today’s
plan
1. what you’re up against
2. consider your workplace
3. value of diversity
4. what can the organisation do?
5. the “trickle down” effect
6. what can the individual do?
7. gender and negotiating

think about your
workplace?
• do you have a board?
• how many women vs men
on your board?

think about your
workplace?
• how many women vs
men on your senior
management team?

think about your
workplace?
• on scale of 1 to 10 how
would you rate the flexibility of
your workplace?

think about your
workplace?
• on scale of 1 to 10 how
would you rate the diversity
of your workplace?

Why over 55% of
university students in
2010 were women
but women
account for only 3%
of ASX200 CEOs?

800 “diversity
conscious” Australian
companies report
higher financial
performance,
productivity and
employee retention
Making Diversity Work Prof Carol Kulik (2011)

The Evidence
The world's biggest companies,
worth more than $10 billion, with
women and men on their boards,
outperformed by 26% comparable
businesses with all-male boards over
the past six years.
The Advertiser 4 September 2012 quoting Credit Suisse Research

The evidence is now
irrefutable -
organisations with
both men and
women equally
represented at
senior levels/boards
perform better.

two sides to
this debate
what can the organisation do?
what can the individual do?

Education
• Education – know the advantages of a
diversified workforce, sell the message
(ensure the HR Department is informed)
• Women, as well as men, to be educated and
support other women
Organisation

Organisation
Measure, Targets and Reward
• Measure performance, how many women in senior
roles?
• Set targets for numbers of women in senior leadership
roles, then issue performance bonuses based on
achieving these targets
• Influence performance through peer pressure,
eg measurements, targets, “name and shame”

Organisation
Leadership
• Employers to take leadership role, influencing cultural change
• Need to support and champion female role models
• Need to identify, mentor and promote talented women, eg break the cycle
• Don't focus on the pipeline, ie attracting women at low levels of
employment or areas of traditional female participation, instead focus on
the “trickle-down effect” of appointing and retaining women in senior roles
• Men to come up with solutions – must lead by example
• Ensure consequences for not adhering to policies or bad behaviour

Organisation
Flexibility
• Flexible employment is core to attracting and retaining
women, women are still the primary carers for children and
the elderly (encourage men to job-share, so women’s job-
sharing isn’t seen as a liability)
• Men need to take up parental leave options
• More women in part-time employment, maybe to attract
and retain women in the workforce, there’s a need to
increase the number of part-time roles?

Organisation
Recruitment and Retention
• If a woman applies for a non-traditional female role,
they must be interviewed
• Interview panels must always include at least one
woman
• If a woman leaves a senior role, her manager to
account for why she left, ie ensure rigorous exit
interview is undertaken

Organisation
General
• Consider the consequences of all policies on women
• After a pay review, senior executives must report the
difference between pay increases on a gender basis
• The process to change is as important as the outcome,
in order that the change remains

trickle down
effect
You’ve heard of the “pipeline”?
Well it doesn’t work.
Try the “trickle-down” effect.

Why trickle-down rather than bottom-up?
• Mentoring women in lower-level jobs
• Expanded social networks
• Championing female hires
• Weakening gender stereotypes
• Acting as positive role models (attraction)
The US evidence
• Increase in share of female top managers is associated with
subsequent increases in the share of women in mid-level
management
• Robust for firm size, workforce composition, and other key
variables
• Strongest among federal contractors
• One-year lag, wanes over time
Kurtulus & Tomaskovic-Devey, 2012

what can the
individual
do?

women’s
salaries
70% of all university graduates - entering the workforce
at almost equal numbers to men - take home $2000 a
year less (on average) than their male counterparts
from day one, and this gap widens over time.
(Equal Opportunity in the Workplace Agency EOWA)

gender and
negotiating
Why do women earn less than men?

gender and
negotiating
• median earnings for women are about 18% lower than for men
• salary gap begins at career entry and grows progressively wider
• over the long run, women’s retirement savings are half those of
men
• women accept opening offers and don’t negotiate
• when women do negotiate, they use an accommodating style
that fails to deliver better economic outcomes

gender and
negotiatinghighlow
low high
likeable
competent
WOMEN
accommodating
emotional
MEN
assertive
rationale
+competent
+accommodating
Making Diversity Work Prof Carol Kulik (2011)

gender and
negotiatingEffective Strategies
• Avoid negative violations
Individual Strategies
• Anticipatory excuses: “I need to talk with you about my
salary package; my mentor suggested that would be a good
idea”
• Anticipatory justifications: “My professional association just
released a salary survey…I’m only asking for what they say is
a fair rate”
Organisational Strategies
• Establish zones of negotiability
• Establish conditions required to negotiate employment
terms

gender and
negotiating
Effective Strategies
• Increase positive violations
Individual Strategies
• Inclusive language: “I really hope we can find a solution that
works for both of us”
• Turns rather than moves: “I’m a little puzzled…I think what
you mean is…could you tell me more about that?”
Organisational Strategies
• Redefine the desirable behaviours and traits associated with
effective negotiation (listening carefully, having insight into
the other negotiator’s feelings)

gender and
negotiating
Gender Takeaways
• Women don’t negotiate – but they need to!
• There are individual-level strategies that seem to work,
but they aren’t easy to implement
• We may be better off changing organisational contexts
and creating new negotiation styles for everyone

getting on a
boardMake your Name
• Grab high profile tasks
• Place yourself in positions of visibility & high impact
Make Connections
• Network
• Be authentic, don’t push too hard
• Give back, do good work (start with not for profits)
Build your Brand
• Just like a company, consider your vision and values
“thousand small gestures”
• Upskill
• Why do you want to be on a board