Reconceptualizing What and How Women Negotiate for the Career Advancement

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Important Facts Surrounding the Case

The role of gender in negotiations for career advancements has always been an issue of concern in employment. Although men and women both face challenges while attempting to climb the career ladder, extensive research emphasizes that women are more disadvantaged than men when it comes to negotiating negotiations. Further, women find it difficult to occupy positions of leadership such as senior executive positions with most being stuck in middle-level and entry-level positions in many private, public, and non-profit sectors in the world. Factors such as the specific role of men and women in development as well work-family conflicts are also viable perspectives that have been analyzed concerning compensation. Without a doubt, the negotiating strategy employed by both men and women has direct implications on their progression. For women navigating through careers that were traditionally not viewed to be for women is hard as a lot of hurdles stand in the way of allowing women to climb the career ladder. Furthermore, for women’s career, advancement negotiations may sometimes involve trade-offs which tend to cut short the career aspirations and gains that women may have.

This analysis follows a case where more than 450 diverse females and males professionals were analyzed and used data from literature analysis regarding the gender pay gap to draw conclusions and provide recommendations. The inquiry also entailed reviewing studies from negotiations that were career-related; some were laboratory base and focused on job offers and compensations while others focused on the respective propensities of men and women to negotiate. All these studies report a disadvantage for females with a focus on compensation. The research found overwhelming evidence pointing to the distinctive challenges women face at the workplace in most organizations. The evidence reported that compared to men, women tend to be more hesitant in asking for a pay raise and not negotiate other factors relating to their work. Women are not assertive when it comes to asking for negotiations because they fear backlash. I tend to agree with this finding because I have experienced it. Women fear that they will be reprimanded and questioned and their employer might see them as difficult and this may even lead them to be laid off. The societal backlash is because women aware not viewed as primary breadwinners rather than caregivers and hence employers do not see the need to increase their compensation since they do not have many financial responsibilities compared to men. Another fact presented in the case is the role of stereotypes and behavioral norms as a limitation for career advancements. I concur that gender stereotypes have curtailed the efforts of women in making career advancements and it hinders women from applying for leadership positions and managerial roles at work; they do not see themselves as best fits for these roles.

Key issues

The main problems or issues standing in the way of women’s negotiations in compensation are points to the lack of assertiveness in negotiation, the role of gender norms and stereotypes, and the issue of negotiating as a challenge rather than as a solution. In most cases what prevents women from negotiating for salary increment and other benefits is because they fear they will be punished indirectly for being bold. This I true as it is not a wonder for employers to let an employee go on this basis. Negotiation can present a challenge instead of being a solution. Among the nine subjects that were examined work role, compensation, and work-life conflict emerged as the major motivations behind negotiations. These problems emerged as a result of various gaps existing both within the organization and outside the organization. Gender norms emerge as a result of the socialization process instilled by society. For a long time, society has reinforced the inequalities between men and women and the notion that men and women are not equal beings. This has been reflected at the workplace where employers have normalized paying women and men differently despite them holding equal positions. The issue of assertiveness is also a construct of gender norms where women fail to view themselves as capable beings because of the negative stereotypes that serve to reinforce the subordinate position of women in society. This makes them lose confidence in themselves and as a result, they end up losing morale to advance their careers and they get comfortable serving in entry-level and middle-level positions and being compensated averagely. Additionally, the issue of negotiating to be a challenge rather than an opportunity is a management problem that stems from the attitude that the organization towards employees remuneration.

These problems can be assessed as coming from a variety of angles. The problems are a combination of organizational and management problems. They come from an environment that has remained sturdy and has not changed. The fact that norms within various societies remain unchanged for a given period of time points to the notion that the environment in which the organization exists has everything to do with the unequal treatment of men and women in society. Society is not very welcoming of the fact that women and men should be treated as equals and as such offered equal salaries and benefits, especially if they hold the same positions and has equal academic and professional qualifications.

The problem of women’s poor negotiation skills and lack of assertiveness is linked to the organization itself and particularly the management. The management tends to exacerbate problems demonstrated in the leadership of the senior members of management. The leadership techniques employed by the organization play a key role in informing the progress of the employees in the organization with women included. If human resource managers carry out their role of monitoring the progress of each employee and their performance in the organization, it can be easy to point to why women are not bold enough in negotiating for career advancement. How an organization is structured helps inform whether employees stand a chance of advancing and growing in the company, for instance, if the organization is structured such that there only one or two people serving in a department, it means that’s if a woman joins the organization on an entry-level, then it will be difficult for them to rise to the next stage of their career because there is limited growth for them. As a result, they end up not showing interest in navigating and climbing the career ladder hence they will not show interest in negotiating for salary and other benefits. Further, if the organization has maintained a culture of not promoting and supporting women by not giving them a chance to serve in leadership positions such as at the board level and managerial positions, then it negates any effort employees would have in climbing the career ladder. Organizations should lead by example and develop a culture where all employees are treated equally and accorded the same benefits. The external environment of the organization is key as it sets precedence for how employees ought to be treated. Companies are required to follow the regulations provided by the government to ensure that there is no discrimination in pay between men and women. Most policies require companies to compensate all employees without discrimination on the lines of gender, age, religion, orientation, and disability. However, a challenge is presented when it comes to implementation; there is no definite way of ensuring that all employers follow the laid-down rules and regulations.

Alternative Actions

To address the constant problem of women being excluded from career negotiations, a problem that is caused by negative gender norms and lack of assertiveness, there are various solutions for organizations to explore as alternative solutions. One of the solutions is proposing new directions on the role of negotiation in the career advancement and leadership attainment of men and women alike. Further, by assessing the organization processes, it is possible to review and improve management policies to ensure they set a good example of inclusion and diversity. For instance, they should design policies to ensure that women are reserved with special sits on the board of given organizations. This ensures that employees have trust in their employer and give them an assurance they have the best interest of their staff members, both men and women, at heart. Encouraging men and women to apply for various competitively for various positions that may rent themselves is also another viable solution that can be employed to bridge the gender gap at the workplace. Additionally, organizations should look into making the workplace policies more friendly to accommodate a diverse workforce for all individuals including women. Keeping in mind the position of women at the family level and the double roles they have to contend with should be at the center of organization policies. Employers can achieve this by introducing flexible working hours to accommodate women. Further, another alternative is capacity building to shape the role of all employees and to improve their skills in preparation for various positions in leadership, resource mobilization, and advocacy among others. Capitalizing on this can help build the confidence of women to negotiate their career advancements better. While these solutions can be helpful, they may not be executable owing to various limitations. For instance, devising a policy that requires that special seats be reserved for women at the board level is likely to be met with resistance. Employers may also not be open to introducing flexible working hours to accommodate women and their double roles. Capacity building on the other hand may be constrained by limitations in budgetary allocations. Encouraging healthy competition by men and women in applying for leadership positions that may emerge is executable but there is no assurance in the uptake of the strategy.

Analysis of Alternative Actions

Out of the above proposed alternative solutions, while some can be implemented easily others have limitations that make them non-viable. For instance, capacity building may not be implementable because it requires funds to implement. Additionally, capacity building has the risk that it may end up being ineffective especially if not regularly. Capacity-building may be conducted but it can still end up being ineffective. In most cases, they require timely preparation and approvals from the senior authority such as the director. Worth noting, introducing flexible hours may be tough to implement as such a decision requires consultation with the human resource manager and the board. Flexible working hours are a viable option but they can pose the challenge of resistance particularly for the private sector. However, if well implemented, his alternative can be quite rewarding. The option is also rather viable as it is the most feasible firm from an operation point of view. However, this is only with the assumption that the strategy is not met with any resistance from the members of the team as well as the management. Formulating policies that ensure women’s participation in politics helps but organizations may have the challenge with implementation. The most probable thing that is likely to happen is that the policy may be implemented in a policy document but it will not be observed.

Recommendation

The best cause of action to take would be to push for the adoption of more friendly policies that take into consideration the diverse nature of the members of staff and the roles of women as primary caregivers at home. This way, it would be easy to ensure they perform equally as well as their counterparts, and this way their self-confidence will grow improving their bargaining power during promotions and salary negotiation.

Source https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amj.2017.1497