by admin | Jun 17, 2018 | career change
More than 10,000 large firms have now supplied data in relation to earnings as required by the Government Equalities Office. There have been some interesting statistics come out of the data* including:
- 3/4 of all companies who submitted data pay men more than women
- Only 14% of the 10,000 reported a pay gap in favour of women
- Not only do 3/4 of men receive more pay than women, men also receive higher bonuses than women
- Men take the majority of higher paid jobs
- Education has a 20% high pay gap (in some cases men were paid twice as much as women)
- The Finance sector has the biggest bonus pay gap where women were paid 35% less than men
Some of this won’t have come as much of a surprise to the women reading this and some of it may well have done. A few years ago I worked alongside a male colleague who was doing exactly the same role as me, however I was under no illusion there was equality of pay. Guess what, I was ok with it. Yes he had a couple more reportees than me, it wasn’t that though. He had spent longer in the role and I recognised he was therefore more experienced and should be paid accordingly. I don’t believe this is always about gender either. I know of women who have been doing the same job and again, there has been inequality of pay.
So I wonder, what should set pay scales apart? Should it be the depth of experience in the role, the value of the results you deliver, or should there be complete parity across the board, no matter what?
In my humble opinion, the question should really be, regardless of gender, what value do you add? What are you doing to set yourself apart from the rest of your colleagues? Is it enough to turn up to work on time, do a good job and go home… or should we be taking the time to strategise our future and what we bring to the table?
If you’re happy with the status quo, to pick up your pay cheque and go home, this article isn’t really for you. The readers I’m talking to are those of you who are interested in developing yourself, growing, feeling a sense of achievement and striving to add value to whatever you do, whether for yourself or an employer.
Consciously Creating Your Future
Stop now and think about who you want to be today, and also tomorrow. What is your vision for your career? Where do you see yourself going? How much do you want to earn? Who would you love to work with? What would you love to do? What are your secret dreams?
More importantly, how are you going to bring these aspirations and dreams to reality? Is there a place for them in your current environment or should you be planning your next career move because sometimes, even when we are adding value and doing everything we can to support the business, there still isn’t equality and we’re not always getting paid our worth.
You may not have the answers right now, but simply taking the time to ponder these questions and be curious about what the answer might be, will set you apart from Mr/Ms Average and start you on your quest of adding value. Why? Because most people drift through their career journey with their eyes closed, simply reacting to whatever life/business throws at them. You on the other hand, will be consciously creating your future. Which one do you think brings real results?
If you would like a head start on where to focus your efforts for an aligned and fulfilled career, where you feel you are adding value and being paid your worth, please get in touch to book a Career Strategy session and discuss putting your career on the right path for you.
*Source: BBC News Gender Pay Gap: Six Things We’ve Learnt by Clara Guibourg
Nicola Lyle is the Managing Director of Fired Up Careers and an Executive Coach & Leadership Trainer. She started her career in the drinks industry where she worked for over 15 years in sales and customer marketing. She has been a qualified and practicing coach since 2005, was a trainer for the Ministry of Defence for 3 years in Germany and currently works as a leadership and management trainer working with Executives in a wide range of industries.
Nicola is hugely passionate about helping people to have the career that fulfils and empowers them to live their best life. She offers Executive coaching, group coaching programmes and occasional retreats. Just drop her a line, she’d love to help you get your career on track.
You can contact her at Nicola@firedupcoaching.org, or find Fired Up Careers on Instagram as firedupcareers or take a look at www.firedupcareers.org
by admin | Apr 4, 2018 | Uncategorized
When we talk about bullying we think of children at school, right? Maybe not. What about adults, adults being bullied at work more specifically?
Sometimes it’s hard to tell if the experiences we’re having at work are normal, to be expected, or bordering on something less acceptable.
Years ago in my first job after University I worked in a sales promotions agency as an exec and had the misfortune to report into a lady who would give me various instructions of things to do, then if they went wrong she would lie and say I had done them off my own back. She spoke to me like I was a piece of dirt and I was miserable as sin. I remember thinking ‘is this it, is this the world of work, is this how people treat each other?’ One day she was rumbled, one of the Directors witnessed her behaviour towards me and I felt a sense of relief that people would realise I wasn’t the calamity she was making me out to be. I can’t remember the straw that broke the camel’s back but one day I woke up, looked in the mirror and thought that’s it. I handed in my notice that day.
That was my first experience of working for a bully. But what is bullying?
There is no real definition of bullying however Wikipedia classifies it as follows ‘Bullying is the use of force, threat or coercion to abuse, intimidate or aggressively dominate others. The behaviour is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception by the bully or by others of an imbalance of social or physical power.’
There are various forms of bullying which can include verbal, non-verbal, psychological, physical abuse and humiliation. What does that look like in the real world?
- Similar to my experience it could be someone falsely accusing you of errors in your work
- Being given the silent treatment, or excluded from meetings
- Being intimidated non-verbally through staring or glaring
- Being shouted at for no reason at all, or experiencing mood swings from them – happy one minute, passive aggressive the next
- Having your ideas ridiculed or dismissed without being heard
- Constant criticism of your work
- Being on the receiving end of different standards….your expenses being dissected, others’ barely being glanced at
- Taking the credit for your work
- Making unrealistic demands such as that you drive through blizzards to get to work, regardless of how much danger that might put you in
Sounds like a miserable environment to work in doesn’t it. And it certainly has an effect on us too. The Workplace Bullying Institute identified the following effects of workplace bullying: stress, fear, emotional exhaustion, panic attacks, clinical depression, loss of concentration, pervasive sadness, insomnia and migraine headaches.
So why would we put up with this sort of experience? Well sometimes we don’t realise that bullying is taking place and sometimes it boils down to a lack of self confidence and fear. Fear of…..
- loss of job
- loss of money
- people not supporting our claims
- wondering what our next employer would think if they knew we had complained
- what will happen if we lodge a formal complaint
- maybe we’re being weak
- maybe we should be trying harder
- maybe this is normal and we’re reading too much into things
If you’re experiencing any of this behaviour it is not normal, it is not acceptable, it is not respectful and you are not weak or reading too much into things. In fact Maarit Varitia, a workplace bullying researcher found that 20% of interviewees who experienced workplace bullying thought they became a target because they were different. Maybe they spoke out about things they disagreed with, maybe they were quieter than others thought they should be, maybe they just rubbed someone up the wrong way. Doesn’t matter, none of it is acceptable.
So what can you do if you’re on the receiving end of bullying, well the first thing is to Recognise the Behaviour. Call it what it is and realise that this is what is going on. Then what… Patricia Barnes who wrote ‘Surviving Bullies, Queen Bees and Psychopaths in the Workplace’ suggests the following:
- Ground Yourself – stay calm when the bullying is actually taking place. The bully is looking for a reaction of some sort from you, don’t give them one.
- Write It All Down – keep detailed records of who said what, when and where. You may need this further down the line if you choose to take out a grievance procedure. Did anyone hear what they said to you? If so make a note of their name and the date.
- Turn The Tables – use their own words on them. If they say ‘you always make mistakes like this’ ask them ‘what would you have done differently’.
- Find A Champion – speak to someone in HR or another superior or leader in the organisation who can step in for you and speak to them.
- Escalate Your Complaint – read your employers guide to employee welfare and see if they have a policy for bullying and harassment, then use it.
Ultimately, don’t put up with this. When I left the agency all those years ago, it led me into a career I had never considered before. There are always brighter things around the corner so don’t stay with anything that is making you miserable because you think you won’t find anything better. You will.
And if you’re reading this and recognise your own behaviour, take a minute to think about this. Your job in any management or leadership role is to develop your people. A happy, thriving, high performing team can only reflect well on you. Equally, one in which your people are miserable, treading on eggshells and avoiding you also sends a very clear message to the business and your colleagues about your performance and capability as a leader. Now how would you like to be seen?
Nicola Lyle is an Executive Coach & Career Strategist. She started her career in the drinks industry where she worked for over 15 years in sales and customer marketing. She has been a qualified and practicing coach since 2005, was a trainer for the Ministry of Defence for 3 years in Germany and currently works as a leadership and management trainer working with Executives in a wide range of industries.
Nicola is hugely passionate about helping people to have the career that fulfils and empowers them to live their best life. She offers Executive coaching, group coaching programmes and occasional retreats. Just drop her a line, she’d love to help you get your career on track.
You can contact her at Nicola@firedupcoaching.org, find her on Instagram as firedupcoaching or check out www.firedupcoaching.org
