2023年经济学人 公司里最有价值的人是谁?

Business

商业版块

Bartleby

巴托比专栏

The ranked organisation¹

等级制组织

Why asking which person matters most in your firm is a useful exercise.

为什么问问自己公司里谁最重要是一个有用的练习。

Questions are usually more interesting than answers.

问题通常比答案更有意思。

If you had to identify the most important person in your organisation, there is an obvious answer, a trite²-and-untrue answer and a wrong-but-useful answer.

如果你必须找出组织中最重要的人，会有一个显而易见的答案、一个常规但并不真实的答案、一个错误但有用的答案。

The obvious answer is “the chief executive”.

显而易见的答案是“首席执行官”。

No cheese is bigger, no dog is more top.

一人之下，万人之上。

The most important decisions about the long-term direction of a company lie with the CEO; the hardest calls land on their desk; and the biggest pay cheques head their way.

关于公司长期发展方向的最重要的决定权握在CEO手中，最艰难的决策摆在他们的办公桌上，最丰厚的薪酬支票也发给他们。

A board of directors might control their fate but no one wields³ more power.

董事会可能会掌控CEO的命运，但没有人比他们拥有更大的权力。

That is especially true of a startup: up to a certain point in its history, founders⁴ are the company.

对于初创公司来说尤其如此：在创业史上的某个时刻，创始人就代表着公司。

The trite answer to the same question is “the customer”.

对于同样的问题，常规的答案是“客户”。

This is the kind of thing someone delivering a TED⁵ talk would say, after a suitably meaningful pause.

这是在TED上做演讲的人会说的话，说出答案之前会有意味深长的停顿。

It is the kind of thing that people in the audience would nod wisely at.

这也是观众会心领神会地点头赞同的答案。

An analysis of earnings-call transcripts⁶ of S&P 500 firms by Nandil Bhatia and Stephan Meier of Columbia Business School finds that executives talk about customers ten times more than they do about employees.

哥伦比亚大学商学院的南迪尔·巴蒂亚和斯蒂芬·迈尔对标准普尔500强公司的收益电话会议记录进行了分析，发现高管谈论客户的次数是谈论员工的十倍。

But it is also untrue.

但这个答案也不符合事实。

The customer is patently not in your organisation.

客户显然不在你的组织内。

Many employees care more about who took their mug from the kitchen than anything else.

许多员工最关心的是谁从茶水间拿走了他们的杯子而非客户。

There is a reason why firms sometimes have someone play the role of “customer advocate” in meetings.

公司有时让某些人在会议上扮演“客户支持者”的角色，这是有原因的。

The third category of answer will almost certainly be wrong but it will be the product of an instructive thought process.

第三类答案几乎肯定是错误的，但却是具有启发性的思维过程的产物。

Firms routinely identify their most talented people across departments, and offer retention⁷ bonuses to get them to stay.

公司通常会找出各个部门最有才干的人，并提供留任奖金，让他们留下来。

But they don’t usually ask what might qualify someone for the title of most important person in an organisation (setting the CEO to one side).

但他们通常不会问是什么让某人有资格成为组织中最重要的人(暂且不论CEO)。

If you think customers trump⁸ everything, then you might start by looking at the people who interact most with them.

如果你认为客户压倒一切，那么你可以从与客户互动最多的人开始。

In some industries—rainmakers at investment banks, for instance—these folk have lots of status.

在一些行业--比如投资银行里拉业务的人--这些人有很高的地位。

But in many others, front-line employees suffer from low wages, job dissatisfaction and burnout.

但在其他许多行业，一线员工饱受低工资、工作不满和职业倦怠的折磨。

The effects can be pernicious, particularly in the public sector⁹: turnover¹⁰ among child-welfare workers in America is persistently¹¹ high, to take one example, and associated with worse outcomes for kids.

其影响可能是有害的，尤其是在公共部门：比如，美国儿童福利工作者的流动率一直很高，这也与儿童的处境更糟相关。

Your search might lead you to the cutting edge: an executive, programmer or researcher working on your most promising¹² new product.

你在寻找答案时可能也会把目光放到前沿领域：负责做出最有前途的新产品的高管、程序员或研发人员。

It might also take you back in time.

你的目光也可能回到过去。

The vital employee might be someone who knows the technology equivalent of Sanskrit.

最重要的员工可能是通晓如梵语般古老的技术的人。

A report published in 2021 found that almost half of the British government’s tech spending was devoted¹³ to maintaining outdated¹⁴ IT systems.

2021年发布的一份报告发现，英国政府近一半的科技支出是用于维护过时的IT系统。

A 60-year-old programming language called COBOL is still in widespread use in many banks; according to Reuters, the average cobol programmer is between 45 and 55 years old.

一种有60年历史的编程语言COBOL仍在许多银行广泛使用，据路透社报道，COBOL程序员的平均年龄在45岁至55岁之间。

Your products might owe their character to one person in particular: the designer who makes the curves of a luxury car distinctive¹⁵, say.

你的产品的特色可能主要出自一人之手：比如让一款豪华汽车的曲线与众不同的设计师。

Or, if you think the secret sauce of your company lies in something amorphous¹⁶ like its culture, you might alight on people who embody¹⁷ it.

或者，如果你认为你的公司的成功秘诀在于某种无形的东西，比如企业文化，那么你可能会想到体现了企业文化的人。

Amazon anoints a special cadre of interviewers known as “bar raisers”, whose purpose is to participate in hiring processes as a kind of culture warrior¹⁸.

亚马逊打造了一支特殊的面试官队伍，被称为“标准提升者”，他们的目的是以一种企业文化勇士的身份参与到招聘过程中。

Their job is to ensure that successful candidates embrace the firm’s code of leadership principles.

他们的工作是确保面试成功的候选人信奉公司的领导原则。

You might think of importance in terms of influence within the company—the person who may not have the longest title but does have the most tacit knowledge and social capital.

你可能会从公司内部影响力来考虑重要性：这个人可能没有最长的头衔，但却拥有最多的隐性知识和社会资本。

They have the ear of the boss on important issues, but they also know everyone and everything: who is a nightmare to work with, why the firm cut ties with that supplier and who can help you order a new laptop.

在重要问题上他们在老板那里说得上话，但他们也了解所有人和所有事：与谁合作是一场噩梦、公司为什么和那家供应商断绝了联系，以及谁可以帮你订购一台新笔记本电脑。

They are the Panama Canal of the organisation.

他们是组织里的巴拿马运河。

Things can get done without them, but it takes a lot more time.

没有他们，事情也可以做成，但会花费更多时间。

This thought exercise is no more than that.

这个思维练习并非到此为止。

As with organs in the body, the fact is that most departments have to run well for the whole company to thrive.

就像人体的器官一样，事实是大多数部门都必须运转良好，整个公司才能蓬勃发展。

You may not think much about your spleen but you would miss it if it suddenly disappeared; the same goes for your head of compliance¹⁹.

你可能不会经常想到你的脾脏，但如果它突然消失了，你肯定会想念它，同样的道理也适用于你的合规负责人（注：负责保证企业行为遵守法律法规）。

And the obvious answer is almost certainly correct: the CEO does matter more than anyone else.

显而易见的答案几乎肯定是正确的：CEO确实比其他任何人都重要。

But asking the question might lead you to adjust a bonus here or document how things work there.

但问自己这个问题可能会引导你去调整一下这个部门的奖金，或者记录一下那个部门的工作情况。

It might lead you to spot a gap between where value is created and where it is being recognised.

也可能会引导你去发现创造价值的地方和价值得到认可的地方之间的差距。

Just don’t tell everyone where they rank.

不要只是告诉人们他们的级别排在哪里。

1 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

2 trite   

adj.陈腐的

参考例句：

• The movie is teeming with obvious and trite ideas.这部电影充斥着平铺直叙的陈腐观点。
• Yesterday,in the restaurant,Lorraine had seemed trite,blurred,worn away.昨天在饭店里，洛兰显得庸俗、堕落、衰老了。

3 wields   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的第三人称单数 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• She wields enormous power within the party. 她操纵着党内大权。
• He remains chairman, but wields little power at the company. 他还是主席，但在公司没有什么实权了。

4 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

5 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

6 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

7 retention   

n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力

参考例句：

• They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
• His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。

8 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

11 persistently   

ad.坚持地；固执地

参考例句：

• He persistently asserted his right to a share in the heritage. 他始终声称他有分享那笔遗产的权利。
• She persistently asserted her opinions. 她果断地说出了自己的意见。

12 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

13 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

14 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

15 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

16 amorphous   

adj.无定形的

参考例句：

• There was a weakening of the intermolecular bonds,primarily in the amorphous region of the polymer.分子间键合减弱，尤其在聚合物的无定形区内更为明显。
• It is an amorphous colorless or white powder.它是一种无定形的无色或白色粉末。

17 embody   

vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录

参考例句：

• The latest locomotives embody many new features. 这些最新的机车具有许多新的特色。
• Hemingway's characters plainly embody his own values and view of life.海明威笔下的角色明确反映出他自己的价值观与人生观。

18 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

19 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。