別想靠一封郵件留住人才
For the first time since I started taking an interest in such things, an internal motivational memo has been doing the rounds online not because it is deemed bad, but because it is deemed good.
自從我開(kāi)始對(duì)內(nèi)部激勵(lì)備忘錄感興趣以來(lái)，這是頭一次一份這樣的備忘錄不是因?yàn)楸徽J(rèn)為槽點(diǎn)太多、而是因?yàn)楸徽J(rèn)為寫(xiě)得很好而在網(wǎng)上走紅。
It was written by Joseph Mauro, head of fixed income at Goldman Sachs in London, and sent out to the bank’s demoralised young associates in an attempt to stop them quitting to join internet start-ups. “Every young person in finance should read it,” gushed the headline on Business Insider, which reproduced the email last week.
它是高盛(Goldman Sachs)駐倫敦固定收益主管約瑟夫•莫羅(Joseph Mauro)所寫(xiě)的，發(fā)給了士氣低落的年輕下屬，目的是阻止他們跳槽到互聯(lián)網(wǎng)初創(chuàng)公司。“金融業(yè)所有年輕人都應(yīng)該讀一讀，”財(cái)經(jīng)網(wǎng)站Business Insider不久前刊登這封郵件時(shí)的標(biāo)題寫(xiě)道。
I turned to the email and found that superficially, at least, it had a couple of things going for it. “Based on the number of you reaching out to get on my calendar or grab a coffee … there is clearly angst across the floor,” it began.
我閱讀了這封郵件，發(fā)現(xiàn)至少?gòu)谋砻嫔峡从幸恍┑览怼?ldquo;從你們當(dāng)中特意跑來(lái)和我約談或者來(lái)喝一杯咖啡的人數(shù)來(lái)看……整層樓明顯彌漫著一種焦慮氣氛，”郵件開(kāi)頭寫(xiě)道。
Mr Mauro has evidently mastered the first lesson in how to communicate with young reports: when morale is bad, say so. The only shame is how he puts it — the “reaching out” and the “grabbing” a coffee are at odds in their cheesy jauntiness with the reality of a career discussion with a Goldman partner.
莫羅明顯已經(jīng)掌握了與年輕下屬交流的第一課：如果士氣很低，那就直接說(shuō)出來(lái)。唯一遺憾之處在于他的表達(dá)方式——“特意跑來(lái)”和“喝一杯咖啡”的感覺(jué)輕松愉悅，而實(shí)際上他們是要與高盛合伙人嚴(yán)肅地討論事業(yè)，二者格格不入。
Mr Mauro then promises to desist from offering advice: “I know you will discount my opinions as biased and out of touch”. He’s right there — they will. Until he later screws up by offering opinions anyway it seems he has also learnt lesson two: youthful charges tend not to believe or agree with a word you say.
接著，莫羅在郵件中承諾不再提供建議：“我知道你們會(huì)覺(jué)得我的意見(jiàn)有失公允、不切實(shí)際而予以忽視”。他說(shuō)的沒(méi)錯(cuò)——他們會(huì)的。他似乎學(xué)到了第二課：年輕的后生往往不會(huì)相信、也不會(huì)同意你說(shuō)的任何一句話——結(jié)果他后來(lái)還是忍不住給出了建議，把這一課搞砸了。
Instead, he chronicles the wrong turns he took in his own career, and repeats the duff advice he was given along the way. In 2000, he quit Goldman after only a year to join a start-up just as the internet bubble burst. The stupidity of the timing (along with the suggestion that leaving Goldman now for a start-up would be equally dumb) he neatly illustrates with a series of charts.
他開(kāi)始在郵件中細(xì)數(shù)自己職業(yè)生涯中走的彎路，并且重復(fù)著那些他一路來(lái)聽(tīng)到的無(wú)用建議。2000年，他曾在加入高盛后僅一年就辭職，加入一家初創(chuàng)企業(yè)，而那時(shí)恰逢互聯(lián)網(wǎng)泡沫破裂。他用一系列圖表巧妙地展示了自己對(duì)時(shí)機(jī)的愚蠢選擇(同時(shí)建議道，現(xiàn)在離開(kāi)高盛加入初創(chuàng)公司將同樣愚蠢)。
This shows he has learnt lesson number three: young people have had it with words. An email composed largely of Bloomberg screen shots (or pictures or video clips) has a much greater chance of being absorbed than frumpy old paragraphs of text.
這表明他學(xué)到了第三課：年輕人受夠了枯燥的文字。一封主要由彭博(Bloomberg)系統(tǒng)截屏(或圖片和視頻片段)構(gòu)成的郵件，被接納的可能性比老土的大段文字大得多。
He then repeats the advice given by a trader who said Fulham football club season tickets were a better bet than Chelsea, and Citi a better bet than Goldman. “He is now in sales,” Mr Mauro gleefully reports. Here is lesson four: to get your audience on your side, try laughing at a stupid third party. This is a low trick but always works — I know because I’ve built a career on it.
他之后重復(fù)了一名交易員的建議，后者聲稱(chēng)富勒姆(Fulham)足球俱樂(lè)部的季票比切爾西(Chelsea)更值、花旗(Citi)的前景比高盛更好。“他如今在做銷(xiāo)售，”莫羅幸災(zāi)樂(lè)禍道。這就引出了第四課：為了讓你的聽(tīng)眾站在你這邊，試著嘲笑愚蠢的第三方。這招不太光彩，但是總能奏效——我知道這點(diǎn)是因?yàn)槲揖褪怯眠@招建立了自己的職業(yè)生涯。
In his life so far, the only advice Mr Mauro has heeded came from the founder of the internet start-up who told him in 2000: “This business is a marathon. You are back at the beginning. Start running.”
莫羅至今唯一接受的建議是那家互聯(lián)網(wǎng)初創(chuàng)企業(yè)的創(chuàng)始人2000年告訴他的話：“這一行就是一場(chǎng)馬拉松。你回到了起點(diǎn)。開(kāi)始跑吧。”
In turn, this is the advice that he is now passing on to his associates: “Keep running”. He ends the email: “This will give you some context … when every so often … you get a one-liner from me that simply asks “What mile are you on?”
他如今也在向他的下屬給出這條建議：“繼續(xù)奔跑。”他在郵件結(jié)尾寫(xiě)道：“現(xiàn)在你們應(yīng)該了解到了一些背景原因……知道為什么時(shí)不時(shí)地……我會(huì)開(kāi)玩笑地簡(jiǎn)單問(wèn)你一句‘你跑到幾公里了?’”
Reading this, I asked myself a related question: what planet is he on? The answer must be that he’s on planet Goldman, where all the metaphors are male and sporty and about endurance. And where, despite the assertion that there will be nothing handed down from on high, there is facile advice, offered with the fond expectation that it will be followed.
讀了這封郵件，我問(wèn)了自己一個(gè)相關(guān)問(wèn)題：他生活在哪個(gè)星球?答案肯定是他生活在高盛星球，那里所有的比喻都和男人、運(yùn)動(dòng)以及耐力有關(guān)。而且，在那個(gè)星球上，盡管某人信誓旦旦絕不會(huì)傳授什么前輩經(jīng)驗(yàn)，結(jié)果建議還是會(huì)脫口而出，而且還自以為會(huì)得到采納。
If I were a young Goldman banker I’d be both unmoved and baffled by the edict to keep running. At what speed ought I to run? In what direction? Is it OK to rest sometimes and have some water? How long must I go on? Why do I need to run a marathon anyway?
如果我是高盛的年輕員工，繼續(xù)奔跑的大話不但不會(huì)打動(dòng)我，還會(huì)讓我感到困惑。我應(yīng)該以什么速度奔跑?朝著什么方向?能偶爾休息喝些水嗎?我得跑多久?我到底為什么要跑馬拉松?
I dare say what Mr Mauro was trying to say was that it’s a long game. Markets go up — and down. Morale goes up — and down. Bubbles inflate — and burst. Things that affect a decision now don’t endure.
我敢說(shuō)莫羅試圖表達(dá)的是這是一場(chǎng)持久戰(zhàn)。市場(chǎng)起起伏伏。士氣有漲有落。泡沫會(huì)膨脹會(huì)破裂。影響當(dāng)前決定的事瞬息萬(wàn)變。
It’s all true. And it is the same thing I sometimes say to my children as they start on their careers — but they don’t take any notice. Not because I’ve failed to pepper the message with Bloomberg screen shots, but because if you are in your 20s there are no obvious benefits of playing a long game, and lots from playing a shorter one. A satisfying career, to extend the tiresome metaphor, is less a marathon than a series of sprints.
這些都沒(méi)錯(cuò)。這也正是我在我的孩子開(kāi)始職業(yè)生涯時(shí)有時(shí)會(huì)對(duì)他們說(shuō)的話——但是他們不放在心上。不是因?yàn)槲覜](méi)有用彭博式的截屏點(diǎn)綴我的忠告，而是因?yàn)椋绻愣鄽q，玩長(zhǎng)線游戲沒(méi)有明顯好處，而玩短線游戲的好處則有很多。擴(kuò)展一下那個(gè)煩人的比喻，與其說(shuō)一份令人滿意的'事業(yè)是一場(chǎng)馬拉松，倒不如說(shuō)是一連串的沖刺跑。
Yet this isn’t the main reason Mr Mauro’s memo is hopeless. Its biggest problem is that it fails to heed the most important lesson of all. This states that there is an inverse relationship between how many people an email is addressed to and its power to motivate. When aimed at a mass audience, the power of a memo will always be zero.
不過(guò)，這并非莫羅的備忘錄毫無(wú)用處的主要原因。最大的問(wèn)題是它沒(méi)有遵守最重要的一課：郵件收件人的數(shù)量和它的激勵(lì)效果呈反相關(guān)。當(dāng)大面積群發(fā)時(shí)，備忘錄的效力總是為零。
My advice to the Goldman boss goes like this. Forget emails. Reach out individually to any associates you want to keep and grab a coffee. Tell them they are brilliant. Offer them more money. Then you will get them to keep running — but only for so long as it suits them to do so.
我給這位高盛老板的意見(jiàn)是這樣的。放棄郵件吧。單獨(dú)找到每位你想留住的下屬，一起喝杯咖啡。告訴他們你認(rèn)為他們有多棒。加薪。然后你就能讓他們繼續(xù)奔跑——不過(guò)跑多久要看他們覺(jué)得多久合適。
【別想靠一封郵件留住人才】相關(guān)文章：
HR智慧：留住人才 別做“五四三”老板09-24
HR如何留住人才?11-10
企業(yè)如何留住人才06-26
留住人才的錦囊11-11
如何識(shí)別和留住人才01-24
HR留住人才的絕招11-02
留住關(guān)鍵人才的秘訣08-28
留住人才的幾大妙招09-01
如何留住公司中層關(guān)鍵人才02-02