Tag Archive for: Nicki Gilmour

money money moneyLast week we began looking at how to weigh up your options regarding staying and progressing at your firm or making a move to further your career.

Let’s start with the financial factor of feeling or being actually underpaid for the job that you do. First thing to do is to do some research on what your peers get paid online and yes interviewing is a way to do this as well as conversations with trusted peers. Secondly, before leaving, there are ways to explore pay and compensation changes with your boss and your HR team without threatening to leave and never present an ultimatum and especially if you don’t actually have a new job to go to. Do Not Bluff unless you are independently wealthy and can afford some time off.

Go to your boss and say that you would like to take him or her to lunch to chat about the past year. If you did a great job, present your case and ask for a higher base and/or a higher bonus or commission structure. Sometimes base salaries are harder to play with than commissions but ultimately if you are truly under market values ( as women often come in lower than men on base salary) there is a real case to give you the bump that aligns you with peers. If it is just about the money, and you are otherwise pretty happy, then why jump ship to an unknown workplace culture and structure? This conversation is worth having and then you can decide what to do!

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist
Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

People waiting for an interviewSo, bonuses are paid and you are ready to make a move to your next job. You have your reasons for leaving and they are one or more of the following:

  • You think you can do better financially for the same work
  • You see less of a career track where you are and you think you can get further in another firm (title and responsibilities)
  • You are leaving your manager, not your company
  • You are changing industry or function and can only do that by leaving
  • You are not aligned with how things get done in your current job

Over the next five weeks we will look at each of these factors to give you a sanity check on whether you truly are leaving for the right reasons.

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist
Contact nicki@glasshammer2.wpengine.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

money money moneyChances are, if you work in banking, you are thinking about bonus season. If you are keen to move companies, do your research before you get your bonus and start conversations with the right firms ahead of time. Why? Well, it is sometimes like being in a bad relationship, a small gesture can make you stay for a little while longer when you know you need something different. Money is always a factor, but look at culture, growth opportunities and ultimately the job you want after the next one as you make your decisions to move. Good luck!

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@glasshammer2.wpengine.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work in technology

Business meetingDo you lead a women’s network or other Employee Resource Group ( ERG) at work? If so, you probably know that there is real work and time needed for this endeavour to be successful. So, how do you use this opportunity to develop leadership skills and then get recognized for this work?

My first piece of advice is to communicate what you are doing so that senior people can see your leadership skills. This is a good time to ask yourself, is this group institutionally supported? One way to check if it is, is to look at whether it is mandated from the top and has actual participation from leaders and managers in a meaningful way. If it is pure grassroots from the “bottom up” chances are you are not on senior people’s radar for the work that you are doing. Also worth considering is the question – is this network connected to the talent strategy? if not, wine and cupcakes are fine, but don’t expect to be the next CEO because of it.

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

woman on the phone featuredLinkedIn and other online networks are really good ways to maintain your contacts and yes some people do accept connections from people they don’t really know but the fact remains that humans still prefer actual relationships over virtual ones when it comes to getting business done. It is necessary to have a digital presence, think of it as an online resume and personal branding plays a role, but it is what you do with those connections that matter. Ask people to lunch, coffee and in-person networking events so that you can explore mutual interests because fruitful relationships that have a quid pro quo is the way to truly succeed, advance and make lasting contacts.

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

By Nicki Gilmour

Nicki Gilmour - Founder of The Glasshammer.comIt is December already so time for the annual Year in Review 2015 piece that looks at the progress, of the professional woman at work in the macro and micro sense. On a general level and where we can measure stats for boardrooms and management numbers, I have to report very little progress. However, on a company-specific level, some firms get it and are doing a great job at a comprehensive plan to tackle the issue of having a representation of women at all levels. Citi have just announced the addition of two more women to their Board for 2016- congrats to Ellen Costello and Renee James on those appointments.

I have outlined three crucial points in this article for any firm to take notice of when embarking on this journey. The other continuous notable effort that I think is worth mentioning is the increase in male gender champions and my favorite open letter of the year comes from John Ryan as he writes to Michael Moritz showing us that men also care about the endless stereotypes that make a mockery out of talented people of both sexes.

What do leaders who “get it” look like?

People, and specifically leaders of companies who get how to really create culture change around this very unresolved gender dilemma, all share a common ability. Smart leaders understand that they personally have to get involved as well as re-engineer processes to support behaviors beyond the evangelizing part. Leaders comprehend the strategic nature of what needs to happen, that companies are eco-systems and so every action has a reaction downstream and are prepared to address multiple areas at once. Since the culture of any team, company or even country is simply a culmination of ‘how we do things around here’, what and who gets tolerated, as well as what and who gets rewarded for their work means that any firm who can hold behavioral boundaries can improve their culture for all working there. It can be a win win and not a zero sum game.

Pierre Nanterme, CEO and Chairman of Accenture is the latest leader who is putting his money where his mouth is. He has aggressive hiring targets, revealing his goal as 40% of new hires being female by 2017 as well as initiatives to ensure pay parity at entry level and throughout a woman’s career to ensure women don’t get left behind. This disparity has been documented by Catalyst and others over the years to be almost $500,000 in the span of their career earnings.

Nanterme states,  “We believe strongly that gender equality is essential for a high-performing, talent-led organization. This commitment extends to pay, and we strive to ensure that all our people – women and men – are compensated fairly and equitably from the moment we hire them through the milestones of their careers here.”

Why do I believe Nanterme? Or least believe he has a shot at it? Well, other than the fact that he actually believes there are equally talented women as men to hire, unlike Mike Moritz of Sequoia Capital who just last week stated that there are no qualified women for him to hire (in Silicon Valley venture funding), Nanterme has addressed his blind spots whereas Mike has just showed his cognitive bias when he unwittingly revealed his closely held paradigm that hiring women would probably be a reflection of him lowering his standards.

That is the differentiator for me and as an organizational psychologist who is nine years into this topic with several live projects under my belt and the publisher of 4000 articles on theglasshammer.com, I find that the barriers to progress are definitely systemic but correctable, such as accurate succession planning processes and equal pay for the same job done. More interestingly, is that the maintainers of these barriers are actual people and it is entirely feasible to address issues just like any other area of operational efficiency and resource optimization but their refusal to acknowledge there is a problem beyond some sort of Noah’s Ark approach of ticking off lists is where the work gets weird.

We all have bias in the sense of preference but it is how preference is built in us that needs closer examination-let’s face it, when you have all the cards and have bias towards hiring one type of person and the rest of the system is aligned to support the stereotype, the stakes to change aren’t so high to address your own paradigms in life. Hence the word ‘diversity’ is a misnomer because what we are talking about in actuality is about who we choose and authorise to lead us, manage projects and generally get heard. It is all a meritocracy project and meritocracy exists in very few places if at all.

What three things can companies do better in 2016 to ensure progress?

Action #1 Leaders can lead on equality.

Status quo doesn’t change organically ever. There are levers and deliberate actions to take. How managers act will enhance or minimize the effects and impact of any program or policy that even the best HR team or women’s network could produce. So ensure they act well. Why leave that to chance?

By being a sponsor to ensure the right people get promoted or get allocated onto a project, men and the senior women that can “lift as they climb”, this can change the world one person at a time

Action #2 Stop expecting the women in your firm to fix the gender issue

Attracting, hiring or promoting women shouldn’t be a “woman’s” thing. Too many times, I see women’s networks trying to address these issues whilst everyone else gets on with their day jobs. Exclusively outsourcing this work to ERGs, networks and committees is really erroneous. Why would you put the onus on the group that is asking for their fair share of promotions and access to sit at the power table to be the people to fix the inequities in the system?

Not all companies leave all the work to the women and the women’s networks to deal with the issue. Simply put, it is everyone’s problem to fix inequities but some people can fix it faster than others due to their official influence on talent processes and workplace culture.

Action #3 Women and Men all need to address their biases

One of the most surprising elements that I have personally discovered over the years is that some women revere men as stereotypical leaders more than men do, or on a equal par, even if they themselves are arguably the smartest person in the room. Fascinating to say the least and it happens in small and big ways, from deferring to the male counterpart in meetings to unconsciously believing that men make better leaders. I have talked about this at length in other articles in other years.

My advice? Admit you are part of the problem (if you are) because everything you need to know about how ridiculous we all are, based on the binary of gender identity and how being a woman is still somehow a trait that effects a woman’s ability to lead, manage, do deals and generally do well at work can be seen most compellingly here.

While we are on the subject, can we dispel the myth that brain science has anything to do with performance at work (and men are from next door not Mars as it turns out).Social conditioning has a lot to answer for and you can do something about that as the impact is real with the latest research from Accenture showing that Gen Y women despite everything we have told them are still less likely to ask for a pay rise than their male counterparts and 47% of this particular survey respondents cannot see a path to the top.

Finally, can you get everyone on board? Of course not! But those who don’t will be in the minority both in numbers and effectual influence and power, so let’s get started! Smokers still want to smoke on airplanes, right? The difference is culturally a shift took place only because a law and a process facilitated that shift. Think about it.

We wish you a peaceful, prosperous and Happy New Year to all theglasshammer.com readers and supporters.

By Nicki Gilmour

Women-on-computerWe recently had our 6th annual women in technology career event and several audience questions touched upon the issue of what it means to be a women in technology and even what to do when you fall into the “Imposter Syndrome”. There are stereotypes around how technologists are supposed to look for sure, and research shows that unconscious bias is still an issue from messaging women into the industry to promoting them all the way to the top. However, you are here, you are doing it and you can do two things. Firstly find good sponsors to give you the best of the projects and shepard you so that don’t just have have outstanding experiences but you get to fully appreciate the wins and failures without being judged for your every move. Secondly advocate for yourself fearlessly and believe in yourself because you belong here. Lastly, always know that there are good teams and companies out there so if you are not valued, go somewhere that supports your talent and growth.

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

People waiting for an interviewFollowing on from last week’s advice around dealing with an unexpected change in fortune at work and the very tangible real fallout of being out of a job in a sudden manner, we look at how to make the right decision for your next job.

Firstly, if you have any kind of financial cushion, make a promise to yourself that you will not make rash decisions and instead take the time to reflect on what you really want to do next. That in itself can feel slightly overwhelming so consider a qualified coach to help you through this time as a good sounding board is exactly what you need to help you frame this situation as an opportunity to get what you want. More satisfaction, more time, more flexibility, more money, a different title? These are all elements that you can now think about as maybe it is time to go up the ladder or go lateral? Either way, it is ultimately an ideal time to take the time to figure out what you want and what works for you at this juncture as last time you interviewed for a job, you might have been in a different place in your life. Not least, you have a chance to think about your enhanced skill set since that last time around.

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

Women SpeakingPersonal Branding is quite the buzzword, but does it really mean when it comes to your success at work?

Some people are more keen than others to update the rest of the world on their professional activities and that is partly to do with personality and partly to do with how you prioritize your online time. Next time you are posting something to Facebook, think about whether you could also share that update on other social spaces such as LinkedIn? The question to ask yourself is, “ does this help me show what I have expertise in?” Do you show up in a consistent manner and what then, is your message?

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@theglasshammer.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work

women stressedWe are holding our 6th Annual women in technology career event in November if you are a woman in tech- please do apply to come to this great event in NYC.

I recently went to a tech conference (a partner organization called Lesbians Who Tech) which was great networking and generally very enjoyable to be away from my desk as it is always great to get out when you can and meet actual people.

I learned about many apps and services that can really save time and enhance how people work. So many of my Gen X friends are still avoiding technology when really you can make your life easier so join the revolution and get digital! What takes up most of your day? I find scheduling can eat away at my time so I recommend Calendy for an example of how to reduce the back and forth of arranging times to talk with clients and peers!

By Nicki Gilmour, Executive Coach and Organizational Psychologist

Contact nicki@glasshammer2.wpengine.com if you would like to hire an executive coach to help you navigate the path to optimal personal success at work