职场女性如何摆脱命悬一线的窘境，真正‘向前一步’？

    十年前，梅根•达拉-卡米娜每天工作16到18个小时，“几乎是以飞机为家”。达拉-卡米娜曾身居IBM公司市场营销总监的要职，掌握着5,000万美元的预算。但她还是辞去了这个高管职位，因为她希望找到一种不会让自己感觉正溺水下沉的生活方式。忘掉“拥有一切”的理想吧。虽然她所在的公司允许她自由安排自己的时间，但这位单身母亲感觉自己只是在勉强活着而已。

    达拉-卡米娜觉得肯定不是只有自己一个人是这样。她的一项新研究证明了这种预感。这位澳大利亚人调查了1,000名18至55岁的美国职场女性，结果令人沮丧。约有70%的受访女性不相信她们能够得到必要的支持，让自己在职场内外都能得到幸福，75%的受访者不相信她们可以“拥有一切”。事实上，接近一半的受访者形容她们过去几年的生活是“命悬一线”。此外，调查结果没有受到年龄或女性是否有孩子的影响，表明所有人都在为了生活而努力挣扎。

    达拉-卡米娜说：“我们一方面在讨论向前一步，而女同胞们却说她们只是在勉强活着，这样的事实令人深感意外。有太多女性认为，如果她们埋头苦干，肯定会有人注意到她们，机会必将来临。但在许多情况下，事实并非如此。”

    达拉-卡米娜的研究指出，职场专业人士个人成长需要雇主提供的资源与雇主实际提供的资源之间存在巨大差距。波士顿大学（Boston College）最新研究发现，职场灵活性正在下降，只有不足三分之一的雇主认为，允许员工采取灵活的工作模式是很好的选择。即便公司为员工提供弹性工作安排，依然有70%的女性认为，很难在职场与家庭两方面同时取得成功。

    原因何在？达拉-卡米拉认为，太多公司依旧坚持面对面的工作模式，而不是成果导向的工作模式。她补充说，除非兼职或在家办公等灵活的工作方式有朝一日成为美国公司文化中像DNA一样根深蒂固的一部分，而不是一种特殊待遇，否则情况不会有任何改变。

    对于达拉-卡米娜的调查结果，咨询公司商业人才集团（Business Talent Group）的CEO朱迪•米勒并不感到意外。对于公司考虑不同的办公方式所带来的好处，米勒有直接的体会。商业人才集团有一半员工在家办公，他们并没有因为缺席和老板面对面的沟通而受到任何指责或处罚；事实上，这家公司的员工获得奖励依据的是他们的工作质量，而不是在任务上所投入的时间。而且，这家公司大多数员工都是兼职，以项目为基础为公司工作。米勒表示，自从公司改善了它独特的工作环境之后，员工的工作效率和员工保持率都在“急速上升”。

    米勒说：“口头上告诉员工‘向前一步’只是一般化的修修补补。我们需要对职场进行根本性的结构变化，使它更易于所有员工掌握。”

    米勒承认，美国公司要采取商业人才集团激进的工作模式，还需要一些时间。在那之前，对于当今女性如何才能在工作中体会到更多的‘掌控’，达拉•卡米娜在其著作《如何真正拥有一切》（ Getting Real About Having It All ）中给出了下面几条建议：

    树立优秀的个人品牌：每个人都有自己的个人品牌，虽然大多数人通常只关注自己的商业品牌。认真考虑其他人如何看待自己，会迫使职场人士回归到真实的自我。她建议每个人问问自己：“你希望以什么样的形象去上班，以及你希望自己在哪方面为人所知？”如果你发现自己每天走到办公室的门口都要压抑真正的自我，这意味着，你或许应该另谋出路。

    要明确自己不容协商的地方。达拉-卡米娜形容自己是一个“改过自新的取悦者”。她在研究中发现，在职场中，女性对于不符合自己最佳利益的任务往往也不会拒绝。她在缩小了自己的职业目标之后，建议读者写出自己不可妥协的方面，坚持下去。无论是周末不接工作电话，还是要求每周五休息，达拉-卡米拉都提醒读者，只有我们自己才能划定在工作中的底线。（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    Ten years ago, Megan Dalla-Camina worked 16 to 18 hours a day and “literally lived on a plane.” A senior executive at IBM IBM -0.08% , Dalla-Camina gave up her job handling a $50 million budget as head of marketing to figure out a lifestyle that didn’t make her feel like she was drowning. Forget the ideal of “having it all.” Despite working for a company that gave her flexibility with her schedule, the single mother was barely surviving.

    Dalla-Camina had a sense that she wasn’t alone. Her new study now proves it. The Australia native polled 1,000 American working women ages 18 to 55 and the results are discouraging. Roughly 70% of women don’t believe they have the support to make themselves happy inside and outside of work and 75% don’t believe they can “have it all.” In fact, nearly half of respondents described their life in the past year as “hanging on by a thread.” What’s more is that the results hardly skewed by age or if a women had children or not, a sign that everyone is struggling to get by.

    “The fact that we are having discussions about leaning in when women are saying they are barely surviving is startling,” Dalla-Camina says. “There are so many women who think that if they keep their head down and continue working hard, someone will notice and opportunities will come to them. In a lot of cases it’s just not how it works.”

    Dalla-Camina’s study points to a severe gap between what working professionals need from their employers to thrive and what employers are providing. A recent Boston College study discovered that workplace flexibility is decreasing and less than one-third of employers felt they great options for employees to have alternative work models. Even if a company offers flexible work arrangements for employees, 70% of women think it’s not possible to be successful at work and home.

    The problem? Too many companies are stuck in a face-to-face employee model as opposed to an outcome-based model, says Dalla-Camina. Until alternative work plans like working part time or working from home become ingrained in the DNA of corporate America — as opposed to being viewed as special treatment — nothing will change, she added.

    Jody Miller, the CEO of consulting firm Business Talent Group, was hardly surprised by Dalla-Camina’s findings. Miller sees first hand the benefits of building a company that thinks about work differently. At BTG, half the employees work from home, so there is no stigma or penalty for not getting in face time with the boss; indeed, employees are rewarded for the quality of their work, not the amount of time spent on task. And the a majority of the employees are part timers and work in a project-based model. Productivity and retention have “gone through the roof” since BTG refined its unique work environment, according to Miller.

    “Telling workers to ‘lean in’ is just tinkering at the margins,” said Miller. “We need fundamental structural changes in the workplace to make it manageable for all workers.”

    Miller acknowledges it will likely take some time before corporate America catches up to BTG’s progressive work model. Until then, here are a couple pieces of advice from Dalla-Camina’s book Getting Real About Having It All – on how women can feel more in control at work now:

    Brand yourself fabulous: Everyone has a personal brand, even though most people are usually focused on their business brand instead. Thinking seriously about how you are perceived by others forces workers to get back to the authenticity of who they really are. She suggests everyone ask themselves “How do you want to show up to work and what do you want to be known for?” If you find yourself checking your real self at the door when you get to the office, perhaps its time to find a new path.

    Be clear on your non-negotiables: A self-described “reformed people pleaser,” Dalla-Camina found in her study that women are often saying yes to tasks at work that are not in their best interest. After narrowing in on your professional goals, she suggests writing down your non-negotiables and sticking to them. Whether it’s not taking calls on the weekends or asking for every Friday off, Dalla-Camina reminds readers that only you can set your boundaries at work.