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Women
Fall Behind By JOANN S.
LUBLIN In most workplaces, it still pays to be a man. Women often are less adroit at winning better salaries,
assignments and jobs -- either because they don't
ask or because they cave in when they do. Skipping or bungling a single negotiation can inflict a huge penalty. A 22-year-old woman who fails to get her first job offer
of $25,000 boosted by $5,000 stands to lose more than $568,000 by age 60,
says Linda Babcock, a Carnegie Mellon University economics professor. Men are eight times as likely as women to bargain over
starting pay. "It's the accumulation of
disadvantage," she says. A growing flurry of books, online courses and
executive-education programs aim to fix this situation by teaching women to
be more effective advocates. I attended one such
workshop in Eighteen women overcame their negotiation jitters by
discussing case histories, role playing a few scenarios and videotaping
simulations of their own pending negotiations, such as a bid for severance. Dr. Kolb's bottom line: If a woman develops good negotiating
skills, she can enhance her career in many ways. She
cited a senior vice president of a major corporation who repeatedly accepted
better-paying positions without question. Officials
recently passed her over for an important assignment
requiring negotiation skills because they didn't know she had those
talents. DOW JONES REPRINTS This
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Workshop participants learned to make their value visible and
to avoid sabotaging themselves. Setting goals too
low "is likely to become a self-fulfilling prophecy," Dr. Kolb
warned. "Backbone really is about
preparation." In salary talks, for instance, she told the women to gather
data about pay rates, jot down their strongest attributes and rehearse
explanations for weaknesses. "I give up too
easily," grumbled a 40-year-old computer saleswoman as she completed a
self-assessment. "I don't set my expectations
high enough." The woman explained how she wrangled
a signing bonus of stock options, only to discover later that equally
qualified new hires had won bigger grants. If a potential employer insists times are tough, swap a hefty
raise for an unusual perquisite, Dr. Kolb proposed. Consider
"trading things that have value for you for things that have value for
others." The collaborative strategy worked well for participant Terry
Regan. In hiring the human-resources manager, a
suburban Some women tend to accept extra work without negotiating fewer
regular duties or higher pay because they don't want to appear pushy, Dr.
Kolb observed. "Never make a unilateral
concession," she suggested. "Say, 'At what
price?' " Her point rang true for Sheryl Smith. The
47-year-old human-resources manager of a Dr. Kolb also taught participants techniques to position
themselves well: Figure out the other side's hidden agenda, devise an
alternative if you can't reach agreement and plan to
deflect moves that put you on the defensive. Three women practiced this "shadow negotiation"
concept by re-enacting a true story. Each pretended
to be an overworked program director of a home health-care agency whose
short-fused male chief executive (performed by an actress) opposed promoting
her to vice president with higher pay. The first woman clashed with the agency head and threatened to
quit. The second admitted defeat when the CEO
declared, "We don't have anyone else to fill your role." But Debra Coleman succeeded. Exuding
calm, she praised her boss for mentoring, noted how she already handled many
duties of the vacant vice presidency and cited costs required to fill two
spots if she quit. She proposed a six-month tryout
as VP. He agreed -- after postponing her raise six
months, too. The exercise "was really stressful" because
initially, "I wasn't making him happy," the 48-year-old participant
recalled. "A lot of times we're taught to go
along to get along." Ms. Coleman believes the practice negotiation will help her
succeed as director of gift planning at Brigham and Women's Hospital in |