扎尔姆男扮女装向员工传授能从妓院经营中学到什么

Has an alternative asset ever performed better? Dressed like a Dutch version of legendary comic character Dame Edna Everage, ABN Amro’s chairman has taken to the stage to teach his employees the lessons they can learn from operating a brothel.

还有任何另类资产能“表现”得比这更好么？荷兰银行(ABN Amro)董事长盖里特•扎尔姆(Gerrit Zalm)把自己装扮成传奇喜剧人物埃德娜•埃弗烈治夫人(Dame Edna Everage)的荷兰版，并走上了舞台，向员工传授能从妓院经营中学到什么。

Priscilla Zalm, the fictional sister of Gerrit Zalm, 61, the former Dutch finance minister and chairman of the state-owned bank since 2009, has been drafted in to motivate ABN’s 23,000 employees with a combination of wit, charm and daring innuendo.

自2009年起，这位现年61岁的荷兰前财长就一直担任这家国有银行的董事长。他在台上虚构了一个妹妹普丽西拉•扎尔姆(Priscilla Zalm)，希望以机智、有吸引力而大胆的影射方式，激发荷兰银行2.3万名员工的积极性。

In the opening act of six performances this month, brothel owner Priscilla told her audience that she was blessed with a good front office – pointing to her bosom – and a top notch back office. She was, she said with a knowing look, working in a “flourishing business with a centuries’ long tradition”.

在本月六场演出的第一幕中，“妓院老板娘普丽西拉”告诉她的观众，她幸运地拥有出色的前端办公室（同时指向她的乳房）及顶尖的后勤办公室。她带着一种心照不宣的表情说，她在“一个有着几百年悠久传统、十分繁荣的行当”里工作。

Dressed in blue, with ginger hair, red lipstick and extravagant glasses, Priscilla said her brother had given up working and decided to “lead” instead, which had the advantage of earning him more money.

普丽西拉穿着蓝色衣服，顶着姜黄色头发，涂着红色唇膏并戴着夸张的眼镜。她说，她哥哥已放弃工作，决定转向“领导岗位”，这样的好处是能多赚些钱。

Mr Zalm, known to be a rather sombre and dry chairman, may have taken an unorthodox approach to rallying his troops, but his star turn might have a serious point in emphasising the need for strong values in a bank with a troubled past.

扎尔姆据说是一位相当严肃而无趣的董事长，他采取另类办法或许是为了让团队振作起来。不过，他这次挑大梁唱主角或许还有其严肃的一面，就是为了强调：强大的价值观对一家历经困境的银行而言十分重要。

Peter Hahn, a senior fellow at Cass Business School, said: “The reality is that banks’ shares have done relatively well, and should it continue, bonuses could come back up and all the discipline shown by the banks in recent years could be lost.”

卡斯商学院(Cass Business School)资深研究员彼得•哈恩(Peter Hahn)表示：“现实是，银行股目前表现相对不错，如果这种状况持续下去，银行的奖金水平将再次提高，而近年来表现出的所有自律可能会丧失。”

The taxpayer-owned bank already had a theatrical run in 2012 when its rise and fall was dramatised by the Dutch National Theatre in De Prooi, or The Prey, based on the book of the same name.

2012年，这家国有银行已有过一次舞台经历。当时，荷兰国家大剧院(Dutch National Theatre)将一本名为《猎物》(De Prooi)的书改编成一部同名戏剧，描述了该行的起起落落。

ABN was once so dominant in the Netherlands that it referred to itself simply as De Bank. But after an ill-judged overseas expansion it was acquired by rivals RBS, Santander and Fortis in 2007.

荷兰银行在荷兰一度首屈一指，以至于曾直接用“银行(De Bank)”指代自己。然而，在一次判断失误的海外扩张之后，该行于2007年被竞争对手苏格兰皇家银行(RBS)、桑坦德银行(Santander)和富通银行(Fortis)收购。