Me: “I help women feel powerful and priceless so they can ask for the money they want to earn throughout their careers.”
Business Owner/Manager: “Please stay away from my staff then!” (Usually said with a cheeky, but horror stricken grimace)
Me: “So, if I told you that my strategies are all about helping women identify strong ‘win-win’ outcomes founded on a return on investment basis, i.e. if they ask for a 10K increase, they need to show you how they can help you create/save 20K, 30K, how interested would you be then?”
Business Owner/Manager: “Oh, can you talk to the men as well then please?”
This is the kind of conversation I’ve been having since I went into business for myself, after spending almost 20-years in international HR, watching as discussions often at the highest level about addressing the gender pay gap (now at 18.2%) had very little impact.
Bridging the pay gap is not simply about women earning what men do for equivalent work, as important a principle as that is. It’s also about businesses understanding that in having a pay gap, it costs the Australian economy billions of dollars every year. This means growing the economy and creating more jobs and opportunities for everyone, not just women.
So, why is it that when there’s a conversation about bridging the pay gap, the last thing we actually discuss and implement are approaches whereby women are truly empowered to help build the business themselves and potentially a long term future for all concerned?
Asking for a pay rise, promotion or opportunity is a two-way street. As much as I believe there’s still a lot more we can do to help women get better at this (given the plethora of research which shows how women can still be negatively impacted for asking for what they want) I’m a firm believer we also need businesses to stop having a knee-jerk reaction to the subject and seeing this as a ‘lose-win’ situation.
Managers everywhere are in a powerful position to make a real difference to this global challenge by being the leaders they’ve been asked to be and by helping women approach them in a manner which can create long-term commercial and personal success.
How?
When an employee finds the courage to approach you to discuss a pay rise, instead of finding excuses such as a ‘limited budget’ or referring them straight to HR, ask them to think about providing you with the following:
- A well thought-out strategic win-win scenario for both them and the business
- A solid plan of action containing measurable KPI’s, which truly add value and grow their role in the business
- A consideration of the organisation’s remuneration strategy, if there is one, and how it impacts their proposal
If they can provide this, then sit down and have a meaningful discussion and see if they can help themselves, you and the organisation truly succeed.
If not, let them know what you need from them, work with them, get assistance from HR if you need to and be transparent as to how feasible their request really is.
If the organisation can’t give them the pay rise right now, find other avenues to support them and most importantly, hold them and yourself accountable for making it happen, knowing it’s all about creating a return on investment. Financial and non-financial. After all, isn’t this what managers and leaders are meant to be doing?
Organisations have the power to truly grow their bottom lines through their people, if they’re utilised effectively and most employees understand that business doesn’t have a bottomless pocket.
Help women in your organisations take real ownership of their work and career by asking them how they’re going to provide the return on investment they’re asking you to make. Be the leader you were hired to be, hold yourself and them accountable, create transparency and opportunity.
Maybe then when we truly start bridging the pay gap, we’ll realise the bottom line is better
then for all of us , not just some of us.
Help celebrate Equal Pay day on Friday the 5th of September by wearing red!