The Problem 問題
I run a PR agency and I am trying to cut £300,000 off my salary bill.I could do this by axing one of my "stars" - a man who has worked here longer than I have and who has some great client relationships. He is charismatic and quite difficult and will not go quietly. For the same money, I could axe six or seven more junior people, which might be easier politically. Yet some of them are talented, and the loss of so many will put intolerable strain on everyone else. Any ideas?
作為一家公關(guān)公司的管理者，我正努力將員工薪資支出削減30萬英鎊。要達(dá)到這個目標(biāo)，我可以裁掉手下的一位"明星"員工--他在這家公司的任職時間比我還長，而且有不少重要的客戶關(guān)系。他很有魅力也很難對付，不會安安靜靜的走人。為了節(jié)省這筆錢，我也可以裁掉六、七位級別較低的員工，從辦公室政治的角度來說，這可能更容易一些。然而，在這幾個低級職員中，有些人頗有才干，而且一下裁掉那么多人，會給公司其他員工帶來無法承受的壓力。你有什么建議嗎？
LUCY (Manager, male, 42)
Which is worth more: a star or seven grunts? There is no answer to this question in the abstract. If the star in question brings in enough business he is worth more; otherwise he isn't.
誰更有價值：是一位"明星"還是七位普通員工？這個問題在理論上沒有答案。如果問題中的那位明星職員帶來了足夠多的業(yè)務(wù)，那么他就更有價值，否則就不然。
However, most stars are not as bright as they are cracked up to be. The boom years have encouraged us to believe that the workforce is divided into stars and everyone else. In reality the difference between the two is murkier.
不過，大多數(shù)"明星"并不像人們吹噓得那么"明亮"。多年的經(jīng)濟(jì)繁榮讓我們相信，可以把員工劃分為明星以及其他所有人。但在現(xiàn)實(shí)中，兩者之間的區(qū)別更為模糊。
In your shoes I'd definitely keep the seven grunts. I get the idea that you do not like your star much, so the recession offers you an excuse to do what you might have wished to do all along.
如果站在你的立場上，我肯定會保留那七位普通員工。你給我的印象是，你不太喜歡你那位明星職員，因此經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退為你提供了一個借口，去做你可能一直就希望做的事情。
I am not sure I like him much either: it's just about OK in a boom to be "quite difficult" when you are earning £300,000, but there is no excuse in a recession to earn that much money unless one's behavior is quite impeccable. As he is only "one of" your stars, it sounds as if you will be left with better behaved ones in your firmament once his light is put out.
我自己也不敢說就很喜歡他：對于一個年薪達(dá)到30萬英鎊的人來說，那些在繁榮時期可以輕易完成的工作現(xiàn)在變得"相當(dāng)艱難"，但一個人沒有理由在衰退時期也掙那么多錢，除非他表現(xiàn)得相當(dāng)完美。既然他只是你的明星員工"之一"，那么聽上去好像一旦他的光輝熄滅，你的天空中還會剩下那些表現(xiàn)更好的"明星"。把商務(wù)英語頁面加入收藏夾
You say some of the juniors are smart and getting rid of them would put too much pressure on those remaining. This suggests your agency still has plenty of work. If you have talented people to do that work, why get rid of them?
你說手下有些低級員工十分聰明，裁掉他們會給留下的人帶來太大的壓力。這表明你的公司仍有大量工作要做。如果這些有才干的員工可以完成那些工作，為什么還要裁掉他們呢？
Most businesses cut too many jobs in recessions. They waste money on redundancy payments, weaken the business and then have to hire people back who were less good than the ones they expensively fired.
在經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退時期，大部分企業(yè)都進(jìn)行了過多的裁員。它們把錢浪費(fèi)在遣散費(fèi)上，削弱了企業(yè)。而后，它們不得不再聘請一些人，而這些人還不如它們花費(fèi)昂貴代價裁掉的那些人優(yōu)秀。
Assuming you have done all the other things to cut costs - closed your expensive offices, eliminated bonus and so on - you should put out your star at once. Comfort yourself with the fact that you have ruined only one person's Christmas. By cutting the grunts, you would have ruined half a dozen more.
如果你已進(jìn)行過所有其它努力來削減成本--例如關(guān)閉昂貴的辦公室、取消獎金等等--那么你應(yīng)該立刻裁掉你的"明星"。你可以這樣安慰自己：你只毀了一個人的圣誕節(jié)。而如果裁掉那些普通員工，你會毀掉6個人的圣誕節(jié)。
I run a PR agency and I am trying to cut £300,000 off my salary bill.I could do this by axing one of my "stars" - a man who has worked here longer than I have and who has some great client relationships. He is charismatic and quite difficult and will not go quietly. For the same money, I could axe six or seven more junior people, which might be easier politically. Yet some of them are talented, and the loss of so many will put intolerable strain on everyone else. Any ideas?
作為一家公關(guān)公司的管理者，我正努力將員工薪資支出削減30萬英鎊。要達(dá)到這個目標(biāo)，我可以裁掉手下的一位"明星"員工--他在這家公司的任職時間比我還長，而且有不少重要的客戶關(guān)系。他很有魅力也很難對付，不會安安靜靜的走人。為了節(jié)省這筆錢，我也可以裁掉六、七位級別較低的員工，從辦公室政治的角度來說，這可能更容易一些。然而，在這幾個低級職員中，有些人頗有才干，而且一下裁掉那么多人，會給公司其他員工帶來無法承受的壓力。你有什么建議嗎？
LUCY (Manager, male, 42)
Which is worth more: a star or seven grunts? There is no answer to this question in the abstract. If the star in question brings in enough business he is worth more; otherwise he isn't.
誰更有價值：是一位"明星"還是七位普通員工？這個問題在理論上沒有答案。如果問題中的那位明星職員帶來了足夠多的業(yè)務(wù)，那么他就更有價值，否則就不然。
However, most stars are not as bright as they are cracked up to be. The boom years have encouraged us to believe that the workforce is divided into stars and everyone else. In reality the difference between the two is murkier.
不過，大多數(shù)"明星"并不像人們吹噓得那么"明亮"。多年的經(jīng)濟(jì)繁榮讓我們相信，可以把員工劃分為明星以及其他所有人。但在現(xiàn)實(shí)中，兩者之間的區(qū)別更為模糊。
In your shoes I'd definitely keep the seven grunts. I get the idea that you do not like your star much, so the recession offers you an excuse to do what you might have wished to do all along.
如果站在你的立場上，我肯定會保留那七位普通員工。你給我的印象是，你不太喜歡你那位明星職員，因此經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退為你提供了一個借口，去做你可能一直就希望做的事情。
I am not sure I like him much either: it's just about OK in a boom to be "quite difficult" when you are earning £300,000, but there is no excuse in a recession to earn that much money unless one's behavior is quite impeccable. As he is only "one of" your stars, it sounds as if you will be left with better behaved ones in your firmament once his light is put out.
我自己也不敢說就很喜歡他：對于一個年薪達(dá)到30萬英鎊的人來說，那些在繁榮時期可以輕易完成的工作現(xiàn)在變得"相當(dāng)艱難"，但一個人沒有理由在衰退時期也掙那么多錢，除非他表現(xiàn)得相當(dāng)完美。既然他只是你的明星員工"之一"，那么聽上去好像一旦他的光輝熄滅，你的天空中還會剩下那些表現(xiàn)更好的"明星"。把商務(wù)英語頁面加入收藏夾
You say some of the juniors are smart and getting rid of them would put too much pressure on those remaining. This suggests your agency still has plenty of work. If you have talented people to do that work, why get rid of them?
你說手下有些低級員工十分聰明，裁掉他們會給留下的人帶來太大的壓力。這表明你的公司仍有大量工作要做。如果這些有才干的員工可以完成那些工作，為什么還要裁掉他們呢？
Most businesses cut too many jobs in recessions. They waste money on redundancy payments, weaken the business and then have to hire people back who were less good than the ones they expensively fired.
在經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退時期，大部分企業(yè)都進(jìn)行了過多的裁員。它們把錢浪費(fèi)在遣散費(fèi)上，削弱了企業(yè)。而后，它們不得不再聘請一些人，而這些人還不如它們花費(fèi)昂貴代價裁掉的那些人優(yōu)秀。
Assuming you have done all the other things to cut costs - closed your expensive offices, eliminated bonus and so on - you should put out your star at once. Comfort yourself with the fact that you have ruined only one person's Christmas. By cutting the grunts, you would have ruined half a dozen more.
如果你已進(jìn)行過所有其它努力來削減成本--例如關(guān)閉昂貴的辦公室、取消獎金等等--那么你應(yīng)該立刻裁掉你的"明星"。你可以這樣安慰自己：你只毀了一個人的圣誕節(jié)。而如果裁掉那些普通員工，你會毀掉6個人的圣誕節(jié)。