你们那儿有吊床，有懒人沙发，有帐篷，有海洋球池，有爆米花机？哎，真是别人家的办公室！但是研究表明，在这样新颖的办公环境工作，员工并不会感到更幸福。有很多人觉得，公司与其花钱买个吊床，不如买一台不会卡的电脑，不如买舒服的椅子。
办公室好看有什么用？薪水才是员工幸福感的最大来源
译者：徐 唱
校对：尹子梦
词汇：王乐颖
策划：朱宇晴
Why cool offices don't always make for a happier workforce
为何帅气的办公室不能打造更有幸福感的员工？
本文选自 The Guardian | 取经号原创翻译
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Who are Britain's happiest workers? The people who staff the London office of US travel tech firm Expedia, according to Glassdoor's annual workplace satisfaction survey. In both 2016 and 2017, Expedia rated highest for employee satisfaction, according to anonymous reviews from current and past workers.
谁是英国最快乐的上班族？根据“玻璃门”年度工作环境满意度调查显示，是那些就职于美国旅行科技公司智游网伦敦分部的员工们。根据在任和离职员工的匿名评价，智游网的员工满意度在2016年和2017年都是最高的。
Glassdoor 译者注“玻璃门”是一个员工或者前员工可以匿名评价公司的网上平台（来源：Wikipeida）
Reading this Business Insider profile of the “happiest office in London” might make you believe that Expedia's high level of employee satisfaction is down almost entirely to the office itself and the various on-site perks – which includes table tennis, football, gaming consoles and a cocktail bar. There's no doubt that this is a very attractive office.
如果你读过这篇刊登在《商业内幕》上、题为《伦敦最快乐的办公室》的文章，你可能会觉得智游网员工的高满意度大都来源于办公室本身和各种各样的场地福利——包括乒乓球、足球、游戏机以及鸡尾酒吧。毫无疑问，办公环境相当吸引人。
perk /p??k/ noun. special benefits that are given to people who have a particular job or belong to a particular group. 特殊待遇
But the survey of the employees shows that Expedia's people like working there because of the business, not the fancy office. The most positive ratings cite 'culture' and 'career opportunities'. The physical surroundings barely merit a mention.
但是员工调查显示，大家喜欢在智游网工作是因为这个公司本身，倒不是因为高大上的办公室。正面评价中提及最多的是“文化”和“职业发展机会”。工作环境则几乎没有被提到。
merit /?m?r?t/ verb. If someone or something merits a particular action or treatment, they deserve it. 应受到
This is a trend. Workplace contentment is too often incorrectly attributed to the aesthetics of the office, disregarding more influential factors such as job security or work satisfaction. But since we can’t Instagram job security, it’s the offices that get the credit.
这是一种趋势。我们往往错误地认为，对于工作场所的满意度来自办公室的设计。这忽视了更重要的因素，比如职业稳定性或工作满意度。不过，因为没法在Instagram上展现职业稳定性，那我们看到的往往就是办公室的设计了。
aesthetics /i?s?θ?t?ks/ noun. Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of the idea of beauty. 美学
It's very easy, when profiling a company as Business Insider did, to use their expensively designed office as a metaphor for happy employees. It’s a false narrative. Happy workplaces don’t need beanbags, barbecue stations and ball pits.
其实很容易就会像《商业内幕》那样，将公司花大价钱设计的办公室当做员工幸福感的象征。这个说法是错误的。使人愉悦的工作环境并不需要懒人沙发、烧烤台，或者海洋球池。
beanbag /?bi?n?b?ɡ/ noun. A beanbag is a large round cushion filled with tiny pieces of plastic or rubber. It takes the shape of your body when you sit on it. 豆袋坐垫，懒人沙发
Those are (arguably) nice to have, but they're not culture. In their attempts to be seen as fun, happy places to work, modern businesses are venturing very close to turning their offices into circuses (or literally in the case of Liverpool, England's “coolest office”) in order to improve perceptions to potential hires and journalists.
当然有这些（可以说）很好，但它们并不是企业文化。现代企业尝试着塑造有趣、愉快的工作环境，他们冒着将办公室改造成马戏团的风险（或是如利物浦案例中字面上说的，英国“最酷的办公室”），为的是改善公司在潜在受聘者和记者脑中的印象。
the case of Liverpool 译者注 指利物浦的一家软件公司的设计，办公室里有马戏团帐篷、爆米花机和海洋球。
Yes, Expedia is a happy workplace and yes, it has a very nice office. But that's more likely because companies that invest in creating a nice physical environment are also likely to invest in more meaningful areas of employee contentment too. Expedia offers its people up to $14,000 a year in travel perks, for example.
没错，智游网的工作环境令人愉快，而且它的办公室也很不错。但这更可能是因为会投资创造更好硬件环境的公司，同样有可能在更能提高员工满意度的方面进行投资。例如，智游网每年给员工最高一万四千美金的旅游津贴。
Happiness is not a hammock
幸福不等于一张吊床
Businesses spend billions of dollars every year trying to make their people happy. But it's not working. In America, 70% of the workforce are disengaged. Office workers want more than toys and breakout spaces.
企业每年花费几十亿美金，想让他们的员工开心。但这并不奏效。在美国，70%的工作环境是疏离的。白领们要的不仅是玩具和休闲区。
In fact, a study I was recently involved with revealed that approval-seeking quirky perks can actually annoy office workers. People rarely want to work in a hammock or take a crisis meeting in a ballpit.
事实上，我最近参与的一项研究表明，讨好性质的新奇福利可能会惹怒员工们。很少有人会想在吊床里工作，或者在海洋球池里开危机会议。
If only employers would listen more they'd realise their people aren't asking for much. Screen privacy is a big thing for many – 74% of the 1,000 office workers surveyed by in a related study said the feeling that others can see what they're working on causes them some degree of anxiety. This is an issue that is cheap to fix and which would improve workplace contentment for many. But it's hardly Instagrammable.
要是老板愿意花更多时间倾听，他们就会意识到大家要的其实不多。屏幕隐私对很多人来说十分重要。一相关研究中的1000位受测试员工里，74%的人表示，别人能随时看到他们在做什么，会让他们多多少少感到焦虑。这个问题花很少的钱就能解决，却能大大提高工作满意度。但这不太可能上传到Instagram上。
Employee satisfaction is more often derived from simple measures such as investing in high-quality, comfortable furniture and providing refreshments, not the hay bales and hammocks cited by study recipients as being among the most pointless attempts at creating an Instagrammable office.
员工满意度往往来源于简单的措施。例如购买高质量、舒适的办公室设备，提供茶水点心，而不是提供草捆或吊床。受调查者认为这种办公设施是最没意义的，只是在Instagram看上去好看罢了。
A 2016 Society for Human Resource Management study said it’s pay, prospects, feeling respected and trust that gives the most happiness to employees. Hardly groundbreaking news. Money aside, it’s more about relationships than values, CSR or aesthetics that gets people out of bed on Mondays.
一份2016年人力资源管理组织的研究表示，薪水、前景、尊重和信任带给员工最大的幸福感。这并稀奇。除金钱外，让人更有动力在周一起床工作的是人际关系，而不是价值、CSR（企业社会责任）和美感。
It stands to reason. One of the biggest sources of happiness – in life, not just at work – comes from forging strong and close relationships, according to a study of Harvard’s class of 1980.
这是有据可循的。根据哈佛大学1980届的一项研究表明，包括工作在内，一生中幸福感最重要的来源之一是建立牢固、亲密的关系。
Stand to reason phrase. If you say it stands to reason that something is true or likely to happen, you mean that it is obvious. 显然
So how do companies foster good relations among their people? The obvious answer would be office socials, an open-plan workspace and regular activities, something most modern offices are already investing in. Companies such as Expedia also invest in events which combine training with networking opportunities.
那么公司该怎样在员工之间培养良好的关系呢？答案似乎很明显：办公室社交、开放式工作环境、常规活动。在这些方面，大多数现代公司已经有所投资。一些类似智游网的公司，也开展了将建立人脉关系与培训相结合的项目。
Deep and meaningful
深入而有意义
But it might not be that simple. If we’re talking about genuinely strong, meaningful relationships, these are rarely forged in comfortable offices. If you want stable, long-lasting friendships from work, you need to get out of the office altogether.
但这或许并不简单。如果我们说的是真正牢固的、有意义的人际关系，它们几乎不太可能建立在舒适的办公室环境中。如果你想从工作中获得稳定长远的友谊，你需要从办公室完全脱离出去。
A survey of 1,000 UK adults conducted in February 2017 found that people who work in highly social environments such as city centre offices with easy access to pubs and bars, or “campus-style” complexes fared worse when it came to relationship building with colleagues than farmers, oil riggers and night shift workers. In fact, the more antisocial your work environment, the more likely you are to make stronger friendships.
2017年2月，一份对1000位英国成人的调查发现，比起农民、钻油工人和上夜班的人，在高度社交环境或是“校园风格”建筑中工作的人更难与同事建立良好的人际关系。例如，市中心的办公室就属于高社交环境，在这里工作的人可以轻易接触到酒吧等场所。实际上，工作环境越是反社交，人们越容易建立更牢固的友谊。
fare /f??/ verb. If you say that someone or something fares well or badly, you are referring to the degree of success they achieve in a particular situation or activity. 进展
Workplaces that make it easy for their people to socialise effectively foster a casual attitude to relationship building. Harsher work environments, like those based outdoors, drive people to build stronger relationships.
如果工作环境本身便于人们高效社交，他们对于建立关系的态度会比较随意。但像户外工作那样更为严酷的工作环境，会驱使人们建立更强的联系。
It may seem counter-intuitive, but digging a little deeper reveals that ease of socialising makes for more surface-level relationships. If every night of the week is an opportunity to hang out after work, relationships tend to be based on opportunity and convenience. People with fewer socialising opportunities tend to be more selective about the people they hang out with.
看起来，这似乎与我们想的不一样，但深挖一下就会发现简单的社交只有利于比较表面的关系。如果每晚都有机会在工作后出去玩，那彼此的关系就倾向于建立在时机和便利的基础上。而社交机会少的人，则对一起出去玩的人更挑剔。
It’s not necessarily the act of being outdoors that contributes to stronger workplace friendships, but more likely the nature of the work itself. Jobs such as sea fishing, construction and defence require physical teamwork and have an element of danger, which can promote relationship building that transcends the job role in a way that office jobs don't quite do.
也并不是说呆在户外就能形成更稳固的工作友谊，更多的还是在于工作本身。类似于海钓、建造和防卫等工作需要实体的团队作业，同时也伴有一定危险。这些工作对建立人际关系的作用是办公室工作所无法企及的。
transcend /tr?n?s?nd/ verb. Something that transcends normal limits or boundaries goes beyond them, because it is more significant than them. 超越
In outdoor roles, there’s stricter selection criteria for socialising when the office drinks option doesn't exist. People who work on boats, building sites or on night shifts have to make more of an effort to socialise with colleagues, so it's more likely that when they do socialise, it's with people they'd choose to socialise with regardless of work relationships.
户外工作的人，没有在办公室茶水间闲聊这一选项，所以他们的社交选择标准更严苛。那些在船上、建筑工地或轮值夜班工作的人需要更努力地去和同事们社交。所以当他们社交时，更倾向于选择他们愿意社交的人，而不考虑工作关系。
criteria. noun. (pl.), singular: criterion /kra??t??r??n/ A criterion is a factor on which you judge or decide something. (判断的) 标准
This stricter social selection criteria likely increases the chances of those relationships lasting longer and becoming more meaningful.
这种更严苛的社交选择标准，很可能会使这些联系持续更久，也更有意义。
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