Dec 17, 2012

Salary Negotiations – is there a gender bias?

Posted by Wendy Weber

Interesting new study on Salary Negotiations by Andreas Leibbrandt and John A. List, “DO WOMEN AVOID SALARY NEGOTIATIONS?

As a recruiter, I intuitively agreed with this hypothesis.  But before jumping to the conclusion that “it can’t hurt to push a little harder”…I have seen negotiating work both for, and against, a successful outcome.  First of all, I have seen men try to negotiate directly with a prospective employer through email.  This is a terrible idea, and one Crandall client actually rescinded a job offer because they did not like the tone of the candidate’s email.  The candidate was shocked, and insisted that the client company mis-read the email.   The tone of an email can be hard to judge, which is why I strongly recommend that any negotiations be done over the phone, or face to face.

And more commonly, I have seen the recipients of a job offer push so hard to squeeze every last drop out of a job offer that although they may receive a few bucks more, they strain the goodwill of my client.  Once a fair offer of employment has been extended (with an offer commensurate with the expectations that we previously discussed with the candidate), a candidate can win the battle, but erode the respect of their new employer.  Even though their higher salary results in our higher fee, at some point I feel enough is enough, and I would prefer a little humility.

Bottom line is, of course there should be compensation parity in the workplace.  Both genders need to negotiate to ensure that they feel a prospective employer compensates them appropriately.  If you don’t stand up for what you believe you are worth, you may not get it.  However, sometimes that win comes at a cost.

 

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