#Podcast: How To Ask For More Money At Work With Vivien Adeosun
Date: Jul 9, 2020
Have you ever discussed your salary details with friends or colleagues? How does the idea of doing that make you feel? Most of us wouldn't ever dream of going into the details of our earnings because well, it just feels awkward. We also fear coming across as greedy, crass, or even difficult when we ask for more.
But asking for more is crucial. On average, women earn £260k less than men over the span of their careers. Add coronavirus to the mix, and you have even more dire, long-lasting repercussions on our salaries.
Emilie Bellet is joined by Vestpod guest, Vivien Adeosun, to discuss the power of negotiation and to offer top tips for when it comes to winning that well-deserved raise.
Vivien is an experienced Account Manager currently working at Pitchbook Data and a long time ambassador for Vestpod, Vivien Adeosun.
Normalising money conversations
Financial inequality is one of the greatest obstacles we face, with current trends projecting that it will take more than 200 years to close the gender pay gap (World Economic Forum Gender Pay Gap Report, 2018). Although many of the overt legal and institutional barriers to financial equality have been removed from the United Kingdom, for example through changes such as the 1970 Equal Pay Act, subtle discrimination in the workplace has made inequality an all-the-more entrenched enemy, with 8 out of 10 companies paying their female employees less. This is unacceptable and it is for this reason that people – but women in particular – must overcome their fear of talking about money.
When women join together to discuss their finances, the effects can be profound, not least in the context of negotiating salary raises. However, we still have a way to go before we can reap the benefits from money conversations: the majority of women avoid discussing their earnings and feel uncomfortable discussing their financial situation with even their closest confidantes. By talking about money, women can become empowered through demystifying how their salary measures up against their direct peers.
Indeed, Vivien recounts that her first salary negotiation was triggered by a conversation she had with 2 of her male colleagues, leading her to discover that she made significantly less for doing the same work. Such income disparity is not uncommon, with ethnic minority women earning 57 pence for every pound that their direct white male peers make; by having open, honest discussions regarding salaries and employment packages, women can identify when they are being slighted by their employers and demand more for their work.
When want doesn't get
Until very recently, the onus of the gender pay gap was unfairly placed on women as researchers asserted that a key reason for earnings disparity in this country existed because women failed to negotiate their salaries with their employers as often as their male counterparts. For example, a famous study done by Linda Babcock for her book Women Don’t Ask suggested that approximately 7% of women attempted to negotiate their first salary, while 57% of men did, and of those who negotiated, they were able to increase their salary by over 7%.
However, when characteristics such as level of education, job role and demographic were controlled for, it was discovered that women ask for raises as often as men but are less likely to be rewarded (Artz et al., 2018). From this we can infer that the statistics do not capture the microaggressions and attitudes that discriminate against female success in the salary negotiation process.
It is for this reason, among others, that Vivien is so passionate about running negotiation workshops at Vestpod as she aims to level the playing field for women when asking for more. When it comes to salary negotiation, she explains, there is always work to be done and skills to be picked up: it requires a significant amount of practice and character development over time.
Refining your negotiation strategy
In this episode of The Wallet, Emilie and Vivien present a key framework for negotiation strategy. They demonstrate how by knowing your worth, leveraging your support groups and positioning the salary negotiation conversation in the right way, you can gain greater success in the salary negotiation process. Emilie and Vivien also highlight the importance of harnessing a positive mindset and of establishing a list of alternative negotiables such that you are in a position of strength when it comes to the salary negotiation process.