Women get a raw deal when bargaining
There's a woman running Pepsi, a woman running eBay and a woman running Xerox.
Clearly, the "weaker sex" has made big strides in the business world.
By Christina Rexrode, Times Staff Writer
Published December 30, 2007
There's a woman running Pepsi, a woman running eBay and a woman running Xerox.
Clearly, the "weaker sex" has made big strides in the business world.
And it's all the more impressive because, according to one local expert, women are at a distinct disadvantage whenever they sidle up to the bargaining table.
That's the word from Gayle Waldron, president of Clearwater consulting firm Management Edge. In a recent online seminar for the National Association of Women Business Owners, she talked about how gender differences affect business negotiations.
You don't have to be a CEO to need to negotiate. Whenever you lobby for a pay raise, a new assignment or a lighter workload, you're at the bargaining table. Here's why many women, Waldron said, are less suited for such chats than their male counterparts:
Society values power and self-promotion in men, but that's less true for women. So women are more likely to shrink from confrontation.
As wives and mothers, women are taught to consider others first.
It's a nice principle to live by, but it can hurt a gal when she's jockeying for flextime. Want proof? When negotiating for someone else, women asked for 22 percent more wages than they did when negotiating for themselves, Waldron said, citing a Harvard study. Negotiating for self vs. others had no effect on men.
When facts are absent, women are likely to rely on their preconceptions to tell them what's suitable.
It's not a bad idea, trusting your gut. But getting the facts, whenever possible, is better.
Here's an example Waldron cited: Women, compared to men, will expect less pay and work longer hours - but only when they have no clear information on pay comparison.
Small wonder that lots of the women whom Waldron encounters assume that they're no good at negotiating.
But, Waldron said, they're wrong. Negotiation can be learned just like any other skill.
Here's her how-to advice:
- Be cognizant of these generalities so you won't give in to them.
- When you're bargaining, take emotion out of the equation. Don't think of the other person as a friend or an enemy. You don't need them to adore you and you don't need them to live in fear of you. All you need from them is a solution with which both can live.
- From the beginning, clarify the goals of the negotiation, so you won't rely on your (sometimes false) preconceptions.
For example: Will negotiations last one hour or all day?
Will they result in an agreement that will last two years or 10? As you reach each agreement, document it.
"Look confident," Waldron advised, "stay calm, and don't take anything personally."