員工的積極性去哪了？

Royal Mail has said that it may not be able to afford its staff’s defined benefit pension scheme beyond 2018. The venerable UK postal business is unlikely to be the only company to take this drastic measure. The collapse in government bond yields, which pension funds use to calculate their ability to pay future benefits, has tipped schemes around the world into crisis.

皇家郵政(Royal Mail)表示，其可能無力負擔2018年以后員工的固定收益養(yǎng)老金計劃(defined benefit pension scheme)。這家歷史悠久的英國郵政公司不太可能是唯一一家采取這種極端舉措的公司。由于政府債券收益率——養(yǎng)老基金用此類收益率計算自己在未來支付福利金的能力——暴跌，世界各地的養(yǎng)老金計劃紛紛陷入了危機。

Plunging annuity rates mean the future looks grim, too, for workers with defined contribution pensions, who have to provide for their own retirements with the proceeds of what they have paid into their plans.

而由于年金收益率直線下跌，參加固定繳費養(yǎng)老金計劃(defined contribution pensions)的員工看起來也晚景黯淡，他們所繳費用的投資所得是要作為自己退休之用的。

The gloomy pensions scene is one way in which life has deteriorated for developed-world workers. Real wages for most people have been stagnant while executive pay has soared.

養(yǎng)老金的嚴峻狀況是發(fā)達國家勞動者生活水平下滑的一個方面。大多數(shù)人的實際工資停滯不前，而高管的薪酬則飆漲。

Add to that automation, outsourcing and job losses because of low-cost competition and it is no surprise that surveys show employees are discontented, disengaged and mistrustful.

讓事情雪上加霜的還有自動化、外包，以及低成本競爭帶來的失業(yè)，難怪調(diào)查表明大量員工心懷不滿、不敬業(yè)、不信任公司。

The most recent annual Edelman Trust Barometer, produced by the public relations company, showed that large numbers of workers no longer trusted the company they worked for. In Japan, only 40 per cent trusted their employers. In France it was 48 per cent and 57 per cent in the UK. In the US, nearly two-thirds of employees trusted their companies but that has to be set against other downbeat US surveys.

公關(guān)公司愛德曼(Edelman)發(fā)布的最新《愛德曼信任度調(diào)查報告》(Edelman Trust Barometer)表明，有很大一部分員工不再信任他們所效力的公司。在日本，只有40%的員工信任他們的雇主。法國和英國的這個比例分別為48%和57%。在美國，有近三分之二的員工信任他們所在的公司，但這個結(jié)果還需要和其他較為悲觀的調(diào)查結(jié)果相對照。

Gallup’s most recent polling of the US workforce showed that 34.1 per cent were “engaged”, which meant they worked with “passion” and felt a “profound connection to their company”.

蓋洛普(Gallup)最近的美國員工調(diào)查表明，34.1%的員工“敬業(yè)”(engaged)，這意味著他們在工作中懷有“激情”，并且感到“與他們的公司有一種深刻的聯(lián)系”。

Another 16.5 per cent were “actively disengaged”, which meant they were not just unhappy but were undermining their colleagues’ work. The largest group, 49.5 per cent, were simply not engaged. They had mentally “checked out” and were just going through the motions. This may not look that bad: over a third were enthusiastic about their jobs and many of the others were at least not getting in anyone’s way.

16.5%的員工“積極不敬業(yè)”(actively disengaged)，這表示他們不僅自己不快樂，還會影響同事的工作。49.5%的員工“不敬業(yè)”，所占比例最大。他們精神上已經(jīng)“打卡下班”，在工作中敷衍了事。有一點看起來可能沒那么糟糕：超過三分之一的員工對工作懷有熱情，其他員工中也有很大一部分至少不妨礙別人工作。

You could paint an even brighter gloss on Gallup’s figures by noting that the “engaged” figures are the highest it has recorded. Between 2000 and 2013, the proportion of US workers found to be engaged never rose above 30 per cent.

根據(jù)蓋洛普的調(diào)查數(shù)據(jù)，你還可以描繪出一幅更美好的畫面：“敬業(yè)”員工的比例是有記錄以來最高的。從2000年到2013年，美國敬業(yè)員工比例從未超過30%。

But it is going to get worse. The employees of the future are the least happy: only 29 per cent of millennials feel engaged with their work.

但情況會越來越糟糕。未來一代的雇員們是最不快樂的：只有29%的千禧一代感到自己對工作很投入。

Workplace satisfaction questionnaires have their critics. A 2014 survey of the research in Human Resource Development Quarterly concluded that there was no consensus on what employee engagement was and that it was difficult to draw conclusions about what helped or hindered it.

有人對職場滿意度調(diào)查提出了批評。2014年《人力資源發(fā)展季刊》發(fā)表的一份對此類研究的調(diào)查得出結(jié)論，對于員工敬業(yè)的定義并無共識，也很難就哪些因素會促進或者削弱員工敬業(yè)度下結(jié)論。

But most of us can probably recognise Gallup’s findings. In more than 40 years of visiting the US I have, as a customer, noticed the growing bifurcation of employee attitudes: there is a group who is still delighted to serve you and a growing number who seems to think your turning up has ruined their day.

但我們大多數(shù)人很可能都能親身感受到蓋洛普調(diào)查中所發(fā)現(xiàn)的情況。40多年來我多次訪美，作為一個顧客，我注意到員工工作態(tài)度的日益分化：有一部分人依然很高興為你服務(wù)，但越來越多的人似乎認為你的出現(xiàn)毀掉了他們的一天。

Employee disenchantment has costs beyond poor customer service: absenteeism, shoddy work and high turnover.

員工對工作不再熱衷除了會導(dǎo)致對客戶服務(wù)不周以外，還有許多壞處：曠工、工作敷衍了事、員工流動性高。

So given that pension problems and low-cost competition are not going away, what, other than slashing their top executives’ salaries, can employers do about staff unhappiness?

因此，考慮到養(yǎng)老金的難題和低成本競爭不會消失，雇主們除了削減高管薪資以外，還能做些什么來解決員工不滿呢?

First, make sure their companies are well considered. One of the questions Gallup asks is whether the mission or purpose of the company makes staff feel their jobs are important.

首先，確保企業(yè)在員工心中形象良好。蓋洛普提出的一個問題是，公司的使命或者目標是否讓員工感覺他們的工作很重要?

Companies should not be misled by the word “mission”. Mission statements count for little. This is about whether people are proud to tell their friends, family and neighbours that they work for the company.

企業(yè)不應(yīng)被“使命”這個詞誤導(dǎo)。有關(guān)使命的陳述無足輕重。重要的是人們是否能夠自豪地告訴朋友、家人和鄰居，他們?yōu)槟臣夜竟ぷ鳌?/p>

That means providing a decent service, not becoming a constant source of complaint on social media and staying out of trouble. Nobody is proud to work for a company embroiled in scandal.

這意味著企業(yè)要提供良好的服務(wù)，避免成為社交媒體上被抱怨連連的對象，不要卷入麻煩。沒人會因為在一家深陷丑聞的企業(yè)工作而感到自豪。

Second, companies cannot tell staff to take care of their own pension provision, thus expecting them to take adult responsibility for their retirement, and then treat them like children in every other way.

第二，企業(yè)不能告訴員工自己搞定養(yǎng)老金規(guī)劃，這無異于期望員工對自己的退休生活承擔起成人的責任，然而在其他任何一個方面都把他們當成孩子。

Excessive monitoring and control are the enemies of an engaged workforce. Explaining to people what you expect of them and letting them use their initiative to achieve it is the hallmark of effective management. If employers fail to improve the lives of their workers, what can employees do themselves? Working takes up such a large proportion of our lives. It is a shame to spend it unhappy, seething or just switched off.

過多的監(jiān)控和控制是打造一支敬業(yè)員工隊伍的大敵。告訴員工你期望他們達到什么目標，讓他們發(fā)揮主動性來實現(xiàn)目標，這才是有效的管理。如果雇主無法改善其員工的處境，員工們自己怎么做呢?工作在我們的人生中占如此巨大的比重。在工作中不快樂、一肚子火乃至失去興趣，委實是一種遺憾。

If you have poor managers, look elsewhere for validation: to your colleagues or, if you deal with them directly, your customers. Treating them well even when your company does not is likely to leave you, as well as them, far happier.

如果你攤上了糟糕的管理者，不妨試著從別的地方找到認可：比如同事，或者客戶，如果你直接和他們打交道的話。善待客戶，即使你的公司并不是這樣，這很可能會讓你和那些客戶都快樂得多。

It is also a way of improving your reputation and increasing the chances of a job offer from someone who notices and appreciates you.

這也有助于提高你個人的聲譽，假如有人注意并賞識你的話，也有可能為你帶來工作機會。

This month, a mother wrote a Facebook tribute to a London Underground worker called Pip, who, for years, has been making sure that pregnant women have seats during the rush hour. Many others said he had helped them too.

本月有一位母親在Facebook上發(fā)文稱贊一位名叫皮普(Pip)的倫敦地鐵(London Underground)員工，皮普多年來一直盡力確保孕婦在交通高峰期有位子可坐。很多人也表示皮普曾幫助過他們。

We all like praise from our bosses. But being praised like Pip is far better.

我們都喜歡得到老板的表揚，但像皮普這樣得到顧客稱贊要美妙得多。