职场沉默不是金，正面交锋不可少

    目前的就业市场哀鸿遍野。所以，上班一族即使郁郁寡欢也很难唤起人们的同情之心，因为他们最起码还能领到医疗福利。但实际上，人人都有难言之隐，即便是职场高薪一族一样有自己的烦心事。

    自从2007年12月经济衰退以来，“离职率”或者主动辞去带薪职位的人数一直偏低，目前依然在1.5%左右徘徊。大部分经济学家认为，这么低的比例是一种不正常的现象。

    经济形势良好时，对工作不满意的员工可以辞掉令他不爽的工作，但对未来还是相对乐观。他们要么是已经找到一份更有前途的工作，要么就是非常自信，相信自己能够在几周内就可找到一份不错的工作，并且相对而言，不会经历太痛苦的过程。但就业市场低迷时，即便自己并不喜欢，甚至永远也谈不上热爱，人们还是会选择坚守自己的岗位。

    低迷的“离职率”问题还有其他负面影响。由于担心哪怕一点点不称职的表现都会砸了饭碗，年轻人在职场中的表现更是如履薄冰，不敢跟同事和老板讨论工作中遇到的难题。（20岁左右年轻人的失业率是总体失业率的两倍左右。）

    还有一些人即便面对近乎恶劣的工作环境，依然会选择沉默，原因自然还是担心丢掉饭碗。如果自己的抱怨太多，谁知道上司会不会炒自己的鱿鱼？毕竟，还有一群20多岁的小青年正愁没工作呢，他们当中肯定有人更能容忍这样的工作环境。

    我曾经与一家著名图片社的客户经理交流过。她提到，有一次公司的人力资源总监对她说，关心个人健康是“她自己的事”，但公司更希望她不要频繁地去看医生（为了治疗一种慢性病）。而实际上，她每次都会把耽误的工作时间补回来。她的三位上司彼此之间从不进行交流，所以，如果她自己不说，他们也就从来不会知道其他两位对她提出的要求。但她又担心，一旦说出来，也许会被当成哭哭啼啼的怨妇。她的升职计划推迟了几个月之后才最终如愿。但在这个过程中，她学会了把日积月累的焦虑隐藏起来，做一只“沉默的鸵鸟”。

    但《高风险情境中的沟通技巧》（Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High）一书的合著作者约瑟夫•格雷尼却认为，在职场中保持沉默往往伴随着沉重的代价。格雷尼认为，在职场中，面对自己并不满意的状况，不与其他人当面交涉，表面看来是一种“安全的”策略，但实际上却并不安全。他认为，经济低迷导致的职场沉默会使越来越多的年轻人无法获得进行具有挑战性的、充满情感的对话技巧，他认为如今只有这种技巧才能带来真正的职场安全感；也就是说，员工作为无价资产得到认可所带来的安全感。

    It's hard, given how swollen the unemployment ranks are these days, to conjure up much sympathy for those who are unhappily employed with health benefits. But even the gainfully employed have their job troubles.

    The "quits rate," or the number of voluntary leave-taking from paid positions, has been low since the economic downturn began in December 2007 and still hovers around 1.5% -- a number that most economists consider unhealthily low.

    When an economy is humming along, unsatisfied employees can quit cruddy jobs with relative gusto. They either have a more promising job lined up, or are confident they'll be able to find one within a few relatively painless weeks of pavement pounding. But when jobs are scarce, people keep showing up for jobs they don't like, perhaps never liked.

    The low "quits rate" problem suggests other side effects. Young people are often wary of approaching colleagues and bosses to discuss on-the-job dilemmas out of fear that the slightest whiff of incompetence will get them canned. (The unemployment rate for people in their 20s is nearly double that of the general population.)

    Others stay silent in the face of work situations that border on hostile because, again, who's to say that managers -- staring at a vast pool of available 20-something labor -- wouldn't rather fire the squeaky wheel and replace her with someone more accommodating of inter-office nonsense?

    I talked to an account manager at a prominent photo agency who once sat and listened to the head of HR inform her that while taking care of herself was "her decision," the company would prefer she not have to visit the doctor so often (to control a chronic medical condition), even though she made up the lost hours every time. Her three supervisors did not communicate with one another, and would not hear of other demands placed on her unless she said something -- at which point she worried whether she sounded like a whiner. A promotion was dangled and delayed for months. Meanwhile, she learned to suck her mounting anxieties up and keep quiet.

    But keeping silent on the job comes with considerable costs, says Joseph Grenny, coauthor of Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. Grenny argues that the seemingly "safe" strategy of never confronting an unsatisfactory job situation is actually not safe. According to Grenny, downturn-induced reticence means that more young people are not gaining the skills of conducting challenging, emotionally charged conversations -- a skill he believes ultimately fosters the only kind of job security available these days; namely, the security that comes from being regarded as an invaluable asset.