A video has surfaced online showing staff at a Chinese bank being publicly spanked² for poor performance during a training session, sparking outrage³.

中国一家银行的员工因在培训当中表现不佳而被当众打屁股的视频出现在网络上，引起网民愤怒。

The video, first posted by the People's Daily, shows a trainer asking eight employees why they did not "exceed themselves" at training. He then spanks⁴ them with what looks like a stick. Reports say he later also cut and shaved their hair.

该视频最初由《人民日报》发布，在视频中，一名培训师问8名员工，为什么他们没有在培训当中“超越自己”。随后该培训师用貌似一根棍子的东西打了这些人的屁股。有报道称，其后他还剪了他们的头发。

The incident took place at a training session for more than 200 employees at Changzhi Zhangze Rural Commercial Bank in northern China. The trainer, Jiang Yang, has issued an apology, saying the spanking⁵ was "a training model I have tried for years" and had not been instigated⁶ by executives at the bank.

据悉，该事件发生在长治漳泽农村商业银行200多名员工的内部培训上。培训师姜洋已经对此道歉，并称打屁股是“我使用了多年的培训模式”，从未被该银行的管理者调查过。

Mr Jiang is seen reprimanding eight bank employees on stage, asking them why they received the lowest scores in a training exercise. The employees give answers including "failing to make a personal breakthrough", "I did not co-operate with colleagues" and "I lacked courage.” Mr Jiang then says "get your butts⁷ ready" and proceeds to spank¹ them with what appears to be a thick piece of wood.

在该视频中，姜洋训斥台上的8名员工，质问他们为什么在培训中获得低分。这些员工的回答包括“个人突破失败”，“我没有和同事配合”以及“我缺乏勇气”等。然后姜洋说道：“屁股准备好了”，接着就用厚木板打了他们的屁股。

It shows at least four rounds of spanking, with one woman recoiling⁸ each time, apparently⁹ in pain. At one point, that women places her hands over her behind, but is told to "take your hand off".

该视频显示，他至少打了四轮，每一轮中一位女员工都因疼痛而退缩。这个女员工一度用双手盖着屁股，但被警告说“把手拿开”。

The spanking was followed by a "hair cutting punishment", a statement by the Changzhi local government said. The men had their heads shaved, while the women had their hair cut.

长治当地政府在一份声明中写道，打完屁股后，接着是“剪头发惩罚”，男员工的头发被剃光，女员工则被剪短发。

According to the statement, the Shanxi Rural Credit Co-operatives Union, which regulates the bank, has set up a group to investigate the incident. The bank's chairman and deputy governor had been suspended for "failing to strictly¹⁰ check the content of the course", while the bank would help the employees seek compensation from the training company.

该声明还指出，负责管理该银行的山西农村信用社联合社调动了一组人员调查该事件。该银行行长和副行长因“没有严格检查课程内容”而被免职，银行也将帮助员工向培训公司寻求赔偿。

People online have been expressing outrage over the treatment of staff.

网民已经对员工受到如此待遇表达了愤慨。

"Since when does beating employees become a way of raising performance?" one user asked on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblog used in China.

新浪微博一位用户说道：“什么时候殴打员工成为提升业绩的方法的？”

Another user said he was dissatisfied because he felt Mr Jiang had focused on apologising to the banking¹¹ executives. "In his video apology, he kept emphasising that he had hurt the leadership at Changzhi Zhangze Rural Commercial Bank! He spanked the employees, but apologised to the leadership? What sort of logic¹² is this?"

另外一位用户则表达了自己的不满，因为他认为姜洋的道歉是被银行管理层逼迫的。“在他的道歉视频中，他强调说他伤害了长治漳泽农商银行的领导层！他打了员工，却对领导层道歉？这是什么逻辑？”