Dan Price， the CEO Who Pays Every Employee $70，000 a Year 丹·普赖斯：美国好老板

2016-04-06PaulKeegan宋怡秋

新东方英语 2016年4期

Paul+Keegan++译+宋怡秋

有谁会相信，一位公司的老板会将自己的年薪由110万砍至7万美元，而他这样做的目的只是为了把公司所有员工的最低年薪提高至7万美元？这听起来有些匪夷所思，但是美国Gravity Payments公司的老板丹·普赖斯就是这样做的。这位美国好老板采取的这一违背市场规律的举措无论对于他自己还是公司都是一步险棋。然而丹·普赖斯却甘冒风险，既为了让员工过得更幸福，也在尝试改变美国公司的经营方式。在他的心中，企业领导者的成绩不是由金钱决定的，而是由目标、影响和服务来书写。

Before Dan Price caused a media firestorm by establishing a $70，000 minimum wage at his Seattle company， Gravity Payments， an entry-level Gravity employee named Jason Haley got really pissed off at him.

It was late 2011. Haley was a 32-year-old phone tech earning about $35，000 a year， and he was in a sour mood. Price had noticed it， and when he spotted Haley outside on a smoking break， he approached. “Seems like somethings bothering you，” he said. “Whats on your mind？”

“Youre ripping me off1），” Haley told him.

Price was taken aback2）. Haley is shy， not prone to outbursts. “Your pay is based on market rates，” Price said. “If you have different data， please let me know. I have no intention of ripping you off.” The data doesnt matter， Haley responded： “I know your intentions are bad. You brag about how financially disciplined you are， but that just translates into me not making enough money to lead a decent life.”

Price walked away， shocked and hurt. An entrepreneur since he was a teen， Price prided himself on treating employees well at Gravity， which he co-founded in 2004 with his brother Lucas Price. Three years before， as a 16-year-old high school kid， Dan Price saw bar owners being gouged3） by big financial firms every time they swiped4） a patrons credit card. By first outsourcing technology， and then building its own systems， Gravity offered lower prices and better service， and grew rapidly for four years—until the Great Recession nearly wiped it out. Traumatized5）， Price kept a lid on6） wages even after the economy recovered—to save the company， of course！ Why cant employees see that？

Finally， he realized why： Haley was right—not only about being underpaid， but also about Prices intentions. “I was so scarred by the recession that I was proactively7）， and proudly， hurting my staff，” he says. Thus began Prices transformation from classic entrepreneur to crusader against income inequality， set8） on fundamentally changing the way America does business. For three years after his face-off9） with Haley， Price handed out 20 percent annual raises. Profit growth continued to substantially outpace wage growth. This spring， he spent two weeks running the numbers and battling insomnia before making a dramatic announcement to his 120-member staff on April 13： Over the next three years， he will phase in10） a minimum wage of $70，000 at Gravity and immediately cut his own salary from $1.1 million to $70，000 to help fund it.

The reaction was tsunamic， with 500 million interactions on social media and NBCs video becoming the most shared in network history. Price had not only struck a nerve11）； he had also turbocharged12） a debate now raging across the American landscape， from presidential forums to barrooms to fast-food restaurants. How much—indeed， how little—should workers be paid？ While financiers and C-suite13） honchos14） have showered themselves in compensation， most Americans havent had a raise， in real dollars， since 2000. Especially in the wake of15） the recession， entrepreneurs and corporate bosses have tightly controlled costs， including wages. That boosts profits. But at what cost？ In a U.S. economy that is more than two-thirds consumer spending， GDP growth is chained to income growth. Workers cant spend what they dont have， nor do they have the home equity16） to borrow and spend. Weak wage growth helps explain why this long economic expansion has been so tepid17）.

Until Price dropped his wage bomb， much of that debate was punditry18）. He gave it a name and a face： a modern Robin Hood helping the working class by stealing from himself.

Price isnt backing down19） about pay going up. Now hes going all in. He revealed to Inc. that he has sold all his stocks， emptied his retirement accounts， and mortgaged his two properties and poured the $3 million he raised into Gravity. As majority owner， he is not exactly penniless. But if Gravity fails， so does Price. “Most people live paycheck to paycheck20），” he says. “So how come I need 10 years of living expenses set aside and you dont？ That doesnt make any sense. Having to depend on modest pay is not a bad thing. It will help me stay focused.”

“I love Monday mornings，” says Price， upbeat as usual， walking through Gravitys sparse21） office in the Ballard section of Seattle. The office looks as you might expect—desks and computers in bland22） cubicles. “So we dont get too comfortable，” Price says.

Being comfortable wasnt a goal in Prices family when he was growing up in rural southwest Idaho， near Nampa. He and his five siblings took turns waking at 5 a.m. to make breakfast before Bible readings and prayers led by their Evangelical Christian parents. Like his siblings， he was homeschooled until age 12. Thats when he rebelled a bit， dying his hair with red and blue streaks and painting his nails like the punk rockers he listened to.

Price learned to play bass guitar and formed a Christian rock trio called Straightforword， which was successful enough to tour and get national airplay. At 16， when the band broke up， he decided to help the struggling owners of bars and coffee shops where they had played by negotiating cheaper rates from the credit card processing companies， which offered little more than exorbitant23） prices and spotty service.

Though his family struggled financially， Price never thought of his enterprise as a way to make money. Inspired by his father， Ron Price， a self-employed consultant who often spoke of living according to your values， Dan says he just wanted to help friends like Heather， who ran the Moxie Java coffee shop in Caldwell， Idaho. But make money he did， rounding up more than 200 clients and in a good month netting $12，000. By the time he entered Christian Seattle Pacific University in 2004， Price had developed a more sophisticated business model： processing credit card transactions himself using outsourced technology. While continuing to serve his Idaho customers， he found enough new ones in Seattle to start Gravity Payments.

Funded in part by Dans savings， credit card debt， and student loans， the company grew rapidly as Gravity built its own technology and brought the card-processing systems in-house24）. He somehow graduated from college in 2008， won several business awards， and met President Obama. Then the recession hit and Gravity fell rapidly to earth. Revenue dropped 20 percent， and vendors and clients went bankrupt. Always stingy25） with pay， he had offered employees the usual startup promise： Well give you an exciting place to work， and youll learn so much youll eventually be financially successful. But after his encounter with Jason Haley， he decided to try a new tack.

The 20 percent raises Price implemented in 2012 were supposed to be a one-time deal. Then something strange happened： Profits rose just as much as the previous year， fueled by a surprising productivity jump—of 30 to 40 percent. He figured it was a fluke26）， but he piled on 20 percent raises again the following year. Again， profits rose by a like amount. Baffled， he did the same in 2014 and profits continued to rise.

“But I was still bothered and I didnt know why，” he says. In March， Price went walking with a good friend who earned less than $50，000 at another firm. She was smart， capable， and worked 50 to 60 hours a week. But her Seattle rent was rising another $200 a month， and she was struggling with student debt and worried about how to pay for basics. “I was so angry，” Price says. “I began wondering what my friend would have to make so she wouldnt have to worry about a $200 rent hike.” He recalled a 2010 study by Princeton behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman27） finding that， while people did not feel happier on a daily basis as their income rose above $75，000， they were decidedly unhappier the less they earned below $75，000. At Gravity， new hires made $35，000 a year. “I just decided Im gonna do $70，000，” he says. “I dont care if I have to stop paying myself or I have to work 20 hours a day. Im going to do it.” The plan will eventually double the salaries of 30 workers and give raises to 40 more making less than $70，000.

Is there a magic number that keeps workers focused while still generating a profit？ Price calculated a figure but never imagined the publicity hes gotten would boost new customer inquiries from 30 per month to 2，000 within two weeks. Customer acquisition costs are typically high， so in that sense， the strategy has paid off.

Price says establishing a $70，000 minimum wage is a moral imperative， not a business strategy. And yet he must prove the business wisdom behind it， not only to keep Gravity from sinking—and going down with the ship himself—but also to achieve his long-term goal of transforming the business world. “I want the scorecard28） we have as business leaders to be not about money， but about purpose， impact， and service，” he says. “I want those to be the things that we judge ourselves on.”

西雅图支付公司Gravity Payments的丹·普赖斯在自己的公司里实行7万美元最低工资一事在媒体上引起了轩然大波。而在此之前，Gravity公司里的初级员工贾森·黑利曾对他非常不满。

事情发生在2011年底。32岁的黑利是一个年薪3.5万美元的电话技术人员，他当时的情绪很焦躁，普赖斯注意到了这一点，在一次吸烟休息时他看见了黑利，就走上前去。“你似乎有些苦恼，”他说，“有什么心事吗？”

“你在剥削我。”黑利回答道。

普赖斯大吃一惊。黑利是个害羞的人，不会轻易发脾气。“你的工资是根据市场行情定的，”普赖斯说，“如果你有不一样的数据，请你告诉我。我无意要剥削你。”但黑利回答说，数据并不重要，“我知道你存心不良，你吹嘘说自己在财务方面多么有节制，但结果只是让我挣不到足够的钱过体面的生活”。

普赖斯听完走开了，心里既震惊又受伤。从十几岁就开始创业当老板的普赖斯一向以善待Gravity的员工而自豪，该公司由他与兄弟卢卡斯·普赖斯于2004年共同创立。在创立公司的三年前，丹·普赖斯还是个16岁的高中生。当时他看到，在酒吧里，经营者每次刷顾客的信用卡收款都会受到大金融公司的压榨。而Gravity公司则提供更低的价格和更优质的服务，他们最初将技术外包，后来建立了自己的处理系统，在四年时间里飞速发展—直到经济大衰退将它几乎彻底摧毁。受到重创的普赖斯即使在经济复苏之后仍继续限制员工的工资额度—这当然是为了公司的生存着想！员工们为什么就是不明白呢？

最后，他意识到了原因：黑利是对的—不仅在工资过低这一点上说对了，对于普赖斯的意图他也说对了。“经济衰退令我深受创伤，于是我先发制人，伤害了我的员工，还引以为豪。”他说。自此，普赖斯开始从一名传统的企业家向一名反对收入不平等的斗士转型，决心从根本上改变美国公司的经营方式。在与黑利的那次对峙后，普赖斯连续三年每年给员工加薪20%。而公司利润的增长速度则持续地大幅超过工资的增长速度。今年春天（编注：英文原文发表于2015年11月），在他花了两周时间计算数据并与失眠作斗争后，在4月13日，他向公司的120名员工宣布了一个惊人的决定：在今后的三年里，他将在Gravity公司逐步推行7万美元的最低工资，并即刻将自己的年薪从110万削减到7万，以此为这一计划提供资金支持。

一石激起千层浪，他的做法在社交媒体上引发了五亿次互动，NBC对此事的报道则成为电视网历史上分享次数最多的视频。普赖斯不仅触及了很多人的痛处，更使一场全国性的大讨论愈演愈烈，从总统论坛到酒吧和快餐店，人们到处都在谈论这个话题。劳动者应该获得多高的—或者说多低的—报酬才是合理的？那些金融家和C字打头的企业高管们大把大把地拿高额薪酬，而大多数美国人若按实际购买力计算，自2000年后就没有涨过工资。特别是在经济衰退之后，企业家和公司老板都严格控制包括工资在内的成本支出，这促进了企业利润的增长。但代价是什么呢？在美国经济中，消费占比超过三分之二，GDP的增长与国民收入的增长密切相关。没有钱，劳动者就无法消费；他们也无法通过房屋净值来贷款与消费。工资增长乏力有助于解释为什么这么久以来经济发展一直如此疲软。

在普赖斯投下这颗工资炸弹之前，对这一问题的讨论大多是专家们的纸上谈兵。他则给出了一个活生生的例子：一个从自己口袋里掏钱来帮助工薪阶层的现代罗宾汉。

在给员工加薪这件事上，普赖斯不会退缩。目前他已为此投入了一切。他向Inc.杂志透露，他已经卖掉了所有的股票，提空了退休金账户，抵押了两处房产，并将筹措到的300万美元注入了Gravity。作为公司的最大股东，准确地说，他并不是一无所有。但是如果Gravity倒闭了，普赖斯也就破产了。“大多数人都是月光族，”他说，“为什么我就需要预留出十年的生活费，而你们不需要呢？这毫无道理。只能依靠不多的薪水生活并不是件坏事。它能促使我专心工作。”

“我喜欢星期一上午。”走在位于西雅图巴拉德街区的Gravity公司那略显空荡的办公室里，普赖斯和平常一样充满朝气。办公室看起来跟大家预想的差不多—一个个普通无奇的办公隔间里放着办公桌和电脑。“这样我们就不会过于安逸。”普赖斯说。

追求安逸可不是普赖斯一家的人生目标。普赖斯在爱达荷州西南部楠帕附近的农村长大。他和五个兄弟姐妹轮流在早上五点钟起床做早饭，然后在福音派基督徒父母的带领下读《圣经》和做晨祷。和兄弟姐妹们一样，他在12岁之前都是在家接受教育。那时的他有点叛逆，像他常听的朋克摇滚歌手那样把头发挑染成红色和蓝色，还染指甲。

普赖斯学会了弹贝斯，并组建了一支名叫Straightforword的三人福音摇滚乐队。这支乐队颇为成功，他们曾经巡回演出，歌曲在全国性电台上播出过。16岁那年，乐队解散后，他决定帮助曾经驻唱过的那些硬撑着度日的酒吧和咖啡馆经营者，跟信用卡业务受理公司进行谈判，让其降低收费标准，这些公司收费过高，服务却时好时坏。

虽然自己家里财务拮据，但普赖斯从来没有把开公司当做生财之道。丹的父亲朗·普赖斯是位个体咨询顾问，他常说人要遵循自己的价值观生活。在父亲的感召下，丹说他创业的初衷只是想帮助朋友，比如在爱达荷州考德威尔开Moxie Java咖啡馆的海瑟。但他确实赚了钱，发展了200多名客户，生意好的时候一个月能净赚1.2万美元。到2004年入读西雅图太平洋大学这所基督教大学时，普赖斯已经建立起了更为成熟的经营模式：利用外包技术自己处理信用卡交易。在继续为爱达荷州的客户服务的同时，他在西雅图也发展了不少新客户，足以支撑他开办起Gravity公司。

Gravity公司使用了丹的存款、信用卡借款和学生贷款作为部分启动资金，在建立了自己的技术并将信用卡处理系统收归自营后，公司得以迅速发展。2008年，丹总算大学毕业了，赢得了几个商业奖项，并受到奥巴马总统的接见。随后，经济衰退来袭，Gravity公司迅速跌入谷底。公司收入下降了20%，销售商和客户纷纷破产。在工资方面一向吝啬的普赖斯对员工们做出的是在创业公司里常见的那类承诺：我们给你提供一份令人兴奋的工作，你能学到很多东西，并最终在财务方面获得成功。但在与贾森·黑利交锋后，他决定尝试一种新的策略。

2012年那次幅度为20%的加薪原本计划只是一锤子买卖。可是奇怪的事儿发生了：公司工作效率出人意料地大幅跃升了30%～40%，受此推动，公司的利润增长与上一年持平。普赖斯认为事出偶然，但第二年，他在上次的基础上又给员工加薪20%。公司利润的增长再次与上一年相当。困惑不已的普赖斯在2014年再度为员工加薪，而公司的利润继续增长。

“但我还是感到很困扰，不明白这是为什么。”他说。3月，普赖斯跟一个好友一起外出散步，她在另一家公司工作，年薪不到5万。她聪明能干，每周工作50～60小时。可是，她在西雅图的房子月租又上涨了200美元，而她还在竭力偿还学生贷款，还要为支付基本的生活开支而发愁。“我感到十分愤怒，”普赖斯说，“我开始想，我的朋友需要挣多少钱才可以不必为上涨的200美元租金烦恼。”他回想起普林斯顿大学的行为经济学家丹尼尔·卡内曼在2010年所做的研究，该研究发现：当年收入超过7.5万美元时，人们在日常生活中的幸福感并不会随收入上升而上升；然而，当年收入低于7.5万美元时，人们肯定是收入越低，幸福感越低。在Gravity公司，新员工的年薪是3.5万美元。“我决定把工资涨到7万，”他说，“不得不停付自己的工资，每天必须工作20小时，我也不在乎。我就要这么做。”按照这个计划，最终将会有30名员工的薪水提高一倍，而另外40名收入低于7万的员工也会获得加薪。

是否有这样一个神奇的数字，既能让员工保持专心工作，又能让企业获得利润？普赖斯算出了一个数字，却无论如何也想不到他由此受到的关注会令公司收到的新客户咨询量从每月30次激增到两周2000次。获取新客户的成本往往非常高，所以从这个意义上说，丹的策略收到了回报。

普赖斯说，设定7万美元的最低工资标准是一种道义责任，而非经营策略。不过，他必须证明此举背后的经营智慧，不仅是为了不让Gravity倒下—自己也跟着它倒下—而且也为了实现他改造商业界的长远目标。“我希望作为企业的领导者，决定我的成绩的不是金钱，而是目标、影响和服务，”他说，“我希望我们把这些作为自我评价的标准。”

1. rip off：剥削；欺诈；敲……竹杠

2. take aback：使困惑；使吃惊；使为难

3. gouge [ɡa?d?] vt. 〈美口〉诈骗（人）的钱财；敲（人）竹杠

4. swipe [swa?p] vt. 〈口〉刷（卡）

5. traumatized [?tr??m?ta?zd] adj. 受精神创伤的

6. keep a lid on：继续限制；制止住；抑制住

7. proactively [pr????kt?vli] adv. 先发制人地，主动出击地

8. set [set] adj. 下定决心的，坚决的

9. face-off：对峙，对抗

10. phase in：分阶段（或逐步）引入（或采用）

11. strike a nerve：触及要害，触到痛处

12. turbocharge [?t??（r）b???t?ɑ?（r）d?] vt. 增强