It's tough to hold on to good employees, but it shouldn't be. Most of the mistakes that companies make are easily avoided. When you do make mistakes, your best employees are the first to go, because they have the most options.
留住好員工看似困難，實(shí)則非然，因?yàn)楣芾碚叻赶碌拇蠖鄶?shù)錯(cuò)誤都是可以避免的。但一旦管理者犯下了錯(cuò)，最出色的員工往往最先離職，因?yàn)樗麄儞碛凶疃噙x擇。

If you can't keep your best employees engaged, you can't keep your best employees. While this should be common sense, it isn't common enough.
公司如果不能讓好員工全心投入到工作中，就留不住好員工——這理應(yīng)成為常識(shí)，卻仍然有很多人不知道。

When you lose good employees, they don't disengage all at once. Instead, their interest in their jobs slowly dissipates. Michael Kibler, who has spent much of his career studying this phenomenon, refers to it as brownout. Like dying stars, star employees slowly lose their fire for their jobs.
好員工的離去并非突如其來(lái)。相反，他們對(duì)工作的興趣是逐漸消磨殆盡的。邁克爾·基布雷爾曾花費(fèi)大量時(shí)間來(lái)研究這種現(xiàn)象，他稱(chēng)之為“電力減弱”。出色員工就像瀕死的恒星一樣，他們對(duì)工作的激情是慢慢消減的。

“Brownout is different from burnout because workers afflicted by it are not in obvious crisis,”Kibler said. “They seem to be performing fine: putting in massive hours, grinding out work while contributing to teams, and saying all the things in meetings. However, they are operating in a silent state of continual overwhelm, and the predictable consequence is disengagement.”
“‘電力減弱'不同于熄火，因?yàn)閱T工并沒(méi)有陷入嚴(yán)重的危機(jī)中，”基布雷爾說(shuō)。“他們似乎表現(xiàn)不錯(cuò)：投入大量時(shí)間工作，與人高效合作完成任務(wù)，會(huì)議發(fā)言無(wú)可挑剔。但與此同時(shí)，他們正默默地承受不斷的打擊?？上攵筋^來(lái)他們唯有離職?！?/p>

In order to prevent brownout and to retain top talent, companies and managers must understand what they're doing that contributes to this slow fade. The following practices are the worst offenders, and they must be abolished if you're going to hang on to good employees.
為了防止“電力減弱”，留住頂尖人才，公司和管理者必須認(rèn)識(shí)到，自己的哪些做法導(dǎo)致了員工激情的緩慢消退。以下八種做法危害最大，若想留住好員工，必須避免。

1. They make a lot of stupid rules.
制定一堆愚蠢的規(guī)則。

Companies need to have rules — that's a given — but they don't have to be shortsighted and lazy attempts at creating order. Whether it's an overzealous attendance policy or taking employees' frequent flier miles, even a couple of unnecessary rules can drive people crazy. When good employees feel like big brother is watching, they'll find someplace else to work.
公司當(dāng)然需要規(guī)章制度，但萬(wàn)不可制定目光短淺、馬馬虎虎的規(guī)章制度，妄圖以此建立秩序。無(wú)論是過(guò)分嚴(yán)格的考勤制度，還是私吞員工的累計(jì)飛行里程，甚至只是幾條多余的規(guī)定，都可能把人逼瘋。好員工要是感到“老大哥”時(shí)時(shí)刻刻在看著自己，往往就會(huì)跳槽。

2. They treat everyone equally.
無(wú)差別對(duì)待員工。

While this tactic works with school children, the workplace ought to function differently. Treating everyone equally shows your top performers that no matter how high they perform (and, typically, top performers are work horses), they will be treated the same as the bozo who does nothing more than punch the clock.
一視同仁的方法雖然適用于學(xué)校教育，卻不宜用在工作場(chǎng)所。對(duì)優(yōu)秀員工而言，這意味著不管自己表現(xiàn)多么好（而且優(yōu)秀員工通常都是埋頭苦干的“老黃?！保?，待遇都和只會(huì)打卡上下班的傻瓜無(wú)差。

3. They tolerate poor performance.
容忍員工的不良表現(xiàn)。

It's said that in jazz bands, the band is only as good as the worst player; no matter how great some members may be, everyone hears the worst player. The same goes for a company. When you permit weak links to exist without consequence, they drag everyone else down, especially your top performers. This often happens when managers lack the emotional intelligence to address performance issues head on.
據(jù)說(shuō)，一支爵士樂(lè)隊(duì)的水平取決于其最差的樂(lè)手，無(wú)論其他樂(lè)手多么優(yōu)秀，觀眾聽(tīng)到的都是最差樂(lè)手的演奏。公司亦然。若公司絲毫不處罰表現(xiàn)差的員工，他們就會(huì)拖累其他員工的表現(xiàn)，尤其是最出色的員工。如果管理者情商不足，不能有效處理不良表現(xiàn)的問(wèn)題，這類(lèi)情況就會(huì)發(fā)生。

4. They don't recognize accomplishments.
對(duì)員工的成績(jī)沒(méi)有肯定。

It's easy to underestimate the power of a pat on the back, especially with top performers who are intrinsically motivated. Everyone likes kudos, none more so than those who work hard and give their all. Rewarding individual accomplishments shows that you're paying attention. Managers need to communicate with their people to find out what makes them feel good (for some, it's a raise; for others, it's public recognition) and then to reward them for a job well done. With top performers, this will happen often if you're doing it.
管理者容易低估表?yè)P(yáng)的力量，尤其易低估其對(duì)于極度需要激勵(lì)的優(yōu)秀員工的作用。人人都愛(ài)榮譽(yù)，勤勤懇懇、全身心投入工作的員工尤甚。獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)個(gè)人的貢獻(xiàn)，這說(shuō)明管理者予以了重視。管理者需要與員工溝通，找出他們各自喜好的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)方式（有的人希望漲工資，有的人希望得到公開(kāi)表?yè)P(yáng)），用以嘉獎(jiǎng)他們良好的工作表現(xiàn)。若獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)制度實(shí)施得當(dāng)，則獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)對(duì)于優(yōu)秀員工而言是常有之事。

5. They don't care about people.
不關(guān)心員工。

More than half the people who leave their jobs do so because of their relationship with their boss. Smart companies make certain that their managers know how to balance being professional with being human (an emotional intelligence test is a good place to start). These are the bosses who celebrate their employees' successes, empathize with those going through hard times, and challenge them, even when it hurts. Bosses who fail to really care will always have high turnover rates. It's impossible to work for someone for eight-plus hours a day when they aren't personally involved and don't care about anything other than your output.
超過(guò)半數(shù)員工離職的原因是與上司關(guān)系不佳。聰明的公司會(huì)確保其管理者懂得如何做到既專(zhuān)業(yè)又不乏人情味（可以先來(lái)個(gè)情商測(cè)試）。這類(lèi)管理者會(huì)為員工取得的成功感到自豪，理解員工的難處，同時(shí)也會(huì)讓員工接受各種挑戰(zhàn)，哪怕這個(gè)過(guò)程會(huì)痛苦。如果老板從不真正關(guān)心員工，那么其手下的人員流動(dòng)就會(huì)比較高。沒(méi)有人愿意將每天的8個(gè)多小時(shí)奉獻(xiàn)給只知發(fā)號(hào)施令、只關(guān)心業(yè)績(jī)的老板。

6. They don't show people the big picture.
不為員工描述公司的發(fā)展藍(lán)圖。

It may seem efficient to simply send employees assignments and move on, but leaving out the big picture is a deal breaker for star performers. Star performers shoulder heavier loads because they genuinely care about their work, so their work must have a purpose. When they don't know what that is, they feel alienated and aimless. When they aren't given a purpose, they find one elsewhere.
不停給員工分配任務(wù)，這樣做似乎效率很高。然而，對(duì)優(yōu)秀員工而言，不清楚公司的藍(lán)圖，可能成為他們離職的主要原因。優(yōu)秀員工愿意承擔(dān)更大的工作量，是因?yàn)檎嫘脑谝庾约旱墓ぷ?，因此這些工作必須有價(jià)值。他們?nèi)绻恢榔鋬r(jià)值何在，就會(huì)產(chǎn)生疏離感，覺(jué)得漫無(wú)方向。他們?cè)谶@家公司感受不到自我價(jià)值，就會(huì)去別處尋找價(jià)值。

7. They don't let people pursue their passions.
員工無(wú)法追求自己的愛(ài)好。

Google mandates that employees spend at least 20% of their time doing “what they believe will benefit Google most.” While these passion projects make major contributions to marquis Google products, such as Gmail and AdSense, their biggest impact is in creating highly engaged Googlers. Talented employees are passionate. Providing opportunities for them to pursue their passions improves their productivity and job satisfaction, but many managers want people to work within a little box. These managers fear that productivity will decline if they let people expand their focus and pursue their passions. This fear is unfounded. Studies have shown that people who are able to pursue their passions at work experience flow, a euphoric state of mind that is five times more productive than the norm.
谷歌公司規(guī)定員工投入至少20%的時(shí)間去做“自認(rèn)為最有益于谷歌的事”。這些興趣愛(ài)好的項(xiàng)目催生了優(yōu)秀的谷歌產(chǎn)品，如谷歌郵箱和廣告聯(lián)盟，但其最大的作用是培養(yǎng)了高度專(zhuān)注的谷歌員工。才能出眾的員工往往滿(mǎn)懷熱忱。讓這些員工有機(jī)會(huì)追求自己的愛(ài)好，可以提高他們的工作效率和對(duì)工作的滿(mǎn)意度，但很多管理者卻把員工的工作范圍限制在一個(gè)小空間里。這類(lèi)管理者擔(dān)憂(yōu)，如果讓員工擴(kuò)大注意力范圍，追求自己的興趣愛(ài)好，他們的效率就會(huì)降低。這種擔(dān)憂(yōu)純屬多余。研究表明，如果員工能夠在工作中追求自己的愛(ài)好，其大腦會(huì)一直處于興奮狀態(tài)，而此時(shí)的效率是正常效率的五倍。

8. They don't make things fun.
工作毫無(wú)樂(lè)趣。

If people aren't having fun at work, then you're doing it wrong. People don't give their all if they aren't having fun, and fun is a major protector against brownout. The best companies to work for know the importance of letting employees loosen up a little. Google, for example, does just about everything it can to make work fun—free meals, bowling allies, and fitness classes, to name a few. The idea is simple: if work is fun, you'll not only perform better, but you'll stick around for longer hours and an even longer career.
如果員工工作得很無(wú)聊，這就是管理者的問(wèn)題。員工不愉快，就無(wú)法全身心投入到工作當(dāng)中。樂(lè)趣是抵抗“電力減弱”的主要力量。好公司都會(huì)清楚一點(diǎn)：讓員工適當(dāng)放松很重要。例如，谷歌公司竭盡所能讓工作變得有趣，如免費(fèi)用餐、保齡球場(chǎng)和健身課程等等。谷歌這樣做的意圖很簡(jiǎn)單：如果工作很有趣，員工不僅會(huì)表現(xiàn)得更好，而且會(huì)愿意工作更長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，甚至?xí)源俗鳛殚L(zhǎng)久的事業(yè)。

Bringing It All Together: Managers tend to blame their turnover problems on everything under the sun while ignoring the crux of the matter: people don't leave jobs; they leave managers.
總而言之，面對(duì)員工流動(dòng)問(wèn)題，管理者往往怨天尤人，卻忽略了問(wèn)題的癥結(jié)所在——員工其實(shí)并不是離職，而是離開(kāi)老板。

Vocabulary
disengagement：脫離，分開(kāi)
overzealous：過(guò)分熱心的
work horse：主力；役馬
bozo：家伙；笨蛋

英文來(lái)源：赫芬頓郵報(bào)
譯者：李藝（中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)愛(ài)新聞iNews譯者）
編審：杜娟