Women on average are still being paid less than men in the workplace and are sadly losing out at the negotiation table. For the first…
Women on average are still being paid less than men in the workplace and are sadly losing out at the negotiation table.
For the first time last year,the gender pay gap between men and women in the UK was exposed. Three-quarters of the 10,000 firms who participated in the report pay men more than women. Research has also shown that gender can impact a negotiation when certain behaviors are triggered and women often don’t get what they want because they don’t ask. This needs to change.
As a Founder and Director of a PR firm, I am constantly negotiating with potential clients on how much they should pay us for our services. Over time, I’ve noticed that subtle gender characteristics, such as only charging what we are worth, are impacting how much I walk out of the room with. I’m tired of under-valuing the work my company delivers and missing out to other firms who are charging more for the same amount of services we deliver. I don’t want to instill a gender bias here, but I’d like to speak to my fellow women and empower them to step up and learn how to negotiate stronger so we don’t get the short end of the stick. In search of some negotiation advice myself, I spoke to leaders who are founders of their own companies similarly working within the blockchain and cryptocurrency sphere with me. Here are the four negotiation tips I took away from them:
Don’t underestimate the power of preparation and practice before entering into a negotiation. The key thing is to first define the “limits of what you’re willing to accept and what you’re not,” said Nicole Jordan, Founder of Radix Collective who manages a network of independent communication partners.
This also means preparing to be “OK with saying no and walking away,” she said. It’s important to stick to these limits because if you don’t stand up for yourself, no one will.
Jess Houlgrave, the Founder of shEOS and Co-Founder of CodexProtocol, encourages people to “do plenty of research beforehand to back up what you are asking for. Know the market rates for your job in your industry and matching your experience. Then ask for more.”
In defining these limits, it’s important to also know what value you are adding to the company or potential client. Taking it one step further, Trey Ditto, Founder and CEO of Ditto PR firm, advises that people should also, “know what’s valuable to your boss. It could be loyalty or it could be that you take a lot of work of their plate.”
It’s also important not to go through this alone.
