business needs to produce and read. They answer three different questions: what do we own and owe? (balance sheet), did we make money over this period? (income statement), and where did the cash actually go? (cash flow statement).
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Balance sheet | A financial statement showing assets, liabilities, and equity at a point in time — a snapshot of financial health |
| Income statement | A document summarising revenues, costs, and expenses over a period; also called the profit and loss statement or P&L |
| Cash flow statement | A statement that tracks sources and uses of cash from operating, investing, and financing activities |
| Revenue | Total sales generated before any deductions |
| Profit margin | The proportion of revenue remaining as profit after costs; a core measure of efficiency |
| Cash flow | The movement of money into and out of a business over a period; a profitable company can still run out of cash |
| Expenses | Ongoing costs such as salaries, rent, and utilities |
| Assets | Everything a company owns, both tangible (equipment, buildings) and intangible (patents, trademarks) |
| Liabilities | Financial obligations owed to outside parties — e.g. long-term loans, accounts payable |
| Equity | An ownership stake in a business; the residual value of assets after liabilities have been subtracted |
Finance: markets, instruments, and capital
The language used when a company raises money or is valued by investors.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Stock | Shares representing ownership in a company; issued to equity investors |
| Bond | A fixed-interest security providing regular income to investors; a form of debt |
| Capital markets | Markets where companies raise funds by issuing stocks or bonds |
| Working capital | Excess of current assets over current liabilities; the buffer that funds day-to-day operations |
| Depreciation | Gradual allocation of cost for physical (tangible) assets over time |
| Amortisation | Spreading the cost of intangible assets over their useful life |
| Valuation | Determining the fair market value of a business |
| Discounted cash flow (DCF) | A model estimating the present value of expected future earnings |
| Market capitalisation | The total market value of a company’s outstanding shares |
Finance: risk and ratios
Analysts use ratios to compare companies and periods. Four families matter most.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Profitability ratios | Measures of efficiency in generating profits from operations |
| Liquidity ratios | Measures of ability to convert assets into cash quickly and meet short-term obligations |
| Solvency ratios | Indicators of long-term debt-management capacity |
| Risk | Potential for unexpected losses due to market fluctuations or operational problems |
People: employees, retention, and well-being
Language used in HR, talent management, and the leadership of teams.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Retention | Keeping valued employees over time; the opposite of churn |
| Churn | The rate at which employees leave and are replaced (staff turnover) |
| Onboarding | The structured process of integrating a new employee; begins on day one |
| Upskilling | Teaching existing employees new, more advanced skills in their current role |
| Reskilling | Training employees for a role significantly different from their current one |
| Burnout | Physical and emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged workplace stress |
| Talent pipeline | The ongoing supply of qualified candidates an organisation cultivates so that key roles can be filled without disruption |
| Performance review | A structured conversation in which a manager and employee evaluate progress and set goals |
| Tacit knowledge | Know-how that cannot be easily written down; lives in teams and individuals |
| Recruitment | Attracting and selecting new hires |
| Redundancy | Elimination of a role; the person is made redundant when the role disappears |
Innovation: ideas, products, and strategy
Language used when building new products and competing on innovation.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| R&D (Research and Development) | Activities aimed at discovering and developing new products or processes |
| Intellectual property (IP) | Creations of the mind that are legally protected: patents, trademarks, copyrights, designs |
| Prototype | An early model of a product built to test a concept |
| Pivot | A fundamental change in business strategy, product, or target market in response to evidence that the current approach is not working |
| Time-to-market | The elapsed time between initial product concept and commercial launch; shorter times tend to confer a competitive edge |
| First-mover advantage | The benefit gained by being the first to enter a market |
| Fast follower | A company that deliberately enters a market after the first mover, often with a more refined product |
| Disruption | An innovation that significantly alters how an industry operates, often displacing established players |
| Scalability | The ability to grow without a proportional increase in cost |
| Seed funding | Early-stage capital used to build a prototype and test a business model |
| Growth potential | The scope a business has to expand revenue and market share in future |
Key terms: definitions and example sentences
The 24 terms covered in class are grouped below into three blocks of eight: finance, people, and innovation. Each entry gives a working definition and an example sentence anchored in a concrete company, industry, or scenario.
The 24 terms at a glance
| Finance (8) | People (8) | Innovation (8) |
|---|---|---|
| Balance sheet | Retention | R&D |
| Revenue | Churn | Prototype |
| Profit margin | Onboarding | Pivot |
| Cash flow | Burnout | Intellectual property |
| Working capital | Upskilling | Time-to-market |
| Capital markets | Reskilling | First-mover advantage |
| Equity | Talent pipeline | Disruption |
| Liabilities | Performance review | Scalability |
Definitions and example sentences
Finance
Balance sheet — A financial statement showing assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific moment in time; a snapshot of financial health.
Apple’s most recent balance sheet reported over $350 billion in total assets.
Revenue — The total sales a company generates from its operations, before any deductions.
The company reported record revenue of £500 million for the fiscal year, driven by strong international growth.
Profit margin — The proportion of revenue left as profit after costs; a core measure of how efficiently a business converts sales into earnings.
Luxury fashion houses typically operate on profit margins three or four times higher than those of mass-market retailers.
Cash flow — The movement of money into and out of a business over a given period; a company can be profitable on paper yet run out of cash.
Strong quarterly profits masked a deteriorating cash flow position that eventually forced the firm to negotiate an emergency credit line.
Working capital — The excess of current assets over current liabilities; the operating liquidity available to fund day-to-day activities.
Without sufficient working capital, even a profitable company can struggle to pay suppliers and meet payroll on time.
Capital markets — Financial markets where companies raise long-term funds by issuing stocks or bonds.
The firm turned to capital markets to finance its expansion into Southeast Asia, issuing €200 million in new bonds.
Equity — An ownership stake in a business; the residual value remaining for owners after all liabilities have been subtracted from assets.
The founders sold 15% of the company’s equity to venture capitalists to secure their Series A funding round.
Liabilities — A company’s financial obligations to outside parties: bank loans, bonds, accounts payable, deferred taxes.
The firm’s liabilities include a €20 million bank loan maturing in 2028 and €4 million in unpaid supplier invoices.
People management
Retention — The practice of keeping valued employees over time, through compensation, development, recognition, and workplace culture.
High retention among senior engineers gave the company a decisive advantage over competitors who were losing talent to larger firms.
Churn — The rate at which employees leave the organisation and have to be replaced; high churn erodes institutional knowledge.
Churn in the sales team reached 35% last year, forcing management to re-examine compensation, workload, and progression opportunities.
Onboarding — The structured process of integrating a new employee: introductions, training, administrative setup, early mentorship.
A thoughtful onboarding programme during the first three months significantly reduces the risk that new hires will leave within the first year.
Burnout — A state of physical and emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged workplace stress, often leading to reduced performance and, eventually, resignation.
Aggressive R&D timelines pushed several lead engineers into burnout, and two of them resigned before the project was completed.
Upskilling — Teaching existing employees new, more advanced skills in their current role — deepening expertise rather than changing direction.
The bank invested €5 million in upskilling its analysts so they could work effectively with new data-visualisation tools.
Reskilling — Training employees for a role fundamentally different from their current one — preparing them for a career transition, not just an upgrade.
Faced with automation of routine accounting tasks, the firm launched a reskilling programme to move clerks into data-analytics roles.
Talent pipeline — The ongoing supply of qualified candidates an organisation cultivates — internally and externally — so that key roles can be filled without disruption.
A healthy talent pipeline allowed the company to promote three senior managers internally within weeks of the restructuring announcement.
Performance review — A structured conversation in which a manager and employee evaluate progress, discuss feedback, and set goals for the period ahead.
After moving to quarterly performance reviews, the firm saw faster identification of both high performers and those needing additional support.
Innovation
R&D (Research and Development) — Activities aimed at discovering and developing new products, processes, or technologies.
Pharmaceutical companies typically reinvest 15–20% of their revenue in R&D to sustain a pipeline of new drugs.
Prototype — An early working model of a product, built to test a concept before full-scale development.
The team built a functional prototype in six weeks and used it to attract seed funding from three investors.
Pivot — A fundamental change in business strategy, product, or target market in response to evidence that the current approach is not working.
After two years of slow growth in the consumer market, the start-up pivoted to enterprise clients and tripled its revenue within twelve months.
Intellectual property — Creations of the mind that are legally protected: patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets.
Protecting intellectual property is essential for technology firms whose competitive advantage depends on proprietary algorithms.
Time-to-market — The elapsed time between initial product concept and commercial launch; shorter times tend to confer a competitive edge.
By streamlining its R&D and approval processes, the firm cut time-to-market for new devices from eighteen months to eight.
First-mover advantage — The benefit a company gains by being the first to enter a new market, often including brand recognition, customer loyalty, and control of distribution.
Amazon’s first-mover advantage in online retail allowed it to build logistics capabilities that competitors are still struggling to match.
Disruption — An innovation that significantly alters how an industry operates, often displacing established players.
Streaming services created a wave of disruption that forced traditional broadcasters to rethink their entire business models.
Scalability — The ability of a product or business to grow substantially without a proportional increase in cost or resources.
Cloud-based software offers the scalability that start-ups need to serve ten thousand users as easily as they served their first hundred.
Grammar
Two grammar points anchor the seminar: reported speech (indispensable in minutes, briefings, and written summaries of meetings) and active and passive voice (a constant choice in people-management communication). A third structure, have something done, is a compact way of describing delegation and outsourcing.
Reported speech
Business writing rarely quotes speakers verbatim. Reports, minutes, emails, briefings, and summaries all require indirect speech. Three things shift when you move from direct to reported speech:
- tenses typically move “one step back” into the past;
- pronouns shift from first- and second-person to third-person;
- time and place expressions often change (today → that day, here → there).
Your choice of reporting verb is never neutral — said, claimed, confirmed, admitted, and stated all carry different connotations.
Tense shifting (one step back)
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| Present Simple | Past Simple |
| Present Continuous | Past Continuous |
| Present Perfect | Past Perfect |
| Present Perfect Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous |
| Past Simple | Past Perfect |
| Past Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous |
| will | would |
| can | could |
| may | might |
| must | had to |
Unchanged: would, could, might, should, ought to, used to; third-conditional structures (would have + past participle).
Examples:
- “Our sales are increasing.” → She said sales were increasing.
- “We have completed the project.” → They announced they had completed the project.
- “The product launched last week.” → They confirmed the product had launched the previous week.
- “The office will open next month.” → He said the office would open the following month.
Pronouns and possessives
| Direct | Reported |
|---|---|
| I, we | he, she, they |
| my, our | his, her, their |
| you | I, we, he, she, they (context-dependent) |
Examples:
- “I will review the proposal.” → She said she would review the proposal.
- “Our team is working on it.” → He explained that their team was working on it.
Time and place expressions
| Direct speech | Reported speech |
|---|---|
| today | that day |
| yesterday | the day before / the previous day |
| tomorrow | the next day / the following day |
| next week / month / year | the following week / month / year |
| last week / month / year | the previous week / month / year |
| now | then |
| this | that |
| these | those |
| here | there |
| ago | before |
| soon | shortly |
Choosing a reporting verb
| Category | Verbs | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Neutral | said, told, stated, mentioned, explained, noted | General paraphrase; no evaluative colour |
| Official | announced, confirmed, reported, indicated | Press releases, formal communications |
| With conviction | argued, insisted, emphasised, maintained, contended | When the speaker defended a position |
| With uncertainty / distance | claimed, suggested, implied, speculated, hinted | When you want to signal doubt or tentativeness |
| With concession | admitted, acknowledged, conceded | When the speaker was giving ground |
| Directing | advised, recommended, instructed, requested, cautioned | Requests, orders, warnings, recommendations |
Note: claimed often signals that the reporter doubts the statement; confirmed implies it has been verified. The reporting verb is a diplomatic tool — choose it with the reader in mind.
Active and passive voice
Structures
- Active: Subject + Verb + Object. “HR implements the new policy.”
- Passive: Object + to be + past participle (+ by + agent). “The new policy is implemented (by HR).”
What each voice does
| Active voice | Passive voice |
|---|---|
| Emphasises the doer of the action | Emphasises the action or its receiver |
| Assigns clear responsibility and ownership | De-emphasises (or hides) the doer |
| Feels personal, direct, engaging | Feels formal, objective, diplomatic |
| Conveys confidence and decisiveness | Creates emotional distance |
When to choose each voice in people management
| Use active voice for | Use passive voice for |
|---|---|
| Building personal connections | Delivering sensitive feedback |
| Giving recognition and praise | Creating emotional distance in conflicts |
| Demonstrating decisive leadership | Establishing formal policies |
| Delegating clearly | Communicating difficult organisational decisions |
| Owning responsibility | Describing institutional processes |
Active and passive in people-management contexts
| Context | Active voice | Passive voice |
|---|---|---|
| Recruitment | “We offer a competitive salary.” | “A competitive salary is offered.” |
| Positive feedback | “You consistently exceed targets.” | “Targets have been consistently exceeded.” |
| Constructive criticism | “You need to improve time management.” | “Time management skills need to be improved.” |
| Organisational change | “We will reorganise the department.” | “The department will be reorganised.” |
The have something done structure
- Structure: Subject + have + object + past participle (+ by + agent)
- Function: Signals that someone arranges for another person or team to do something. Used for delegation, outsourcing, and support functions.
Examples:
- “We have our software upgraded by the IT department.” (= IT upgrades it for us)
- “The CEO has the report prepared by the assistant.” (= the assistant prepares it)
- “We have our marketing materials designed by an external agency.” (= outsourcing)
Preferred over a plain passive when you want to keep the subject (we, the company) visible.
Quick reference: voice and tone
Three ways to say the same thing, and what each conveys:
| Version | Example | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Active, named agent | “The board has decided to postpone the relocation.” | Direct, accountable, transparent |
| Passive, named agent | “The decision to postpone the relocation has been made by the board.” | Formal, emphasises the decision |
| Passive, no agent | “It has been decided that the relocation will be postponed.” | Bureaucratic, evasive; often irritates readers |
Ask yourself: do I want the reader to know who acted, or not? If yes, prefer active. If no — and there is a good reason — the passive is legitimate.
Skills and communication patterns
This section gathers useful phrases for the three domains of the seminar. They are not memorisation drills — use them as a repertoire you can draw on when writing or speaking about finance, people, or innovation at work.
Financial discussion
Reporting financial results
- “Q3 revenue grew by 12% year on year, driven by…”
- “Operating expenses came in below forecast.”
- “Our free cash flow was broadly flat against the previous quarter.”
- “We are reaffirming full-year guidance.”
- “The income statement shows a modest improvement in margins.”
Discussing the balance sheet and liquidity
- “Our working capital position remains healthy.”
- “We have reduced net debt by €40m over the period.”
- “Liquidity ratios are comfortably above the covenant thresholds.”
- “We continue to maintain a conservative leverage profile.”
Talking about valuation and investment
- “On a DCF basis, the target looks undervalued.”
- “The acquisition would be earnings-accretive from year two.”
- “We are pricing in a modest risk premium.”
- “The valuation assumes a 3% terminal growth rate.”
Hedging language for forecasts
Forecasts are inherently uncertain; overstating confidence damages credibility.
- “We expect…” — confident but not guaranteed
- “We anticipate…” — slightly more tentative
- “Subject to market conditions, …” — builds in a qualifier
- “Barring unforeseen circumstances, …” — formal hedge
- “Our current view is that…” — explicitly tentative
HR and people-management conversations
Recruitment and onboarding
- “We are looking for someone who can hit the ground running.”
- “The onboarding programme runs over the first three months.”
- “We pair every new hire with a buddy for their first 90 days.”
- “The role reports into the Head of…”
Performance reviews and feedback
Active voice personalises, passive voice depersonalises. Choose deliberately.
- “Our performance-review cycle runs twice a year — mid-year and end-of-year.”
- “I’ve been really impressed by how you handled…” (active, praise)
- “Your contribution to the project has been exceptional.” (active, praise)
- “There’s an area I’d like us to work on together…” (soft framing for criticism)
- “Time-management skills need to be strengthened.” (passive, depersonalised)
- “The feedback from the team is that…” (passive, distances the speaker)
Development and career conversations
- “We see a lot of potential in you for…”
- “This upskilling programme would put you in a strong position for…”
- “A reskilling programme would open up a different career track.”
- “We are building a talent pipeline for this role, so internal candidates will be considered first.”
- “Where would you like to be in two years?”
Difficult conversations (redundancies, restructuring)
Passive voice is standard here precisely because the institution, not any one person, is the agent.
- “A decision has been made to restructure the department.”
- “A number of roles will be made redundant.”
- “Affected colleagues will be offered outplacement support.”
- “The rationale for the change is…”
Exit interviews and retention
- “What would have made you stay?”
- “Is there anything we could have done differently?”
- “How would you describe your experience of onboarding?”
Innovation pitches and conversations
Framing the problem
- “The problem we’re solving is…”
- “Existing solutions force users to choose between X and Y.”
- “This is a market that has been underserved for…”
Describing the product
- “We have built a prototype that demonstrates…”
- “Our technology is protected by three pending patents.”
- “The architecture is designed for scalability from day one.”
Strategy language
- “We see a window for first-mover advantage in…”
- “We are pivoting from a B2C to a B2B model because…”
- “Our plan is to be a fast follower, learning from the mistakes of…”
- “This is a genuinely disruptive approach to…”
- “The disruption in this sector is being driven by…”
- “We have cut time-to-market from 18 months to 10 by…”
- “A shorter time-to-market is critical because…”
Funding and milestones
- “We are raising a seed round of €2m.”
- “The funds will take us to product-market fit.”
- “Our next milestone is a limited release with two pilot clients.”
Risks and mitigations
- “The main risk is…”
- “We are mitigating that by…”
- “Our IP position protects us from…”
- “Our retention plan for key engineers is…”