日本公司的短周工作制極大地提高了生產(chǎn)率

日本公司的短周工作制極大地提高了生產(chǎn)率

Since the early 1950s, when Japan set about rebuilding its post-war economy in earnest, few cultures could rival its seemingly tireless work tradition.

自上世紀(jì)50年代初日本開始認(rèn)真重建戰(zhàn)后經(jīng)濟(jì)以來，很少有文化能與其看似不知疲倦的工作傳統(tǒng)相匹敵。

TGI ... Thursday? (Photo: OmerYontar/Shutterstock)

Which is why one company's recent experiment couldn't come at a better time. In August, Microsoft Japan bucked that long, costly trend of burning every drop of an employee's midnight oil — and actually shortened the workweek with no cut in pay.

這就是為什么一家公司選擇現(xiàn)在進(jìn)行一項(xiàng)實(shí)驗(yàn)。今年8月，微軟日本頂住了長期以來代價(jià)高昂的挑燈夜戰(zhàn)趨勢，在不減薪的情況下縮短了工作時(shí)間。

And employees actually exceeded expectations. In fact, during that month, worker productivity, as measured by how many sales were made, improved by nearly 40%.

員工們實(shí)際上超出了預(yù)期。事實(shí)上，在那個(gè)月里，以銷售額衡量的工人生產(chǎn)率提高了近40%。

One key factor was the focus on more tightly run company meetings. As part of the experiment, they were capped at 30 minutes, and their overall frequency was drastically curtailed. The shortened workweek made time a little more precious — too precious for planning meetings, problem-solving meetings or those dubiously dubbed "strategy sessions" every company over-indulges in. If anything, an abundance of meetings demonstrates that managers have more time on their hands than staffers do. At Microsoft Japan, that luxury was taken away across the board.

其中一個(gè)關(guān)鍵因素是，公司會(huì)議的管理更加嚴(yán)格。作為實(shí)驗(yàn)的一部分，他們被限制在30分鐘內(nèi)，并且他們的整體頻率被大大降低?？s短的工作周讓時(shí)間變得更寶貴了——對于計(jì)劃會(huì)議、解決問題的會(huì)議，或者那些被懷疑是“戰(zhàn)略會(huì)議”的公司來說，時(shí)間太寶貴了。如果有什么區(qū)別的話，大量的會(huì)議表明經(jīng)理比員工有更多的時(shí)間。在微軟日本，這種奢侈被一網(wǎng)打盡。

It goes without saying that staff morale also got a boost. In its report, Microsoft Japan noted that — surprise, surprise — 92.1 percent of employees approved of the shortened week.

不用說，員工的士氣也得到了提升。微軟日本公司在其報(bào)告中指出，令人驚訝的是，92.1%的員工贊成縮短工作周。

Japanese employees have been known to work more than 80 hours a week. (Photo: Kobby Dagan/Shutterstock.com)

But the shortened workweek still has a long way to go before it changes a corporate mindset that has long pushed in the opposite direction, and not just in Japan. Hours worked in Britain and the U.S. have actually increased since the 2000s.

但縮短的工作周距離改變長期以來一直朝著相反方向推進(jìn)的企業(yè)心態(tài)(不僅是在日本)還有很長的路要走。自2000年以來，英國和美國的工作時(shí)間實(shí)際上增加了。

But if you're going to go out on a limb and take up this issue with your boss, it might be a good idea to mention what's in it for the company.

但是，如果你打算冒險(xiǎn)向你的老板提出這個(gè)問題，最好還是提一下對公司有什么好處。