Can a fear of getting fired make you work harder?
担心被炒能否让你更加努力地工作？
Panicked about receiving a payslip? The stress can make you worse at your job.
你担心自己的工作不保吗？这种压力会导致你的工作表现变糟。
Worrying about being made redundant, feeling powerless due to changing workplace practices and uncertainty about your role can affect your job performance and hit your morale. Yet, purposefully creating an insecure environment is a tactic used in some industries – by placing additional demands and stressors on employees – in the mistaken belief that it will increase their performance.
担心被裁员、无力改变工作的调动或变化、对自己职位的不确定性，都会影响你的工作表现，打击你的士气。然而，某些行业却会错误地营造不安全的环境——向员工施加额外的要求和压力——误以为这样可以提升员工的工作表现。
There are a few versions of this type of management. One is the 20-70-10 rule, popularised by former GE chairman Jack Welch, which advocates firing the most underperforming 10% of employees. Another version, known as ‘up or out’, is a strategy employed by some firms in the law and consulting industries, where low performers, those who are not improving or climbing the career promotion ladder, get replaced.
这种管理风格分成几个版本。一种是通用电气前董事长杰克·韦尔奇（Jack Welch）倡导的"20-70-10"原则，主张裁掉10%表现最差的员工。另外一个版本则被称作"up or out"，在这种被法律业和咨询行业广泛采纳的人事管理方法中，表现较差，没有改进，或没有升职的员工就会被换掉。
But by keeping workers on their toes by instilling feelings of uncertainty in the workplace, employers often do more harm than good, says William Schiemann, head of Metrus Group, an organisational research firm in Somerville, in the US state of New Jersey.
但美国新泽西州组织研究公司Metrus Group负责人威廉姆·席曼（William Schiemann）表示，当企业向职场注入不确定性来增加员工的紧迫感时，往往弊大于利。
“When companies use job security as a stick as opposed to a carrot, it backfires because [workers] lose their feeling of commitment,” he says. The tactic can break down trust in the workplace, he adds.
"当企业把职业安全当成大棒，而不是胡萝卜时，就会适得其反，因为员工会丧失敬业心。"他说。他补充道，这种策略会破坏职场信任。
But while the threat of job loss is never pleasant, is there an optimum level of perceived job security that will make you work your best? And, is there anything you can do as a mere cog in the corporate machine? The answers are complicated.
然而，虽然失业的威胁从来都不令人愉悦，但是否存在一种最佳的职业安全感，让人们能够全力以赴地投入工作？作为企业这台机器上的一颗无关紧要的螺丝钉，你又能做点什么？答案有些复杂。
Deciphering job security
解码职业安全
While many employees worry about job instability, how and why these fears occur is subjective.
虽然很多员工担心职业不稳定，但担忧的具体方式和原因却很主观。
Work-related anxiety depends on your profession, your role, your financial situation and even your location – for example, workers in Europe have strict protections in place around downsizing when compared to their US counterparts. In Belgium, employees who have been on the job for three years need to have three months’ notice for any terminations, a number that can be closer to two weeks in the US.
与工作有关的焦虑取决于你的职业、职位、财务状况，甚至所在的地方——例如，与美国相比，欧洲劳动者在裁员方面获得的保护更加全面。在比利时，如果企业要解雇任职3年的员工，就必须提前3个月通知，而美国只需提前两个星期。
For workers, job insecurity not only refers to the threat of being fired, but also anxieties about the future of your role – a so-called qualitative job insecurity, according to Tinne Vander Elst, an organisational psychologist at KU Leuven University in Belgium.
对劳动者来说，职业不安全感并不仅仅指被炒掉的风险，还包括你对自身职位未来前景的焦虑——按照比利时鲁汶大学（KU Leuven University）组织心理学家蒂尼·范德·埃尔斯特（Tinne Vander Elst）的说法，这属于一种所谓的定性职业不安全感。
In Belgium, for example, while just 6% of workers report fear of job loss, 31% fear negative changes to their work situation. Both can impact performance, Vander Elst found.
例如，虽然比利时只有6%的劳动者对失业感到担忧，但有31%害怕自己的工作环境面临负面变化。范德·埃尔斯特表示，这两种情况都会影响工作表现。
Stress in small doses
小压力
No doubt the prospect of job loss and career uncertainty causes stress. But in small doses, feelings of job uncertainty may give workers extra incentive to perform in the short term, says Schiemann. Some job-related uncertainty – during times of layoffs or downsizing, for example – can make people work harder to prove their worth to management, he says. “If [employees] think it’s controllable, they’ll still put in a real effort.”
失业前景和职业不确定性显然会带来压力。但席曼表示，如果压力不大，职业不安全感带来的感受或许还能给员工带来额外的短期刺激。有些与工作相关的不确定性——例如公司处在裁员期间——可以让员工更加努力地工作，以便向管理者证明自己的价值。"如果员工认为压力可控，他们还是会全力以赴。"
For consultants, feeling unsure about securing their next project can also add to a performance boost, he says.
他表示，对咨询师来说，不确定自己能否获得下一个项目也能对他们的绩效形成促进。
While there’s no scientific studies into this particular phenomenon, some research suggests that in some instances, workplace stress can help you better focus on tasks and increase efficiency.
虽然没有针对这种现象展开的科学研究，但一些研究还是认为，在某些情况下，职场压力可以帮助你更好地关注任务、提升效率。
However, highly stressful work situations are never good for long-term performance, says David Creelman, a Toronto-based HR consultant. “You shouldn't put someone in this kind of situation if you can avoid it,” he says. “Highly stressed people are more likely to have mental and ethical lapses, and are harder to get along with as team members, than less stressed people.”
然而，多伦多人力资源顾问大卫·克雷尔曼（David Creelman）表示，高压职场环境从来都不利于长期表现。"如果能够避免，就不应该让人们置身于这种环境之中。"他说，"身处高压环境的人更有可能出现心理和道德失误，与压力较小的人相比，他们也更难与团队成员相处。"
Long-term problems
长期问题
Not only does work-related insecurity impact health and alter performance, but it also triggers physical problems that can last years after you’ve left the role, says Vander Elst. In her recent study, workers who reported having high levels of job insecurity felt depressed as much as three years later, she says. “Experiencing high levels of job insecurity [was] a tipping point for being depressed,” she says.
范德·埃尔斯特表示，与工作相关的不安全感不仅会影响健康和绩效，还会引发生理问题，甚至在你离职多年之后仍然难以消除。在她最近的研究中，怀有较高不安全感的劳动者最长在3年之后仍会感到抑郁。"较高的职业不安全感会引发抑郁。"她说。
Even if some people perform better with a bit of uncertainty, those who feel insecure on the job are at a disadvantage, says Vander Elst. The idea that some level of insecurity can make workers more productive is a misconception, she adds.
范德·埃尔斯特表示，即便有的人因为一些不确定性而获得更好的表现，但那些感觉自己职业不安全的人仍会身处劣势。她补充道，有人认为一定程度的不安全感可以提升员工的生产力，但这其实是一种误解。
“Job insecurity related to lower levels of in-role performance, lower levels of innovative work behaviour, higher levels of the enactment of workplace bullying behaviours and actual turnover,” she says.
她说："职场不安全感越强，在职工作表现就越差，工作中的创新行为就越少，职场的欺凌事件和离职率也就越多。"她说。
For workers who want to feel more comfortable on the job, Schiemann suggests looking for managers and firms that focus on fairness and transparency, which can help you work better during times of uncertainty. No matter your industry, you’ll be more engaged if you feel your employer treats you and your colleagues equally, says Schiemann.
对于希望获得更高职场舒适度的员工来说，席曼建议寻找那些看重公平和透明的管理者和企业，这都可以帮助你在不确定的时候更好地工作。席曼称，无论你从事哪个行业，只要你感觉雇主能够公平对待自己和同事，你就会更加积极地从事工作。
Ultimately, there’s not a foolproof way make sure you feel secure in your job. And if it’s affecting your performance, it’s time to take note.
总而言之，没有一种简单的方法可以确保你在工作中获得安全感。如果这对你的绩效产生影响，那就是时候多加注意了。
来源：好英语网
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