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Packaging Horizons
PERKS AND PAYCHECKS
Leveling the Playing Field
Knowing what your value is to your company and being a smart negotiator smooths the rough spots.
By Jennifer Farrell
Here's a scenario guaranteed to incite a reaction similar to when someone rakes their nails across a chalkboard. You work hard, you do a good job and you learn someone, who has exactly the same duties as you, makes more. He's a man. You're a woman. You get that tingling chill up your spine.
Equal pay for equal work has been a benchmark for working women, and progress, though slow, has leveled some of the disparities. From his vantage point of 20 years in packaging, John Marshall, owner of JM & Company, an executive search firm that specializes in the packaging industry, sees a greater gap between long-time employees and new hires, who these days, tend to net higher starting salaries.
Also with years of experience in packaging, Pat Rothney was trained as an engineer, was a sales rep and now is president of her own executive search firm, Rothney & Assoc. She feels salary differences are a matter of perception--what the company is willing to pay, at what level you start, plus "what you bring to the party," she says. She concurs with Marshall about the discrepancy between the salaries of new and veteran employees. It's just a fact of corporate America today that "entry-level" personnel, especially those fresh out of college, are hiring in with similar compensation packages as someone who's been at the company five years, she observes.
Tooting your own horn
Another reason men tend to make more is because they ask for it. Marshall is convinced that women do not negotiate as well as men when interviewing or in salary reviews. Though she confides she's not shy to talk dollars, Rothney concurs with Marshall--women are not assertive when asking about money.
However, demanding equal pay or even a raise is not as simple as marching into your boss's office, but rather mandates establishing relationships with the people who control your salary. The positive results that come from tooting your own horn are accomplished by making sure you have a network of colleagues and managers who are familiar with your achievements. "It's hard to tell people you're doing great if you don't know them," says Rothney. Marshall adds that the people he sees progressing up the salary ladder are those who have developed strong reputations in their companies.
For women, that might be easier said than done. Men tend more often to get invited to golf outings and pal around with management. Rothney points out that it can be tough for women to gain that kind of entry into a mostly male environment of sports. "I hate to say it," says Rothney, "but the good ol' boy network works."
Caution: thin ice
What to do if you find out someone is making more for the same work? Both Rothney and Marshall warn you're in dangerous territory if you complain. You may be wrong about the actual figures, or you might be dealing with the reality that new hires come in at higher starting pay and, cautions Marshall, "No duties are really the same." Instead, you've got to know your value to your company and be comfortable with demonstrating why you deserve a raise.
Concludes Rothney, "Equal pay is a sign of respect. If you're not getting equal pay for equal work, then there are other jobs out there." In today's workplace it's not uncommon to change jobs anyway. Marshall and Rothney agree that packaging employers, for the most part, are savvy to the competition for top talent, male or female, and are willing to pay for it.
Jennifer Farrell is a contributing writer to Packaging Horizons Magazine on career issues.
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