Time to fight the fear - and ask

Yesterday’s Executive Women in the Workplace 2013 study highlighted the enormous amount of work still to be done to have any hope of achieving real diversity at executive level, with much of the report focused on corporate or governmental initiatives – flexible working, childcare tax relief – that can assist in driving change. But it also drew attention to the need for women to be proactive in their own careers. ‘Men can be 8-9 times more likely to ask for higher pay’ shouts the study. ‘Be willing to negotiate’. And not just on pay – on the need for sponsorship, the next promotion, flexible working.  So why don’t we? And why should we? Why we don’t is largely down to fear – fear of asking, of being turned down – although we can assign other stereotypical female adjectives too, such as embarrassment and modesty.  But lets not dwell on that, and focus instead on why we should, and what’s to gain.  When it comes to matters like flexible working, being proactive is critical – more so even than when seeking promotion or payrise, processes which in many firms follow a semi-automated cycle. Currently, all parents and carers have a statutory right to request flexible working, but from April 2014 this will be extended to cover all employees who have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks. Call me cynical, but I doubt many employers will be openly offering such arrangements to their staff. And nor should they have to – if the culture of the firm is conducive to it, and employees feel comfortable making the request, this should be enough.  So if you want it, ask for it. Make your case clearly, and anticipate your employer’s reaction to any potential practical hurdles. The more people – both men and women – that ask and get, the more normal the process becomes, and the easier it will be for others to do the same in the future.