金融财务初级07:20pay transparency

Why you should know how much your coworkers get paid

你该不该知道同事挣多少

管理学者大卫·伯克斯把一个人人回避的问题摆上台面：你和同事各拿多少？他用《名利场》的禁言备忘录、性别薪酬差距和 7 万人调查说明，薪酬保密造成的「信息不对称」既压低了员工的议价空间，也让歧视更容易被无视，而公开反而带来公平感与投入度。论点层层推进、句式干净，适合学谈薪、引数据和表明立场的英文说法。

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台词(66 句)

00:04

How much do you get paid? Don't answer that out loud.

你拿多少工资？先别大声说出来。

00:09

But put a number in your head. Now: How much do you think the person sitting next to you gets paid?

但在心里默想一个数字。现在再想：你觉得坐在你旁边的人拿多少？

00:16

Again, don't answer out loud. (Laughter) At work, how much do you think the person sitting in the cubicle or the desk next to you gets paid?

同样，别说出来。（笑声）在公司里，你觉得隔壁工位或隔壁办公桌的同事拿多少工资？

00:26

Do you know? Should you know? Notice, it's a little uncomfortable for me to even ask you those questions.

你知道吗？你应该知道吗？注意，光是问你这些问题，我自己都有点不自在。

00:34

But admit it -- you kind of want to know.

但承认吧——你还是有点想知道。

00:38

Most of us are uncomfortable with the idea of broadcasting our salary. We're not supposed to tell our neighbors, and we're definitely not supposed to tell our office neighbors.

我们大多数人一想到把自己的工资公之于众就浑身不自在。我们不该告诉邻居，更绝对不该告诉办公室里的「邻居」。

00:47

The assumed reason is that if everybody knew what everybody got paid, then all hell would break loose.

人们假定的理由是：要是每个人都知道别人拿多少，那就要天下大乱了。

00:52

There'd be arguments, there'd be fights, there might even be a few people who quit.

会有争论，会有争吵，甚至可能有人干脆辞职。

00:57

But what if secrecy is actually the reason for all that strife? And what would happen if we removed that secrecy?

但万一保密本身才是这一切纷争的根源呢？如果我们把这层保密拿掉，又会怎样？

01:04

What if openness actually increased the sense of fairness and collaboration inside a company?

如果公开反而能提升公司内部的公平感与协作呢？

01:09

What would happen if we had total pay transparency?

如果我们做到薪酬完全透明，会发生什么？

01:13

For the past several years, I've been studying the corporate and entrepreneurial leaders who question the conventional wisdom about how to run a company.

过去几年里，我一直在研究那些质疑「公司该怎么管」这类传统观念的企业高管和创业者。

01:21

And the question of pay keeps coming up. And the answers keep surprising.

而薪酬问题总是反复冒出来，答案也总是出人意料。

01:27

It turns out that pay transparency -- sharing salaries openly across a company -- makes for a better workplace for both the employee and for the organization.

结果表明，薪酬透明——在全公司范围内公开薪资——对员工和组织双方来说，都能造就更好的职场。

01:36

When people don't know how their pay compares to their peers', they're more likely to feel underpaid and maybe even discriminated against.

当人们不知道自己的工资与同侪相比处在什么位置时，他们更容易觉得自己被低薪对待，甚至觉得自己遭到了歧视。

01:44

Do you want to work at a place that tolerates the idea that you feel underpaid or discriminated against?

你愿意待在一个容忍你觉得自己被低薪对待、被歧视的地方吗？

01:50

But keeping salaries secret does exactly that, and it's a practice as old as it is common,

可薪酬保密恰恰会造成这种结果，而这种做法既由来已久，也极为普遍，

01:56

despite the fact that in the United States, the law protects an employee's right to discuss their pay.

尽管在美国，法律其实保护员工讨论自己薪酬的权利。

02:02

In one famous example from decades ago, the management of Vanity Fair magazine actually circulated a memo entitled: "Forbidding Discussion Among Employees of Salary Received."

几十年前有个著名的例子：《名利场》杂志的管理层真的发过一份备忘录，标题是「禁止员工之间讨论所得薪酬」。

02:13

"Forbidding" discussion among employees of salary received. Now that memo didn't sit well with everybody.

「禁止」员工之间讨论所得薪酬。这份备忘录可不是人人都买账。

02:19

New York literary figures Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and Robert Sherwood, all writers in the Algonquin Round Table,

纽约文坛人物多萝西·帕克、罗伯特·本奇利和罗伯特·舍伍德，这三位阿冈昆圆桌会的作家，

02:25

decided to stand up for transparency and showed up for work the next day with their salary written on signs hanging from their neck.

决定为透明挺身而出。第二天上班时，他们脖子上挂着牌子，上面写着自己的工资。

02:32

(Laughter) Imagine showing up for work with your salary just written across your chest for all to see.

（笑声）想象一下，你去上班时把自己的工资写在胸前，人人都看得见。

02:41

But why would a company even want to discourage salary discussions? Why do some people go along with it, while others revolt against it?

但公司为什么要打压薪酬讨论呢？为什么有些人乖乖照办，有些人却奋起反抗？

02:49

It turns out that in addition to the assumed reasons, pay secrecy is actually a way to save a lot of money.

结果发现，除了那些人们假定的理由之外，薪酬保密其实还是一种省下大笔钱的办法。

02:55

You see, keeping salaries secret leads to what economists call "information asymmetry."

你看，把薪资藏起来，会导致经济学家所说的「信息不对称」。

03:00

This is a situation where, in a negotiation, one party has loads more information than the other.

这指的是这样一种局面：在一场谈判中，一方掌握的信息远多于另一方。

03:06

And in hiring or promotion or annual raise discussions, an employer can use that secrecy to save a lot of money.

而在招聘、晋升或年度调薪的谈判里，雇主就能靠这层保密省下一大笔钱。

03:14

Imagine how much better you could negotiate for a raise if you knew everybody's salary.

想象一下，如果你知道每个人的工资，你谈加薪会顺利多少。

03:21

Economists warn that information asymmetry can cause markets to go awry.

经济学家警告说，信息不对称会让市场运转失灵。

03:25

Someone leaves a pay stub on the copier, and suddenly everybody is shouting at each other.

有人把工资条落在复印机上，转眼间所有人就吵成一团。

03:30

In fact, they even warn that information asymmetry can lead to a total market failure.

事实上，他们甚至警告说，信息不对称可能导致整个市场彻底失灵。

03:37

And I think we're almost there. Here's why: first, most employees have no idea how their pay compares to their peers'.

而我认为我们已经离那一步不远了。原因如下：首先，大多数员工根本不知道自己的薪酬与同侪相比如何。

03:46

In a 2015 survey of 70,000 employees, two-thirds of everyone who is paid at the market rate said that they felt they were underpaid.

在 2015 年一项覆盖 7 万名员工的调查里，在所有按市场行情拿薪水的人当中，有三分之二说自己觉得工资偏低。

03:56

And of everybody who felt that they were underpaid, 60 percent said that they intended to quit, regardless of where they were -- underpaid, overpaid or right at the market rate.

而在所有觉得自己工资偏低的人里，60% 说他们打算辞职——不管他们实际处在什么位置：偏低、偏高，还是恰好就在市场行情上。

04:07

If you were part of this survey, what would you say? Are you underpaid? Well, wait -- how do you even know, because you're not allowed to talk about it?

如果你也在这项调查里，你会怎么说？你的工资偏低吗？慢着——既然公司不许你谈这个，你又怎么知道呢？

04:16

Next, information asymmetry, pay secrecy, makes it easier to ignore the discrimination that's already present in the market today.

其次，信息不对称、也就是薪酬保密，会让今天市场上本就存在的歧视更容易被无视。

04:25

In a 2011 report from the Institute for Women's Policy Research, the gender wage gap between men and women was 23 percent.

妇女政策研究所 2011 年的一份报告显示，男女之间的性别薪酬差距是 23%。

04:33

This is where that 77 cents on the dollar comes from.

「1 美元只拿 77 美分」这个说法就是这么来的。

04:37

But in the Federal Government, where salaries are pinned to certain levels and everybody knows what those levels are,

但在联邦政府里，薪资被钉死在若干个级别上，而且人人都清楚这些级别是什么，

04:42

the gender wage gap shrinks to 11 percent -- and this is before controlling for any of the factors that economists argue over whether or not to control for.

性别薪酬差距就缩小到了 11%——而这还是在没有控制任何变量之前的数字，那些变量到底该不该控制，经济学家至今争论不休。

04:50

If we really want to close the gender wage gap, maybe we should start by opening up the payroll.

如果我们真想缩小性别薪酬差距，或许该从公开工资单开始。

04:56

If this is what total market failure looks like, then openness remains the only way to ensure fairness.

如果市场彻底失灵就是这副样子，那么公开透明就仍是确保公平的唯一途径。

05:03

Now, I realize that letting people know what you make might feel uncomfortable,

我明白，让别人知道你挣多少，可能会让人不自在，

05:08

but isn't it less uncomfortable than always wondering if you're being discriminated against, or if your wife or your daughter or your sister is being paid unfairly?

但这难道不比整天怀疑自己是不是被歧视、或者怀疑你的妻子、女儿、姐妹是不是被不公平地压低了薪水，来得更好受吗？

05:16

Openness remains the best way to ensure fairness, and pay transparency does that.

公开透明仍是确保公平的最佳方式，而薪酬透明正是这样做的。

05:23

That's why entrepreneurial leaders and corporate leaders have been experimenting with sharing salaries for years.

这就是为什么这些年来，创业者和企业高管一直在尝试公开薪资。

05:29

Like Dane Atkinson.

比如戴恩·阿特金森。

05:30

Dane is a serial entrepreneur who started many companies in a pay secrecy condition and even used that condition to pay two equally qualified people dramatically different salaries,

戴恩是位连续创业者，他创办过很多实行薪酬保密的公司，甚至利用这一点，给两个能力相当的人开出天差地别的薪水，

05:41

depending on how well they could negotiate.

全看他们各自谈判的本事有多高。

05:43

And Dane saw the strife that happened as a result of this. So when he started his newest company, SumAll, he committed to salary transparency from the beginning.

而戴恩也看到了由此引发的纷争。所以当他创办最新的公司 SumAll 时，他从一开始就坚持薪酬透明。

05:53

And the results have been amazing.

结果好得惊人。

05:55

And in study after study, when people know how they're being paid and how that pay compares to their peers', they're more likely to work hard to improve their performance, more likely to be engaged, and they're less likely to quit.

而且一项又一项研究表明，当人们知道自己拿多少、以及这个数字与同侪相比如何时，他们更愿意努力提升绩效，更容易全情投入，也更不容易辞职。

06:07

That's why Dane's not alone.

所以戴恩并不孤单。

06:08

From technology start-ups like Buffer, to the tens of thousands of employees at Whole Foods, where not only is your salary available for everyone to see,

从 Buffer 这样的科技创业公司，到员工数以万计的全食超市——在那里，不只是你的薪资人人可见，

06:18

but the performance data for the store and for your department is available on the company intranet for all to see.

就连门店和你所在部门的绩效数据，也都挂在公司内网上供所有人查看。

06:25

Now, pay transparency takes a lot of forms. It's not one size fits all.

薪酬透明有很多种形式，并不是一套做法通吃。

06:29

Some post their salaries for all to see. Some only keep it inside the company.

有的公司把薪资公开给所有人看，有的只在公司内部公开。

06:34

Some post the formula for calculating pay, and others post the pay levels and affix everybody to that level.

有的公开薪酬的计算公式，有的公开薪级，再把每个人对应到相应的薪级上。

06:40

So you don't have to make signs for all of your employees to wear around the office.

所以你不必给全体员工都做一块牌子，让他们挂着在办公室里走来走去，

06:45

And you don't have to be the only one wearing a sign that you made at home.

也不必成为唯一一个挂着自制牌子的人。

06:50

But we can all take greater steps towards pay transparency. For those of you that have the authority to move forward towards transparency: it's time to move forward.

但我们都可以朝薪酬透明再迈一大步。对于你们当中有权推动透明化的人：是时候往前迈了。

06:59

And for those of you that don't have that authority: it's time to stand up for your right to.

而对于没有这个权力的人：是时候站出来，争取属于你的这项权利。

07:04

So how much do you get paid? And how does that compare to the people you work with?

那么，你拿多少工资？跟你共事的人相比又如何？

07:10

You should know. And so should they.

你应该知道。他们也应该知道。

07:15

Thank you. (Applause)

谢谢。（掌声）