Women don't ask for pay hike as often as men do
India ranks a low 128 on gender pay parity. Why women don't negotiate salaries and what can change their game
Men and women are equal, right? But not while negotiating their salaries, and pitching for pay hikes. Selfadvocacy is critical to success. Yet women initiate negotiations four times less often than men. A study published in November 2012 by the US National Bureau of Economic Research found that "men in contrast to women prefer job environments where the 'rules of wage determination' are ambiguous." The study titled Do Women Avoid Salary Negotiations? was led by Andreas Leibbrandt and John A List. The disparity is more evident closer home. The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2010 puts India at # 128 on gender parity (US is at # 6). We are also ranked the lowest on pay parity among the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economies. The numbers do the talking: Corporate India pays a woman an average of $1,185 (Rs 64,227 approx.) as against $3,698 (Rs 2,00,596 approx.) to a man. Even accomplished, skilled and smart women tend to blunder at the negotiation table. They turn passive, often displaying gratitude when approaching the boss for a raise. Over time, they could end up trapped in a vicious cycle — working harder, being paid lesser than what they're worth and leaving money that's there for the taking on the table. Consulting psychiatrist Dr Ashish Dewan says it's got to do with the feminine trait of maintaining equilibrium. "They want to be liked, and considered part of the team. They'd rather not upset the apple cart, which sometimes makes them shy away from demanding their value."
Relationships over agenda
Top leadership consultant Selena Rezvani discusses how women miss promotion opportunities, plum assignments, and higher pay in her 2012 title, Pushback: How Smart Women Ask — And Stand Up — For What They Want. A relentless and often subconscious belief that relationships should trump outcome or agenda does women in, she says. "Many women question how the request might change the existing relationship between them and the boss. The damage, it seems, could be irreparable, and not worth the risk. Both men and women face uncertainty and doubt, but men tend to handle this predicament differently. Research shows that in selfassessments, men overestimate their abilities and women commonly underestimate theirs," she says in an email interview to Mirror. A two-day old news item says Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, was the firm's highest-paid executive in 2012. Her $26.2 million compensation includes $25.6 million in stock awards, salary of $321,128 and a $276,730 bonus. That's good enough reason for us to listen in to what she has to say. "A lot of getting ahead in the workplace has to do with being willing to raise your hand... If we as women don't raise our hands in the workplace, we're not going to get the same opportunities men do. Because men keep their hands up," she says in Mika Brzezinski's book, Knowing Your Value: Women, Money and Getting What You're Worth.
Top leadership consultant Selena Rezvani discusses how women miss promotion opportunities, plum assignments, and higher pay in her 2012 title, Pushback: How Smart Women Ask — And Stand Up — For What They Want. A relentless and often subconscious belief that relationships should trump outcome or agenda does women in, she says. "Many women question how the request might change the existing relationship between them and the boss. The damage, it seems, could be irreparable, and not worth the risk. Both men and women face uncertainty and doubt, but men tend to handle this predicament differently. Research shows that in selfassessments, men overestimate their abilities and women commonly underestimate theirs," she says in an email interview to Mirror. A two-day old news item says Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, was the firm's highest-paid executive in 2012. Her $26.2 million compensation includes $25.6 million in stock awards, salary of $321,128 and a $276,730 bonus. That's good enough reason for us to listen in to what she has to say. "A lot of getting ahead in the workplace has to do with being willing to raise your hand... If we as women don't raise our hands in the workplace, we're not going to get the same opportunities men do. Because men keep their hands up," she says in Mika Brzezinski's book, Knowing Your Value: Women, Money and Getting What You're Worth.
What's surprising is that women who are inherently good negotiators — especially at all things out of office, should shy away from it at the workplace. Is the structure of our organisations to blame?
Corporate firms are intrinsically masculine, argues Veena Padmanabhan, director OD, Schneider Electric. Men have traditionally been running offices, and that makes it tough for women to navigate offices shaped by a subtle gender bias. "In this context, women often tend to underplay skills and achievements, setting themselves up for skewed negotiations. An organisation must be sensitive to differences — gender, culture, nationalities and traits. That's the only way forward," she says.
What Padmanabhan is suggesting may seem idealistic but her argument points simply to the fact that organisations mustn't solely rely on incoming employees to negotiate for themselves. Foreign universities have found a solution while hiring professors by getting the department chair to negotiate start-up packages for all incoming professors.
But it's not just about starting salaries. Rajita Singh, HR head at Broadridge Financial Solutions, says while most women employees tend to negotiate well at the time of hiring, things take a turn once they become part of the firm. There is the fear of gender blow-back, a feat of being seen as not 'feminine'. It seems demonstrative of a character flaw — too pushy, self-involved, not collaborative enough," she says.
An April 2012 LinkedIn survey revealed that fewer than 26 per cent of women feel comfortable negotiating compared to nearly 40 per cent men. Many women don't know how to ask for money. So many, in fact, that Carnegie Mellon runs a Negotiation Academy for Women. Rezvani says men not only initiate negotiations four times more often than women, they also set higher targets, benefitting in the long run. "So while women attempt to negotiate equitably — so that the pie is split in half — men tend to ask for a larger part of the pie," she says.
Smeeta Gulvady, VP, Centre of Learning, Thomas Cook (India), agrees that while most women are calm, polite and willing to adjust by nature, these traits aren't a deterrent in tabling their demands. "In the service industry like ours, women are sought after for their customer interaction skills and their team work. Knowing your value brings with it a confidence of self worth, making for an assertive female employee," Gulvady says.
If you don't ask, you won't get
How does a woman figure how much she's worth? In a recent interview, Brzezinski said: "Anyway you can. Find out. Do research. What's the data? Who has the job that you have? Are there counterparts in your company? What about other companies? How much do they get paid? That information is out there."
How does a woman figure how much she's worth? In a recent interview, Brzezinski said: "Anyway you can. Find out. Do research. What's the data? Who has the job that you have? Are there counterparts in your company? What about other companies? How much do they get paid? That information is out there."
Experts advocate seeking a reward after an achievement. "Listing and talking about achievements makes your case stronger. Focus on skilling up," advises Dewan.
Negotiating a salary can make a huge difference to a woman's career and earnings. When you get a raise, you not only increase your salary in the short term, you also multiply your life-time earnings. This makes it imperative that women demand what's rightfully theirs.
Rezvani says, "Every time we hesitate to negotiate our salary, it has a cumulative effect, undercutting how much we can command from the next job offer, and so on down the line. When we hesitate, it substantially hurts our earning potential, our access to plum work assignments, and our opportunities for promotions. Not asking for what we want limits our input in decisions that affect us, making our voice a barely audible whisper. Not asking encourages us to accept what is, to consent to that with which we disagree with, and to leave a world of opportunity unclaimed."
How to do it right
Selena Rezvani, author of Pushback: How Smart Women Ask — And Stand Up — For What They Want, offers TOI readers in the first half of their career the unedited truth about how women have asked their way to the top and triumphed, and how you can too:
Selena Rezvani, author of Pushback: How Smart Women Ask — And Stand Up — For What They Want, offers TOI readers in the first half of their career the unedited truth about how women have asked their way to the top and triumphed, and how you can too:
Never capitulate too soon: While in a negotiation, get comfortable drawing out the conversation — or even postponing it — rather than nodding your head in agreement or surrendering with "Okay."
Negotiate even if there's no precedent: It's okay to ask for an exception to the rule. So no one has had a phased-back return from maternity leave? Ask for it and build a case around how work will be done processes followed and checks built in.
Hear 'No' as 'Not yet': Many of us assume that when someone says "no" the matter is closed for discussion. Often, the timing wasn't right the first time so a second ask (timed better or under different circumstances) will do the trick. It's more than okay to be tenacious and ask again.
Tailor your pitch: Understand what makes your supervisor tick. Adjust your pitch to his or her style, be it analytical and databased, or humanised and anecdote-based. "Say it like they'd say it", and your ask may come across as their idea.
It's not just mere mortals but superstars who battle gender pay parity too. Bollywood A-lister Kareena Kapoor who is believed to have changed the game for actresses after she managed to strike a deal for a share in profits with her 2012 release, Heroine, still manages to get Rs 3 to Rs 4 crore a film as opposed to Salman Khan who is paid between Rs 23 and Rs 27 crore per film
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It's not just mere mortals but superstars who battle gender pay parity too. Bollywood A-lister Kareena Kapoor who is believed to have changed the game for actresses after she managed to strike a deal for a share in profits with her 2012 release, Heroine, still manages to get Rs 3 to Rs 4 crore a film as opposed to Salman Khan who is paid between Rs 23 and Rs 27 crore per film
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