At a time when other companies were trimming benefits as a cost-cutting measure, Schultz, who grew up in a family without any medical coverage, believed that his approach is critical to building a better workforce.

当其他公司把削减福利待遇当作是降低成本的重要途径时，在一个没有享受到任何医疗保障的家庭里长大的舒尔茨却认为，他的这一做法对于打造一支更好的员工团队十分重要。

"Service is a lost art in America, "he told the New York Times. "I think people want to do a good job, but if they are treated poorly they get beaten down... it's not viewed as a professional job in America to work behind a counter.

他对《纽约时报》的记者说在美国，服务已经成为了一门消失的艺术。我认为人们都想把工作做好。可是如果他们没有很好的待遇，那么他们就会表现得无精打采……在美国，人们从不把做收银员看成是一份职业，可我不这么认为。

I don't believe that. We want to provide our people with dignity and self-esteem, and we can't do that with lip service." Schultz credits the benefits policy as the key to the company's growth because it gave Starbucks a more dedicated. workforce an extremely high level of customer service. The chain also achieved a dramatically lower turnover rate-half the rate of the average fast food business. This creates a financial payoff for Starbucks, since each new employee costs the company $3, 000 in recruiting and training costs and productivity losses-the equivalent of two years of premium payment.

我们希望给予自己的员工以尊严和自尊，而且在这一点上我们决不能给员工开‘口头支票’”。舒尔茨把福利政策看作是公司成长的关键，因为恰恰是这个政策为星巴克带来了更富有奉献精神的员工和极高的顾客服务水平。星巴克的员工流失率极低，仅为整个快餐行业水平的一半。这为星巴克节约了成本，因为公司要在每一位新员工身上投入 3，000美元用来招聘、培训以及弥补由于生产力缺失而造成的损失，而这个数日大约是一个员工两年的加班费。

注释：

1. dedicated adj. 专用的;专注的;献身的 v. 以…奉献;把…用于

例句：Analysts say one of its most popular products is a search service dedicated to music.

分析师称专用的音乐搜索服务是百度最受欢迎的产品之一。

2.dramatically adv. 戏剧地;显著地

例句：Since the reform and opening-up, the public standards of living have been dramatically improved.

自从改革开放以来，人们的生活水平已经大大改善。

3. financial adj. 财政的;财务的;金融的;有钱的

例句：It's not just a question of financial resources.

这不仅是个金融资源的问题。