Women are less assertive in asking for a pay rise than men

There has been much focus on gender pay this week with the announcement that larger companies will be forced to disclose pay rates. Now a new poll suggests another reason why women’s pay lags over their career, a lack of assertiveness. A report commissioned by Glassdoor found that only a quarter of UK women (27 percent) feel confident they will receive a pay rise within the next 12 months, compared to 40 percent of men. Women are also less likely to leave a job because of low salary than men – 30 percent of women said that low salary had been the major factor behind them moving on from jobs in the past, compared to 39 percent of men. The Glassdoor UK Employment Confidence Survey, conducted online by Harris Interactive, monitors four key indicators of employee confidence: job security, salary expectations, job market optimism/re-hire probability and business outlook optimism.

In addition, the survey also explored what employees appreciate and value when it comes to managers, and how a perceived low salary relates to employees leaving their job.

Of employees surveyed who reported a positive change at their organization – 57 percent said that they were awarded new company benefits, such as flexible working hours or casual dress code, which is a jump of 12 percentage points since the first quarter of this year.

It found that just 37 percent of employed women are positive about the future outlook for their company compared to 41 percent of men, and only 32 percent of women think that it likely that they could find another job if they were to lose their current job – again, this is lower than men at 37 percent.

When it comes to what employees value in a manager, 63 percent of women appreciate a line manager who is ‘supportive’ compared to just 52 percent of men. Fifty three percent of women want a boss that makes them feel valued compared to 45 percent of men.

In fact, men are more concerned with having a boss that motivates them (46 percent) and listens to their ideas (30 percent). When it comes to women’s status as managers in the workplace, only 14 percent of employees would prefer to have a female boss, compared to 25 percent who would prefer a male. Sixty one percent of employees have no preference either way.

Jon Ingham, Glassdoor career and workplace expert said: “Salaries are starting to move up but women risk getting left behind if more men than women get a pay rise. While the economic news generally is more positive, this is a worrying development if it means that female employees are being held back in their career and men are being treated more favourably.

“This is particularly concerning since it is widely accepted that women are less likely to be as assertive in negotiating when they get a job offer, so if they start low and stay low, then we’ve got a serious case of workplace inequality on our hands that is only going to get worse.”