世界各地的养老金计划纷纷陷入了危机 员工积极性暴跌
Royal Mail has said that it may not be able to afford its staff’s defined benefit pension scheme beyond 2018.
皇家邮政(Royal Mail)表示，其可能无力负担2018年以后员工的固定收益养老金计划(defined benefit pension scheme)。
The venerable UK postal business is unlikely to be the only company to take this drastic measure.
这家历史悠久的英国邮政公司不太可能是唯一一家采取这种极端举措的公司。
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.
由于政府债券收益率——养老基金用此类收益率计算自己在未来支付福利金的能力——暴跌，世界各地的养老金计划纷纷陷入了危机。
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线下跌，参加固定缴费养老金计划(defined contribution pensions)的员工看起来也晚景黯淡，他们所缴费用的投资所得是要作为自己退休之用的。
The gloomy pensions scene is one way in which life has deteriorated for developed-world workers.
养老金的严峻状况是发达国家劳动者生活水平下滑的一个方面。
Real wages for most people have been stagnant while executive pay has soared.
大多数人的实际工资停滞不前，而高管的薪酬则飙涨。
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.
让事情雪上加霜的还有自动化、外包，以及低成本竞争带来的失业，难怪调查表明大量员工心怀不满、不敬业、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.
公关公司爱德曼(Edelman)发布的最新《爱德曼信任度调查报告》(Edelman Trust Barometer)表明，有很大一部分员工不再信任他们所效力的公司。
In Japan, only 40 per cent trusted their employers.
在日本，只有40%的员工信任他们的雇主。
In France it was 48 per cent and 57 per cent in the UK.
法国和英国的这个比例分别为48%和57%。
In the US, nearly two-thirds of employees trusted their companies but that has to be set against other downbeat US surveys.
在美国，有近三分之二的员工信任他们所在的公司，但这个结果还需要和其他较为悲观的调查结果相对照。
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.
盖洛普(Gallup)最近的美国员工调查表明，34.1%的员工敬业(engaged)，这意味着他们在工作中怀有激情，并且感到与他们的公司有一种深刻的联系。
Another 16.5 per cent were actively disengaged, which meant they were not just unhappy but were undermining their colleagues’ work.
16.5%的员工积极不敬业(actively disengaged)，这表示他们不仅自己不快乐，还会影响同事的工作。
The largest group, 49.5 per cent, were simply not engaged.
49.5%的员工不敬业，所占比例最大。
They had mentally checked out and were just going through the motions.
他们精神上已经打卡下班，在工作中敷衍了事。
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.
有一点看起来可能没那么糟糕：超过三分之一的员工对工作怀有热情，其他员工中也有很大一部分至少不妨碍别人工作。
You could paint an even brighter gloss on Gallup’s figures by noting that the engaged figures are the highest it has recorded.
根据盖洛普的调查数据，你还可以描绘出一幅更美好的画面：敬业员工的比例是有记录以来最高的。
Between 2000 and 2013, the proportion of US workers found to be engaged never rose above 30 per cent.
从2000年到2013年，美国敬业员工比例从未超过30%。
But it is going to get worse.
但情况会越来越糟糕。
The employees of the future are the least happy: only 29 per cent of millennials feel engaged with their work.
未来一代的雇员们是最不快乐的：只有29%的千禧一代感到自己对工作很投入。
Workplace satisfaction questionnaires have their critics.
有人对职场满意度调查提出了批评。
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.
2014年《人力资源发展季刊》发表的一份对此类研究的调查得出结论，对于员工敬业的定义并无共识，也很难就哪些因素会促进或者削弱员工敬业度下结论。
But most of us can probably recognise Gallup’s findings.
但我们大多数人很可能都能亲身感受到盖洛普调查中所发现的情况。
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.
40多年来我多次访美，作为一个顾客，我注意到员工工作态度的日益分化：有一部分人依然很高兴为你服务，但越来越多的人似乎认为你的出现毁掉了他们的一天。
Employee disenchantment has costs beyond poor customer service: absenteeism, shoddy work and high turnover.
员工对工作不再热衷除了会导致对客户服务不周以外，还有许多坏处：旷工、工作敷衍了事、员工流动性高。
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，考虑到养老金的难题和低成本竞争不会消失，雇主们除了削减高管薪资以外，还能做些什么来解决员工不满呢？
First, make sure their companies are well considered.
首先，确保企业在员工心中形象良好。
One of the questions Gallup asks is whether the mission or purpose of the company makes staff feel their jobs are important.
盖洛普提出的一个问题是，公司的使命或者目标是否让员工感觉他们的工作很重要？
Companies should not be misled by the word mission.
企业不应被使命这个词误导。
Mission statements count for little.
有关使命的陈述无足轻重。
This is about whether people are proud to tell their friends, family and neighbours that they work for the company.
重要的是人们是否能够自豪地告诉朋友、家人和邻居，他们为某家公司工作。
That means providing a decent service, not becoming a constant source of complaint on social media and staying out of trouble.
这意味着企业要提供良好的服务，避免成为社交媒体上被抱怨连连的对象，不要卷入麻烦。
Nobody is proud to work for a company embroiled in scandal.
没人会因为在一家深陷丑闻的企业工作而感到自豪。
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，企业不能告诉员工自己搞定养老金规划，这无异于期望员工对自己的退休生活承担起成人的责任，然而在其他任何一个方面都把他们当成孩子。
Excessive monitoring and control are the enemies of an engaged workforce.
过多的监控和控制是打造一支敬业员工队伍的大敌。
Explaining to people what you expect of them and letting them use their initiative to achieve it is the hallmark of effective management.
告诉员工你期望他们达到什么目标，让他们发挥主动性来实现目标，这才是有效的管理。
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.
如果雇主无法改善其员工的处境，员工们自己怎么做呢？工作在我们的人生中占如此巨大的比重。
It is a shame to spend it unhappy, seething or just switched off.
在工作中不快乐、一肚子火乃至失去兴趣，委实是一种遗憾。
If you have poor managers, look elsewhere for validation: to your colleagues or, if you deal with them directly, your customers.
如果你摊上了糟糕的管理者，不妨试着从别的地方找到认可：比如同事，或者客户，如果你直接和他们打交道的话。
Treating them well even when your company does not is likely to leave you, as well as them, far happier.
善待客户，即使你的公司并不是这样，这很可能会让你和那些客户都快乐得多。
It is also a way of improving your reputation and increasing the chances of a job offer from someone who notices and appreciates you.
这也有助于提高你个人的声誉，假如有人注意并赏识你的话，也有可能为你带来工作机会。
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.
本月有一位母亲在Facebook上发文称赞一位名叫皮普(Pip)的伦敦地铁(London Underground)员工，皮普多年来一直尽力确保孕妇在交通高峰期有位子可坐。
Many others said he had helped them too.
很多人也表示皮普曾帮助过他们。
We all like praise from our bosses. But being praised like Pip is far better.
我们都喜欢得到老板的表扬，但像皮普这样得到顾客称赞要美妙得多。
