鼓励员工找工作，其实是高明之举

编者按：本文来自微信公众号“哈佛商业评论”（ID:hbrchinese），作者 雷恩·邦尼奇（Ryan Bonnici），36氪经授权发布。

每天我们都会反复认识到，人才之战是多么难打的一场仗。光是吸引到最优秀的员工是不够的——你还要能够留住他们。随着跳槽趋势日益升高，留住人才就变得难上加难了。一项调查发现，64% 的员工相信，经常换工作对自己事业有益；34岁以下员工中，持有这种想法的人就占了75%。

但是，我还是会积极鼓励员工们争取外部的就业机会，就连最优秀的员工也不例外。为什么呢？答案很简单，尽管有违直觉：这样做能帮助业务取得成功。

我的上一份工作是 HubSpot 的高级主任，目前我是G2 Crowd 的首席营销官。我在这两个职位的任职期间，不但会鼓励员工们在公司以外找工作，还会告诉他们，我自己也一直都在找新工作。奇怪的是，我这样做不但让我请到非常棒的员工，很多时候我还因此而留住他们。为什么呢？

原来，员工要的是实实在在的栽培，不是口头敷衍。盖洛普解释说，今天的员工，特别是千禧一代，“都希望在工作上得到成长机会”。87%的千禧一代人和 69% 的非千禧一代人把“职业发展和栽培机会”视为重要。然而，许多企业却做不到这一点。

接受盖洛普调查的千禧一代人中，只有不到半数的人对“过去一年里曾获得学习和成长的机会”这一说法表示强烈同意，而且只有1/3的人表示，他们最近花在学习上的时间是“非常值得”的。

所以，虽然几乎每一家公司都会承诺栽培员工，但是很多时候，他们只是说说而已。因此，管理者有责任确保公司能够履行职业发展的承诺。执行教练莫妮克·瓦尔库尔（Monique Valcour）在《哈佛商业评论》的一篇文章中写道：“企业学习和发展的新基石，就是管理者和员工的组合。”

我会明确告诉员工，我希望他们为自己的事业考虑到所有的可能性。我这样做会让他们知道，我真的很想帮助他们学习和成长。他们知道我不是在空谈而已；我真的很关心他们的发展。要是我觉得员工留在团队学不到新东西了，却又找不到方法帮助他们成长，那么我就会支持他们在别处找工作。

研究表明，很多时候，员工辞职的原因不是公司，而是他们的领导。员工只要信得过领导，领导又愿意帮助他们达到目标，他们就会为领导而留下。我的一些员工曾经告诉我，正是因为这样的承诺，他们才会选择加入团队为我工作并选择留在团队中。

一个开放的工作文化，让有效的沟通可以频繁地进行。我会鼓励员工考虑外部的潜在就业机会，也会和他们分享自己的经历。我这样做是为了营造开放的沟通文化。当他们获得其他公司的就业机会时，这方面的沟通就会产生重大影响。

正如 LinkedIn 创始人里德·霍夫（Reid Hoffman）曾在《哈佛商业评论》的一篇文章中写道，员工之所以觉得不能坦诚地与主管讨论事业目标，“是因为他们有理由相信：要是员工的想法和领导的现有观点和视野不完全一致，那么他们这样做不但有风险，还会使职业发展受到阻碍。”于是，他们会等到与潜在新雇主的谈判“进行到了后期阶段”，才跟领导分享关于外部工作机会的信息。

所以，我会以行动告诉团队，不管怎样我都愿意支持他们。我这样做是为了创造开放的文化，让员工们可以放心地与我分享他们在职业生涯中所踏出的每一步。

通过进行开放的沟通，我就有了时间和机会来找方法留住他们。很多时候，留住他们的方法是有的——比如，我可以为他们找个新职位或项目、增加新职责、进行加薪谈判。我发现，大多数员工并不知道公司非常灵活，很容易就能找到方法来留住高效人才。

这个过程也让他们觉得自己受到了尊重。克里斯汀·波拉斯（ChristinePorath）和东尼·史瓦兹（Tony Schwartz）在一项调查中发现，有半数员工觉得老板不尊重他们。觉得受到尊重的人留下的机会比较高。

他们离职其实是有好处的。最有违直觉的，也许就是这一点。优秀员工一旦决定好聚好散，有可能会为公司带来好处。他们离开公司之后，可以既坦白又有说服力地讲述自己的经历。如果他们离开公司时对我们留下了良好印象，他们就会为品牌说些好话。如果他们对我感到满意，他们就会鼓励优秀的人前来为我工作。

所以，一旦清楚我已经留不住他们，我就会向他们提出建议，帮助他们与新雇主进行协商，以获得最佳的雇佣条件。

每个员工都是独一无二的，所以“并非每个人都可以被完全代替”这一说法完全正确。但是，一旦有员工离职，我就有机会聘用另一个人，为团队增添新的血液。

另外，这些人也更有可能回巢。员工换了新工作后，不一定做得顺利。有些员工离职是为了尝试创业，但是创业的失败率很高，自己可能也不例外。有些员工加入新公司工作后却发现，不是工作情况不如预期，就是工作文化与自己不匹配。因此，这些优秀员工可能还会有必须再找工作的一天，到时候你会希望自己是他们的首选。

《哈佛商业评论》的一篇文章指出，这些被称作“回旋镖员工”的人数逐渐增加，而且他们是“更加宝贵的一群人才”。因此，为离职员工举行的告别派对，到头来可能只是个“暂时的告别”。如果你能够让他们觉得他们离开的工作场所也像个“家”的话，说不定他们还会回巢呢。

当然，没有一种方法是适合处理与每一个员工的关系的。在沟通层面上，每个人的风格和舒适区都有所不同；每一家企业的招聘策略也不一样，视各自的企业文化而定。不管我怎么做，总会有一些员工会选择保密，把所得到的外部就业机会隐藏在心里——其实这也没关系，只要我明确表示我的大门永远敞开，同时承诺不管多想留住他们，也不会试图让他们困在这里，我们就会创造赋权予员工的文化。

此外，不管他们下一步去到了哪里，要是他们成为了招聘经理，我会希望他们学到一些宝贵的教训——给自己的员工同样的自由和鼓励。只有这样，我们才能建立更强大的工作文化。

关键词：领导力人才管理

英文原文

Every day we get new reminders of just how tough the war for talent can be. It isn’t enough to attract the greatest employees — you have to retain them. That’s become a bigger challenge with “job hopping” on the rise. One survey found that 64% of workers, and 75% of those under the age of 34, believe frequently switching jobs will benefit their careers.

Why, then, would I actively encourage even my best employees to pursue outside job offers? The answer is simple, if counterintuitive: It helps the business succeed.

In my last job, as senior director at HubSpot, and now as CMO of G2 Crowd, I’ve not only encouraged my employees to look elsewhere but also told them that I keep an eye out for potential new jobs for myself as well. Ironically, all this helps me win — and quite often keep — terrific employees. Here’s why.

Employees want development, not lip service. Today’s employees, especially Millennials, “want jobs to be development opportunities,” Gallup explains. 87% of Millennials and 69% of non-Millennials rate “professional or career growth and development opportunities” as important. But many businesses are failing on this front. Less than half the Millennials surveyed by Gallup strongly agreed that they’d had opportunities to learn and grow in the previous year. And only one-third said their most recent learning opportunity was “well worth” their time.

So while almost every company promises to develop its employees, all too often that’s just lip service. And it’s up to managers to ensure their companies live up to the promises of professional development. As executive coach Monique Valcour wrote in HBR, the “manager-employee dyad is the new building block of learning and development in firms.”

When I make clear to my employees that I want them to consider all options for their careers, they see that I’m genuinely committed to helping them learn and grow. They know it’s not lip service; I care about their development. If I think they’ve gotten to the top of their learning curve on my team, and I can’t figure out a way to help them grow, I will support their efforts to get a job somewhere else.

As research has found, employees often quit not because of their company but because of their manager. They stay for a manager they believe in — one who wants to help them achieve their goals. I’ve had employees tell me they chose to come work for me, and chose to stay, because of that commitment.

Openness allows conversations to thrive. By encouraging my employees to consider outside possibilities and sharing my stories with them, I foster a culture of openness in our communication. When they get outside offers, that communication makes a big difference.

As LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman wrote in HBR, employees often feel they can’t speak honestly with their managers about their career goals “because of the reasonable belief that doing so is risky and career-limiting if the employee’s aspirations do not perfectly match up with the manager’s existing views and time horizons.” So they don’t share information about outside offers until they’ve gone “far down the road” with the potential new employer.

By showing my team that I want to support them either way, I am creating a culture in which my employees feel comfortable sharing every career step with me. This open dialog gives me time and opportunity to find a way to keep them. Often, there’s something I can do — such as get them a new experience or project, add to their responsibilities, or negotiate a raise. I’ve found that most employees don’t realize how much flexibility a company has when it comes to finding a way to retain high-performing talent.

This process also makes them feel respected. As Christine Porath and Tony Schwartz found in a survey, half of employees don’t feel respected by their bosses. Those who do are more likely to stay.

There are benefits to their leaving. This may be the most counterintuitive point of all. But when great employees decide to leave on good terms, there can be an upside for the company. Out in the world, they’ll be in a powerful position to speak honestly about their experiences. If they leave our company feeling good about us, they’ll speak positively about the brand. If they feel good about me, they’ll encourage great people to come work for me.

This is why, once it’s become clear that there’s no way I can keep them, I offer advice to help my staff negotiate the best deal they can get at their new employer.

Every employee is unique. So it’s true that not everyone is entirely replaceable. But when someone leaves, it is an opportunity for me to bring in someone else with different strengths and new things to offer the team.

They’re more likely to return. Not every new venture works out. Some employees leave to try their hand at startups, which have a high failure rate. Others work at new companies only to find that the job isn’t what they expected, or that the culture isn’t the right fit. So these great employees may be looking for work again someday — and you want to be at the top of their list.

These so-called boomerang employees are on the rise, and serve as an “increasingly valuable source of talent,” HBR has noted. So a goodbye party for an employee may turn out to have been a “farewell for now.” If you can help them feel that the place they’re leaving is something of a work “home,” they just might return.

Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all way to handle employee relationships. People have different styles and different comfort zones for communication. And businesses have different hiring and recruiting strategies depending on their company cultures. No matter what I do, some employees will choose to be more secretive and to keep their outside opportunities closer to the vest. That’s OK. As long as I make clear that my door is open, and that while they’re wanted here we won’t try to trap them here, we build a culture of employee empowerment.

And no matter where they end up next, if they become hiring managers, I want them to have learned valuable lessons about giving their own employees this same freedom and encouragement. This is how we build stronger work cultures.

雷恩·邦尼奇（Ryan Bonnici）|文

雷恩·邦尼奇是 G2 Crowd（全球领先的商业软件评测机构）的首席营销官。

搬那度 | 译周强|校