商务英语部分课文翻译

商务英语部分课文翻译 Hard work doesn’t always pay Does it ever make sense to contribute your labour free of charge? Matthew Lewis, then an out-of-work masters graduate, decided it did. Sadly, the introductions to employers promised in lieu of a salary never materialised. Instead, he spent six months interning at a business development consultancy making sales calls without pay or commission. “I did the same job as the guys who hired me – but they were salaried and I wasn’t,” he says. 付出劳动但不收取报酬有任何意义吗,当时正处于失业状态的硕士毕业生马修?刘易斯(Matthew Lewis)曾经断定，这么做确实有意义。遗憾的是，不付薪水但向用人单位推荐的承诺从未兑现。相反，他在一家商业发展咨询公司实习了6个月，做着打推销电话的工作，却未得到薪水或佣金。他说，“我和雇用我的人做着相同的工作，但他们领工资，我却没有工资。” His is not an isolated case. Reports abound of unfair practices. In February, a BBC documentary, Who Gets the Best Jobs, highlighted the prevalence of unpaid internships in the world of fashion PR. More recently, HSBC’s legal division was accused of nepotism and bolstering social inequality when a senior employee implied that his department limited work experience to the offspring of its own executives. In April, Nick Clegg, the UK deputy prime minister, said Whitehall would ban informal internships as part of a drive to improve social mobility. 马修的经历并非个例。有关不公平做法的报道数不胜数。2月份，英国广播公司(BBC)一部名为《谁得到了最好的工作》(Who Gets the Best Jobs)的纪录片着重介绍了时尚公关领域无薪实习盛行的状况。 因为一位高级职员暗示他的最近，汇丰(HSBC)法律部被指支持裙带关系和助长社会不公， 部门把实习机会留给部门高管的子女。4月份，英国副首相尼克?克莱格(Nick Clegg)表示，作为改善社会流动性举措的一部分，白厅(Whitehall)将禁止非正式的实习生制度。 Now the controversy has been stoked further by former intern Ross Perlin. In an exposé of questionable practices, Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy, he estimates there are 500,000 unpaid interns in the US, subsidising corporate America to the tune of $2bn a year. 眼下，前实习生罗斯?波林(Ross Perlin)又为这场争议火上浇油。他在《实习生之国:如何在美丽新经济中分文不赚并所学甚少》(Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy)一书中揭露了一些成问的做法。据他估计，美国有50万名无薪实习生，他们每年为美国公司节约费用高达20亿美元。 However, stories of employers in fashion, politics, advertising and the media giving a leg-up to sons and daughters of acquaintances, or taking advantage of jobless graduates desperate for an inside track, paint a partial picture. For every alleged abuse there are also companies using internships to spot outstanding potential and beat competitors in the annual scramble for the best students. “For us, internships are an investment,” says Fran?ois de Wazières, international recruitment director at L’Oréal, which recruits 3,400 interns worldwide – and pays them. He says they receive an average of about ,1,500 ($2,400) in the UK and ,1,400 ($2,000) in France.但是，时尚、政界、广告和媒体业的雇主向熟人的子女提供帮助，或者对那些还没找到工作、迫切希望获得有利地位的毕业生大加利用，这些报道仅描绘出了部分真相。尽管有多种陋习受到指责，也有公司利用实习生制度物色杰出人才，在每年一度的优等生争夺战中击败对手。欧莱雅(L’Oréal)在全球招聘3400名实习生，并向他们支付薪水。欧莱雅全球招聘总监弗朗索瓦?德瓦兹耶赫(Fran?ois de Wazières)表示:“对于我们来说，招聘实习生是一笔投 资。”他表示，实习生在英国的平均薪水为1500英镑(合2400美元)，在法国是1400英镑(合2000美元)。 Some interns at other companies receive non-financial rewards such as a phone after working on a campaign for a mobile phone brand. More important perhaps, practical experience can be a crucial springboard into employment as employers often see it as vital way to spot talent. The creative industries have a tradition of doing this. Like many agencies, marketing group Iris Worldwide hosts unpaid students and encourages them to brainstorm and work up ideas. “The thing [students] need most is experience and access to people in the industry,” says Ian Millner, the chief executive 也有些公司的实习生会收到非财务性奖励，比如参加某手机品牌活动的相关工作之后可获得一部手机。或许更为重要的是，实际经验可能成为日后就业的关键跳板，因为用人单位经常把实习视为发现人才的一条重要途径。各种创意性行业都有这么做的传统。像许多机构一样，营销集团艾睿思环球(Iris Worldwide)免费招聘学生前来实习，鼓励他们进行头脑风暴，发掘出种种创意。该公司首席执行官伊恩?米尔纳(Ian Millner)表示，“(学生们)最需要的是获取工作经验并结识行业内人士”。 The counter-argument is that giving employers a free ride with un-paid labour props up companies that would otherwise go out of business, depresses wages and limits the career options for students who cannot afford to work free. Mr Perlin also argues that internships take away opportunities from regular workers. 反对的观点则认为，允许用人单位搭乘无偿劳动的便车，让一些原本会倒闭的公司得以维续。这么做也使企业得以压低工资，并限制了学生的职业选择——他们的经济状况不允许他们免费劳动。波林还认为，实习生制度剥夺了正式员工的机会。 When does give and take tip over into exploitation? In the UK, it boils down to whether an individual falls within one of four exemptions to the National Minimum Wage Act: volunteers; voluntary workers; work-shadowing/work experience; and students on course placements. Simply labelling someone an intern is not a get-out, says Alison Clements of Lewis Silkin, the law firm. What matters is whether “they are performing real work” and are obliged to work fixed hours. 这种“一个愿打、一个愿挨”的做法何时会变质成为剥削,在英国，判断就是实习生是否属于《全国最低工资法案》(National Minimum Wage Act)中规定的四种例外情况:志愿者、义务工作人员、工作观摩/工作实践和课程实习生。简单地给某人贴上“实习生”标签不是解决办法，Lewis Silkin法律事务所的艾莉森?克莱门茨(Alison Clements)表示。重要的是，他们“是否从事真正的工作”，以及工作时间是否是固定的。 Adam Foreman, a partner at Littler Mendelson, the law firm, says US law that guarantees interns a minimum wage is often ignored. Because “the interns are hoping to turn their internships into full-time jobs”, he says, transgressors are rarely hauled before the courts. 利特勒?门德尔松律师事务所(Littler Mendelson)的合伙人亚当?福尔曼(Adam Foreman)表示，美国法律规定应向实习生支付最低工资，但这常常被忽略。他表示，因为“实习生们希望通过实习经历成为正式员工”，所以犯规者很少被起诉至法庭。 In Intern Nation, Mr Perlin dissects the employment practices of some of the world’s biggest corporations, inc-luding Disney, which he accuses of replacing “well-trained, decently compen sated full-timers” with an army of low-paid interns. But for employers that approach recruitment strategically, internships are typically a cost – albeit one they hope will pay off in better, happier recruits. 在《实习生之国》一书中，波林剖析了一些全球知名大公司的招聘惯例，比如他指责迪斯尼(Disney)用大量低薪实习生取代了“训练有素、薪酬可观的正式员工”。但是，对于那些以战略性眼光对待招聘事宜的雇主而言，实习制度通常是一项成本——只不过，他们希望这项付出未来有所回报，令他们招到更好、更满意的员工。 By September this year, the UK division of PwC, the professional services firm, will have recruited about a third of its 2012 graduate intake from its summer vacation interns. Over the coming weeks, the group – selected through open competition – will be paid a graduate starting salary, meet clients, receive training and tackle a project. “Our recruitment tools can tell us whether a candidate is right for us,” says Richard Irwin, head of student recruitment. But without this kind of hands-on experience, “what the candidate might not know is whether we are right for them”. 到今年9月，专业会计师事务所普华永道(PwC)的英国分部将已经招募到其2012年毕业生总录用人数的三分之一，这些人都来自该公司的暑假实习生。在接下来的几周内，这批在公开竞争胜出的实习生将开始领取毕业生起薪，会见客户，接受培训并接手项目。“我们的招聘工具能够告诉我们，某一位候选人是否适合我们，”校园招聘负责人理查德?欧文(Richard Irwin)表示，但是，若没有这种实践经验，“候选人可能不清楚我们是否适合他们”。 All too often, says Rajeeb Dey, founder of Enternships, which arranges work placements in smaller businesses, employers fail to think through “what it means to have another person inside the company” and interns end up “running random errands”. They leave with a negative perception of the business that they may pass on to fellow students, including via websites such as Interns Anonymous. Enternships是一家负责安排在小型公司工作实习的机构，其创始人拉杰卜?戴伊(Rajeeb Dey)表示，非常普遍的情况是，用人单位并没有认真思考“公司里多进一个人有什么意义”，结果是让实习生们“干些零散的杂活儿”。他们带着对公司的负面印象离开之后，有可能通过Interns Anonymous等网站把这种印象传递给他们的同学们。 Allowing interns “quality time away from their desks” so they can explore the organisation is important, says Jennifer Cook, a graduate rec-ruitment adviser at Linklaters, the law firm. For John Cordrey, a 2010 PwC tax intern, networking with other functions led to a change in his career plans. He is now set to join PwC’s corporate finance team instead of the tax division of a rival, whose internship was “less flexible”, he says. 年利达律师事务所(Linklaters) 的毕业生招聘顾问詹尼弗?库克(Jennifer Cook) 表示，让实习生“获得一些工作之外的宝贵时间”，从而能够了解他们所实习的公司，这一点很重要。对于普华永道2010年税务部门实习生约翰?科德雷(John Cordrey)来说，和其他职能部门的接触让他调整了职业规划。他表示，现在他即将加入普华永道的公司财务团队，而不是一家竞争对手的税务部门，那里的实习生制度“没这么灵活”。 As the expectations of students change, so must internships. Mr de Wazières says L’Oréal “sells” its international careers to graduates. Until 2009, all interns did their placements in their home country, which for internationally minded high-fliers was frustrating. “For the current generation of students, early international experience has a much bigger appeal.” 随着学生们 的预期发生变化，实习生制度也必须相应调整。德瓦兹耶赫表示，欧莱雅正在向毕业生“推销”国际职业发展机会。在2009年之前，所有实习生都是在本国完成实习的，令那些具有国际头脑的佼佼者们感到沮丧。“对于当前这一代学生来说，早一点获得国际经验具有更大的吸引力。” .................................................. .................................................. Do’s and don’ts for interns 实习生注意事项 ? Check out your chances. Ask how many interns are made permanent. If the answer is very few, this may indicate that interns are seen as a cheap expedient, rather than as future employees. ? 判明你的机会。询问一下一般有多少实习生最后成为了正式员工。如果答案是“非常少”，可能说明，公司把实习生视为降低成本的权宜之计，而并非未来的员工。 ? Establish the ratio of interns to staff. A high ratio can be a sign that the employer’s business model is unsustainable. ? 了解实习生与正式员工的人数比例。比例高可能表明，该公司的商业模式无法维持。 ? Check the work will be relevant. Also check what training you will receive and who will manage you. ? 确保你从事的工作与公司核心业务相关。也要了解你将接受哪些培训以及谁负责实习生的管理。 ? Decide if the internship will develop your skills. Is it merely a job someone else would have to do? Ben Lyons, co-director of campaigners Intern Aware, says he has come across advert 这只是一isements for “intern receptionists and cooks”. ? 判定实习是否会增进你的技能。 项其他人也必须做的工作吗,Intern Aware运动副总监本?莱昂斯(Ben Lyons) 表示，他就曾遇到过招聘“前台实习生和厨师实习生”的广告。 ? Don’t be lured into working set hours without pay. Working flat-out can leave you no time to search for salaried employment. ? 不要被引诱接受工作时间固定但不付薪水的实习工作。一直忙工作可能使你没有时间去物色支付薪水的工作。 ? Don’t be afraid to look at other options. Becky Heath, co-founder of campaign group Internocracy, says that volunteering may teach you more than a business that treats interns as free labour. ? 不要害怕看看其他机会。运动组织Internocracy的联合创始人贝基?希思(Becky Heath) 表示，和一家把实习生当免费劳力对待的公司相比，志愿者活动可能会教会你更多东西。 People, meet the parents When Procter & Gamble took to British televisions this month to “recognise, celebrate and thank” mothers it had one particular parent in mind: itself. The real purpose behind the print and TV campaign was to showcase the US consumer goods group as parent to 50 household brands, such as Ariel detergent and Duracell batteries. 本月初，当宝洁公司(Procter & Gamble)在英国推出以“认识、赞美和感谢”母亲为主题的电视广告时，该公司心里想的是一位特殊的“母亲”——它自己。这家美国消费品集团此番平面及电视宣传攻势的真实意图，在于向世人展现其作为50个家居品牌的“母亲”的形象——其中包括碧浪(Ariel)洗涤产品和金霸王(Duracell)电池。 It marks the first time P&G has linked its corporate name to its brands in the UK, making it something of a laggard. Nestlé, the world’s biggest food group by sales, has been using its name across its 6,000 brands for more than 20 years. Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer group, has been banging the corporate drum for almost a decade. 这是宝洁首次在英国将企业名称与旗下品牌联系在一起，这让它多少有些“迟来”的味道。作为全球销售额最大的食品公司，雀巢(Nestlé)20多年来一直在旗下6000多个品牌上使用公司名称。而英荷消费品集团联合利华(Unilever)着力推广企业品牌形象也有近10年之久。 Corporate branding, say its proponents, is a means of transferring all the good qualities of trust and reliability across an entire portfolio, be it from chocolate bars to cat-food or stock cubes to face creams. 倡导者们表示，企业品牌推广是一种将信任与信赖的良好品质传递到整个产品组合的方式，无论是巧克力、猫粮，还是固态汤料乃至面霜等各类商品。 This is what Petraea Heynike, Nestlé’s head of marketing and sales, calls the company’s “seal of guarantee”. Not everyone at the Swiss group bought into the concept at first, she says: “We had to explain that it’s not about a brand’s one-to-one relationship with the consumer, but about who is making the product.” 这正是雀巢营销与销售总监珀特赖亚?海奈克(Petraea Heynike)所说的公司“品质保证”。她表示，起初，这家瑞士公司并非所有人都认同这一理念:“我们不得不解释说，企业品牌推广无关某个具体品牌与客户之间一对一的关系，而是要表明谁生产了这种产品。” These advantages spill over beyond relationships with consumers to retailers and even employees, as Paul Nevett, vice-president of Unilever Brand explains: “Consumers prefer to buy products from a company that they know and trust. Employees want to feel proud of what they do and talented people prefer to work for companies that are respected and trusted.” 这些优势从与消费者的关系蔓延到与零售商、甚至企业员工之间的关系，联合利华品牌副总裁保罗?纳维特(Paul Nevett)这样解释道:“消费者更愿意从一家自己熟悉和信赖的公司购买产品。员工们希望自己从事的工作能带来自豪感，而有才华的人乐于效力于受人尊敬和信赖的公司。” Howard Robinson, a manager at customer insights agency Engage Research, goes one step further. “Overtly going out with a corporate ad is really talking to a different market place,” he says. “That’s talking to the retailer; I think it’s talking to the financial market, to analysts and shareholders. And there it’s about expressing power, might, influence and credibility.” 消费者研究机构Engage Research的经理霍华德?罗宾逊(Howard Robinson)说得更进了一步，“我认为，公开打出企业广告，实际上就是向市场的不同领域发出声音，这是在告诉 广告的目的是展示公司的实力、份量、零售商，也是在告诉金融市场、分析师和股东们。 影响力和公信力。” Stuart Wood, executive creative director at Fitch, the design and branding consultancy, believes much of it is aimed at retailers. If a company can show it “owns” a category – by having a few of the top-selling yoghurts, say – it is a powerful negotiating tool with shops. “You can approach retailers and say: ‘As Mr Unilever or Danone I can help elevate your entire yoghurt aisle because I have three or four big brands.’ You can negotiate a better environment for all these brands within that category and, because you are the leader, you will gain more than anyone else.” 品牌设计咨询机构费奇(Fitch)执行创意总监斯图尔特?伍德(Stuart Wood)表示，企业品牌推广主要针对的是零售商。如果一家公司能够表明自己“拥有”一个门类的产品——比如说好几种热卖的酸奶——这是一种与商家谈判时的强大武器。“你可以接洽一家零售商，告 ‘我们联合利华(或达能(Danone))拥有三四个大品牌，能够帮你们提升整个酸奶货诉他: 品区的档次。’你能够为该门类的所有品牌争取到更好的环境;而且，由于你是市场领军者，你还能得到比任何其他公司更好的条件。” Moreover, the reassurance these ads provide to consumers is also aimed higher up the food chain since happy consumers buy more, which means investors, retailers and so on will be happier with the parent company. 此外，宝洁企业品牌广告对消费者作出的保证，还旨在提升宝洁在“食物链”中所处的位置:因为心满意足的消费者会买更多东西，这意味着投资者、零售商及其他相关方将对母公司更加满意。 P&G’s own research in other markets would certainly appear to bear this out. It claims that similar corporate branding ads in the US, China, France and Brazil helped consumers understand the link between P&G and its individual brands and as a result increased their propensity to buy its products. (The measurement used is proprietary, the group says, and cannot be disclosed.) 宝洁自己在其他市场的研究，似乎注定会证实这一点。研究结果称，宝洁在美国、中国、法国和巴西市场投放的类似企业品牌广告，对于消费者认识宝洁与各子品牌之间的联系有所帮助，并从而提升了他们购买宝洁产品的倾向性。(宝洁称，相关测算方法为该公司专有，不便对外透露。) But, warns Don Williams, chief executive of Pi global, the branding agency, it can just so easily backfire and tarnish the whole portfolio if something goes wrong as happened with Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker by sales, when it suffered a mass recall last year. 但是，品牌咨询机构Pi global首席执行官唐?威廉姆斯(Don Williams)警告称，企业品牌推广同样也很容易事与愿违，如果某些地方出了差错，可能会损害整个产品组合的声誉。去年，全球销量第一的汽车厂商丰田(Toyota)就遇到了这种情况，当时该公司出现了大规模召回。 “Toyota has a strong halo effect,” he says. “But the minute they do [something amiss] it really has a detrimental effect on all their cars, because the halo effect can work both ways.” It is not for nothing, he says, that Toyota brands its luxury division separately under the Lexus name. “丰田有着很强的光环效应，”他说，“但是，这种效应是一把双刃剑，一旦做错了(某件事)，也肯定会损害到公司的所有车型。”他表示，丰田将豪华车业务独立出来，置于雷克萨斯(Lexus)品牌之下，也不是没有原因的。 However, Ms Heynike says that transparency and dealing with issues immediately and head-on, goes a long way to mitigating this. “In today’s world of social media you cannot hide,” she adds. 然而，海奈克表示，靠透明度和迅即、正面地处理问题，还远不能减轻这种伤害。“在社交媒体发达的当今，你无法隐瞒，”她补充道。 Equally, as Nestlé and its peers put increasing effort into corporate responsibility and sustainability, they want consumers to know about these efforts. While some, such as Fairtrade accreditation, can be slapped on to packets, others are more amorphous – linking back to the corporate rather than individual brands. 同样，雀巢和及其同行在企业责任和可持续性发展方面不断加大投入，为的就是让消费者了解他们所付出的努力。尽管有些东西，比如公平贸易(Fairtrade)认证，可以找到具体的品牌，但有一些则难以归类——只能和企业自身、而非具体品牌联系在一起。 Agencies say a corporate brand is the best platform to help monetise more touchy-feely initiatives, be it sustainable sourcing, helping farmers in emerging markets or donating part of profits to clean water supplies in Africa. Unilever’s Mr Nevett says: “From our consumer research we know that people’s number one priority when choosing brands is, and always will be, to choose brands that are best for themselves and their families – consumers don’t compromise on functionality. However, people increasingly want to know that the brands they choose are not only good for them but also good for others and good for the planet.” 一些机构指出，企业品牌是有助于将那些更为煽情的举措货币化的最佳平台——无论是可持续采购、帮助新兴市场国家的农民，还是捐出部分利润、用于非洲的清洁供水。联合利华的纳维特说道:“我们通过消费者调查了解到，人们在选择品牌时考虑的首要因素(永远都将)是，选择那些最适合自己和家人的品牌——消费者不会在功能性上妥协。不过， 人们越来越愿意了解到，他们选择的品牌不仅适合自己，而且有益于他人和整个地球。” He adds that when Unilever launched its worthy but hardly sexy Sustainable Living Plan – what the company calls its project to be a more environmentally sustainable business – last November, it provoked a few hundred tweets: “This shows the engagement that one can generate with increased corporate visibility.” 他补充称，去年11月，联合利华推出了令人尊敬、但难言“诱人”的可持续生活计划(Sustainable Living Plan)——该公司称之为更环保的生意，这招致了数百条推特发言:“这表明，增加公司曝光度能够提升与公众的互动效果。” Ms Heynike concurs. Communication of some of Nestlé’s activities, from supplying sustainable cocoa plants to farmers in Africa to saving the American honey bee, is aimed at opinion leaders. But the message, she adds, is one that runs across both the developed and the developing world. “If anything, in the emerging markets where they have less money, they need to have that faith and trust [in the manufacturer] to an even greater degree,” she says. “For example, in China [where there have been several food safety scares] you need to really believe you can trust the company.” 海奈特也赞同这一观点。雀巢对某些活动——从为非洲农民提供可持续性的可可作物、到 都意在影响领袖。但她补充说，其中传递的拯救美洲蜜蜂等一系列活动——的宣传， 讯息是同时面向发达国家和发展中国家的。“如果有什么不同的话，那就是在消费者收入较低的发展中国家，他们更需要(生产商提供的)信心和信任，”她说，“比如说，在(发生过多次食品安全恐慌的)中国，你必须确定你能够信任那家公司。” In P&G’s case, the corporate branding is tied to its Olympics sponsorship and follows a similar campaign in Canada during the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. Irwin Lee, general manager and vice-president for P&G UK and Ireland, says the group’s global partnership with the International Olympic Committee for the next five Olympics provides an “opportunity and platform” to talk about the company behind the household brands. 拿宝洁来说，企业品牌推广与其奥运会赞助商身份相关;且此前在2010年温哥华冬奥会期间，该公司已在加拿大发起过一次类似的推广活动。宝洁英国和爱尔兰业务总经理兼副总裁欧文?李(Irwin Lee)表示，在未来5届奥运会中，宝洁将与国际奥委会展开全球合作，这是一个宣传该公司作为诸多家居品牌所有者形象的一个“机会和平台”。 Other consumer goods companies use corporate branding to target specific markets rather than specific events, as was the case for Unilever in Brazil. The company had been building its brand there since 2004 and a promotion five years later to celebrate Unilever Brazil’s 80th anniversary made Unilever the third most searched word online in the country. 也有些消费品公司将企业品牌推广瞄准特定市场、而非特定活动，联合利华在巴西的推广就属于这种情况。自2004年以来，该公司一直在巴西市场塑造其品牌，5年后又举办了联合利华巴西公司80周年庆典活动，使“联合利华”成为巴西第三大在线搜索关键词。 Corporate branding also allows groups to deliver broader messages and cross-product information to consumers. Ms Heynike offers the following example: “More than 1bn Nestlé packs a day are being picked up, and if consumers flick to the back of the pack they get to Nestlé’s nutritional compass, with tips on healthy living.” 企业品牌推广还使各公司得以向消费者传递更广泛的、跨越产品的信息。海奈克提供了下面的例子:“雀巢每天售出逾10亿袋产品;如果消费者翻到包装袋的背面，就能看到雀巢营养指南和几条健康生活提示。” All of which may, please those mothers who – in P&G’s words – “for more than 80 years in the UK have been our boss at P&G. They have driven our product innovation and our marketing communications.”. And who, it hopes, will keep buying more of its products. 所有这些，或许都会取悦母亲们——用宝洁的话说，“80年多来，英国的母亲们一直是宝洁的老板。她们推动了宝洁的产品创新和营销沟通”。而宝洁希望，这些母亲们会购买更多的本公司产品。 员工消极对抗，老板如何接招, During a month-long household move, Patty Shore, director of marketing at Creative Energy Options, asked to bring her dog to the consulting firm's White Haven, Pa. offices. Everyone at the company expressed enthusiasm, president Sylvia Lafair recalls, but before long, one employee began complaining that the dog, a mixed-breed collie named Mr. Ray, hovered outside her office and wouldn't leave her alone. 咨询公司Creative Energy Options的营销总监帕蒂•肖尔搬家需要花一个月的时间，所以，她申请将宠物狗带到公司位于宾夕法尼亚州怀特港的办公室。公司总裁西尔维娅•拉斐尔回忆说，当时，大家都非常热心。但没过多久，就有一名员工开始抱怨，称那只名为雷的混血柯利牧羊犬总是在她办公室门口转悠，让她不得安宁。 Shore tried to restrict Mr. Ray to the other end of the office, but couldn't keep the pup away from the complainer. "Finally, two people came to me and said, 'She has dog biscuits in the drawer of her desk and feeds the dog when nobody is looking,'" says Lafair. "It was very devious." 肖尔试着把雷限制在办公室的另外一边，但它却总是缠着那名员工。拉斐尔说:“后来，有两名员工告诉我:‘她抽屉里有宠物饼干，而且总是趁人不注意的时候，用饼干喂狗。’这可真够阴险的。” Lafair confronted the employee about her passive aggressive behavior and received a wide-eyed response: she just felt sorry for the dog. After a few more incidents of underhanded behavior and performance issues, Lafair had to fire the problem employee. 针对她的消极对抗行为，拉斐尔与她当面对质，但得到的回答却让她瞠目结舌:她说她只不过是同情这只狗。之后，这名员工又做了些不够光明磊落的事，另外也是由于绩效问 题，拉斐尔最终不得不把这名问题员工辞退。 "Passive aggressive people will say yes to your face and stab you in the back," she says. "Sometimes you can't help.... They need to be asked to leave." 她说:“消极对抗型的人当面同意你‎‎的观点，却可能在背后给你一刀。有时候，这样的员工确实让人无计可施„„只能请他们走人。” Passive-aggressive employees present one of the toughest workplace challenges to both managers and coworkers. The behavior can be difficult to identify, and even tougher to change. Left unaddressed, passive-aggressive actions can spread to other employees and create a culture of heel dragging and mute rebellion. 消极对抗的员工对于上司和同事而言都是最严峻的挑战。他们的行为难以识别，要想改变更是难上加难。但如果不解决问题，消极对抗的行为可能会蔓延开来，在公司内形成一种阳奉阴违、沉默对抗的氛围。 "The passive aggressive stuff is like a cancer. It's insidious and if you walk by it, you're saying it's acceptable and it will spread to others," says George Bradt, a consultant and author of The New Leader's 100 Day Action Plan. "The prescription is, head it off at the pass." 乔治•布莱特是一名顾问，并著有《新官上任百日行动计划》(The New Leader's 100 Day Action Plan)一书。他说:“消极对抗就像癌症一样，非常隐蔽。如果你对它视而不见， ，之后就会传染到其他人。处方很简单，在它发作之前就把它消除掉。 那就意味着默许 Spotting the symptoms 发现症状 An employee who shows up late to meetings, sits in the back of the room, and mutters to colleagues is displaying some of the classic signs of passive aggressive behavior. Most telling is when a person misses an important milestone and claims that he was attending to something more important, such as meeting with clients. 开会迟到，还坐在后排跟同事窃窃私语，这都是典型的消极对抗行为。其中更典型的是，某位员工错过了一件大事，结果却声称那是因为自己有更重要的事情要办，比如要去见客户等等。 "They're saying, 'What I committed to you, to the team to do, I really didn't mean I was going to do it, because you are less important than someone else,'" Bradt says. 布莱特认为:“他们的意思其实是说:‘我确实跟你和团队承诺过的一些事情，但我并没有真地打算去做，因为还有比你们更重要的人。’” Sometimes, you can't spot the behavior because it's so passive and under the surface. "Look for a disturbance in the force," advises Peter Handal, chairman and chief executive of leadership consulting firm Dale Carnegie & Associates. "If this team isn't working right, what's the problem? Sometimes it might be somebody who, on the surface, looks very agreeable but underneath isn't being productive." 有时候，这种行为很难被发现，因为它们非常消极，并且隐藏在表面之下。领导力咨询公司戴尔•卡耐基公司(Dale Carnegie & Associates)的董事长兼首席执行官彼得•韩铎建议: “找出是什么在干扰员工。如果整个团队出现了问题，是什么原因,有时候可能就是那些表面惟命是从，但实际却无所作为的员工。” You may need to resort to "skip-level meetings," in which you meet directly with the problem employee's subordinates. This technique alerted Bradt to one situation in which his direct report was agreeing to certain work goals to his face but then telling his staff to work on different priorities. "I found out he was blocking all my communication to his team," he recalls. 或许，老板应该采取“越级会谈”的形式，也就是说，老板直接与问题员工的下属会谈。这种方法使布莱特想起了另外一种情况:他的直接下属当着他的面非常赞同某些工作目标，但之后又会给手下的人优先安排其他任务。他回忆道:“我发现，他阻断了我与他的团队之间的沟通。” Potential treatments 如何根治, For the brave souls who try to rehabilitate a passive-aggressive employee, it's important to understand what is driving the behavior. "People who are behaving passive aggressively are trying to do one of two things: Gain control in a situation where they don't have it, or avoid conflict," says Terry R. Bacon, a scholar in residence at the Korn/Ferry Institute and author of The Elements of Power and Elements of Influence. 如果有人有足够的勇气，尝试改造消极对抗的员工，那么，弄清楚造成这种情况的原因非常重要。特里•R•培根表示:“消极对抗的人其实是要试图实现一个目的:要么是在他掌 要么是为了避免冲突。”特里•R•培根是光辉学院(Korn/Ferry Instit控的局面中获得控制权， ute)的驻校学者，其著作包括《权力的要素》(The Elements of Power)与《影响力的要素》(Elements of Influence) 等。 The first step is to try to bring the conflict or dispute out into the open, gently. If you hear that someone is pooh-poohing your ideas behind your back, say something like, "When I presented that idea in the meeting, I thought it was a pretty good idea at the time, but I wonder if there would be some alternatives that would be better. What do you think?" Bacon suggests.首先要用温和的方式把冲突或争议公开化。培根建议，如果老板听到员工在背后对自己的点子嗤之以鼻，可以这样说:“当时在会上提出来的时候，我认为这是一个很棒的点子，不过我想知道有没有更好的替代。你们对此有什么想法,” "Try to get them to problem solve so they will tell you what it is they are objecting to," Bacon says. If you still encounter resistance and denial, you could say, "I know you said you supported it, but I got the sense that you were uncomfortable about it in some way. I really would like to understand how you really feel." 培根表示:“把问题抛给他们，他们就会明说自己到底为何存在异议。如果依然遇到反抗和拒绝，老板可以说:‘我知道，虽然你当时支持这个想法，但我感觉你还是认为有些不妥。我非常想知道你们真实的想法。’” If you can get the other person to acknowledge that there is an issue, you'll have already won half the battle. Next, turn them into an ally for your cause by giving them some measure of control. "Use confrontation as a last resort," Bacon advises.如果老板能让对方意识到出问题了，那代表老板已经成功了一半。接下来，给他们一定的控制权，把他们转变成自己的盟友。培根 建议:“不到万不得已，不要发生正面冲突。” Bradt recommends that you give problem employees your full support in every way, but then watch to see whether their attitude turns around. If the individual doesn't declare a change of heart within six to eight weeks, he's probably a lost cause. 布莱特建议，要从各个方面给问题员工全力的支持，但与此同时，要观察他们的态度是 如果问题员工在六到八个星期内，依然没有改邪归正，可能只能放弃他了。 否发生了转变。 If you have someone who's dragging their feet on projects, add a chaperone to the mix and make public whatever promises they give to get work done. For instance, if a passive aggressive worker promises to get you data by a specific date, confirm that commitment with the employee in front of someone who needs that data. 如果有员工在项目中出工不出力，可以在他的团队里安排一名专门负责监督的员工，并且把他们的承诺公布于众。例如，如果有消极对抗的员工允诺会在某个日期之前提供数据，那就在需要这些数据的人面前跟这个员工确认他的承诺. "When you make the agreement public like that, it's harder for the person to duck it," Bacon says. 培根表示:“像这样，公开与他达成协议，他就很难再有借口逃避。” If these first efforts fail to stop the passive aggressive behavior, you can try to impose conseq e who arrives late, uences when they don't meet their goals. Refuse to recap meetings for someon which both encourages those who showed up on time and penalizes those who dawdled. And if someone makes excuses for missing a deadline, consider saying, "you must have too much on your plate," and look to others to take on additional assignments. If this seems like a passive aggressive response, well, you may have to fight fire with fire. 如果初步的努力未能阻止员工的消极对抗行为，老板可以在他们未能实现目标的时候施加影响。如果有人开会迟到，不要特地为他们回述会议要点，这既能鼓励及时出席的员工，又惩罚了那些拖拖拉拉的人。如果员工总是找各种借口为自己错过了最终期限开脱，老板可以说:“你的工作负担可能太重了。”然后把他的业务分配给其他的员工。这种反制措施看起来也有点类似消极对抗，但有时候，以毒攻毒也是不得已而为之。 When it's time to throw in the towel 该放弃时就放弃 Ultimately, you may have to acknowledge that you've done all you can do and either transfer that person to another department or fire them. 最后，你或许不得不承认，自己已经尽了全力，只能把问题员工转到其他部门，或者把他解雇。 At Voices.com, a marketplace for voiceover talent based in London, Ontario, all 20 staff members attend a mandatory daily "huddle" that lasts 15 minutes, says David Ciccarelli, the company's president and CEO. When one department head started to show up late, leave early, or just skip the meeting altogether, Ciccarelli knew there was a problem. Voice.com是位于安大略省伦敦市的一个配音人才交流平台。公司总裁兼CEO戴维•茨卡瑞利表示，公司全体20名员工每天都必须参加长约15分钟的“碰头会”。后来，有一个部 门的主管开始迟到早退，或者干脆缺席，茨卡瑞利意识到肯定出问题了。 "It's my health check," he says of the huddle. "If someone's withdrawing constantly from that, I know there's a deeper issue because they don't want to be seen by other people in the company." 他说:“碰头会的目的是发现公司的问题。如果有人总是缺席，不想在公司其他同事面前露面，我就知道肯定有更深层的问题。” This particular employee also made disparaging remarks about Voices.com customers who had problems or complaints. Ciccarelli met with the person and asked for an attitude improvement, but the problem only grew worse and he had to fire the employee. 而且，曾有些客户遇到麻烦，或对Voice.com提出投诉，此人却恶语相向。茨卡瑞利找他谈了话，希望他能改变态度，没想到却适得其反，最后，他只得把他辞退。 "Everybody saw it coming," he says. "It was starting to wear on other people."他说:“所有人都知道最后会是这样的收场。因为他的所作所为早已让大家厌烦。”