老员工职场法宝──年轻心态

Older Workers Should Think Young

老员工职场法宝──年轻心态

At age 42, Shona Sabnis is one of the 'older' workers in the New York office of public-relations firm Edelman. Though she prides herself on being able to get along with most people, she is sometimes puzzled by the actions of her 20-something co-workers who, in turn, don't understand why the senior vice president of public affairs likes to distribute physical newspaper clippings.

岁的年纪，肖纳·萨布尼斯(Shona Sabnis)已经是爱德曼公关公司(Edelman)纽约分部“年长的”员工之一了。虽然她以能够与大多数人相处融洽而为傲，但有时20多岁同事们的举动也会令她疑惑，而这些同事也不理解为何这位公共事务高级副总裁喜欢散发纸质剪报。

While dealing with a situation at the office, Ms. Sabnis was told by a junior co-worker that she should be handling her client differently. It wasn't phrased as a suggestion, which surprised her since she knew the co-worker wasn't that familiar with the account.

有一次在办公室处理一件事情的时候，一位初级职位的同事告诉她，她应该换种方式对待自己的客户。听起来不并像是建议，这让她很意外，因为她知道这位同事并不是特别熟悉这位客户。

She later enlisted a 26-year-old co-worker to help her to get a better sense of where her young co-workers are coming from. He told her about the motivations of individual co-workers and what their expectations were. 'I found that I was projecting my reality when I was that age on them and their reality seems very different, ' says Ms. Sabnis. 'I don't always assume anymore that I know what they want. Now I ask them if I need to know.' Ms. Sabnis says she feels that she is now able to deal with young co-workers with more understanding.

后来她调来一名26岁的同事，以使她能更好地了解这些年轻同事的想法。他跟她说了每位同事的动机以及他们的预期。萨布尼斯说：“我发现我是以自己在他们那个年纪时的想法来猜测他们的情况，但他们的真实情况似乎大相径庭。我不再总是以为我知道他们想要什么。现在如果需要知道的话，我会直接问他们。” 萨布尼斯说，她觉得自己现在和年轻同事相处时能更多地理解他们了。

With as many as four generations bumping elbows in the same office, a lack of understanding and empathy between groups can generate serious workplace tension that can alienate co-workers. That is why experts say that getting into a young mind-set through mentorships and relationship building can help older workers better identify with young co-workers and-inevitably-younger bosses. Thinking young can also offer valuable insight into emerging millennial workplace and customer trends that can help to extend careers. Especially since millennials-people born between 1981 and the early 2000s-will make up 36% of the American workforce by next year, estimates the Business and Professional Women's Foundation.

如今的职场有时多达四代人都挤在同一间办公室里。不同群体之间如果缺乏了解和同理心，可能会导致严重的压力，从而使得同事之间渐渐疏远。因此，专家们说，通过参与导师项目和人际关系的培养，获得年轻的心态，可以帮助老员工与年轻同事以及必然会出现的年轻老板更好地产生共鸣。年轻思维还会为了解新千年的职场以及客户趋势提供有价值的洞察力，从而有助于事业发展。据商界及职业女性基金会(Business and Professional Women's Foundation)估计，出生于1981年至2000年初之间的千禧代人群将会在明年占美国劳动力人口的36%。有鉴于此，这一点显得尤为重要。

Start with a clean slate. Don't let stereotypes color your perception of young co-workers. People tend to act on their beliefs, which makes it difficult to establish productive workplace relationships if you automatically believe, for example, that all 20-somethings are narcissistic or lazy, says Ellen Langer, a professor of psychology at Harvard University who's written books on successful aging and decision-making.

以新的姿态重新开始吧。不要让刻板印象影响你对年轻同事的看法。哈佛大学心

理学教授艾伦·兰格(Ellen Langer)说，人们往往会按照自己的信念行事，比如有

的人很自然地认为所有20多岁的年轻人都自恋或者懒惰，这样就很难建立有效

的职场关系。兰格写过有关如何成功步入年老以及决策的书。

'People think they should be compromising or tolerant of certain behaviors but, instead, we should be understanding. It is more important to be mindful of an individual's motivations. Make sense of why people do what they do, ' says Ms. Langer. 'You might drive behind somebody that is driving slow and be angry because they're old. But in reality, that individual might be driving as fast as they are capable and it could be dangerous to do otherwise. If you saw what they saw, you'd probably respond the same way.'

“人们认为应该妥协或容忍某些行为，但相反，我们应该去理解。了解一个人的

动机更重要。搞清楚他们为什么会那样做。”兰格说。“在一个开车很慢的人后

面开车你可能会生气，因为他们老了。但实际上，那个人可能已经尽最大努力开

到了最快，再快的话就有危险。如果你看到了他们所看到的东西，你可能也会是

同样的做法。”

Catch up on things that you feel like you're falling behind on by participating in a reverse mentorship or group training. Many companies will pair an older employee with a younger employee who can offer fresh insight on technology, communication styles and social media as well as offer inside insight into the needs of other young co-workers, says Lisa Orrell, a workplace consultant from San Jose, Calif., who specializes in generational management. 'The reverse mentorship can also give insight into the new generation of buyers and decision makers who are also millennials. Social-media channels [are] how they are all communicating, collaborating and doing research on what to buy.' 参加逆向导师项目或团队培训，弥补你觉得自己落下的东西。擅长跨代管理的加

州何塞职场顾问丽萨·奥雷尔(Lisa Orrell)说，很多公司都会将老员工和年轻员

工配对，后者可以在科技、沟通方式和社交媒体方面提供新鲜的见解，帮助老员

工洞察年轻员工的需求。她说：“逆向导师项目还可以让老员工了解同样是千禧代的新一代买家和决策者。社交媒体渠道是他们交流、合作和研究购买决策的平台。”

Keep an open mind about organizational shifts that companies will be making to accommodate new modes of working. Millennials enjoy working in collaborative and decentralized work environments, for example, that de-emphasize protocol and hierarchy. This may include a more open workplace culture that encourages frequent communication and unprecedented outspokenness, says Ms. Orrell.

以开放的态度接纳公司为适应新的工作模式将做出的组织调整。千禧代喜欢在协作性和分散管理的环境中工作，比如不强调礼仪规范和等级的环境。奥雷尔说，这或许包括建立更开放的职场文化，鼓励频繁沟通和更多的直言不讳。

Don't dwell on the past at the office or talk about how things used to be unless you're using past accomplishments to bolster present and future goals, says Russ Hovendick, president of Client Staffing Solutions in Sioux Falls, S.D. 'Your young co-workers are in the early stages of their careers and motivated by what's happening now. They're not thinking about retirement-nor should you out loud when you're trying to put yourself into a relevant context.'

南达科他州苏福尔斯(Sioux Falls)人力资源公司Client Staffing Solutions总裁拉斯·霍芬迪克(Russ Hovendick)说，在办公室不要老沉溺于过去或者谈论过去怎么样，除非你是用过去的成就来推动当下或今后的目标。他说：“你的年轻同事们还在职业生涯初期，激励他们的是现在的状况。他们想的不是退休──即使你是在努力让自己的话与当时的情形建立关联，你也不应该无所顾忌地表达。”You want to relate to interviewers and hiring managers that you have plans for the future and aren't just looking for someplace to hole up until retirement.

你应该跟面试官及招聘经理表示你对未来有计划，而不只是想找个地方混到退

休。