"There is still a 21 percent pay gap between women and men", said heike sollner, equal opportunity officer at the district office, at the "equal pay day" at the martin luther house. Converted into working days, this was exactly the same as the period up to the 18th birthday. Marz correspond – so long women had to work in comparison to men converted free of charge. "We women tend to sell ourselves short."
One who wants to put a stop to this trend is the negotiation expert claudia kimich, who gave a talk on wednesday evening at the invitation of the action alliance in the martin luther house in kulmbach. Under the motto "negotiation tango – step by step to more money and recognition" she gave the guests present, and especially the women, tips on repartee, argumentation chains, self-confidence and appearance.
Putting one's own skills in the foreground
"Negotiating must also be learned", she said and called for more emphasis to be placed on one's own abilities. "Women tend to say what they can't do (yet), while men simply say: sure, i'll do it." men, for example, would apply for a job even if they met only 10 percent of the requirements – a woman would still be outranked if she met 90 percent of the requirements. "But remember", claudia kimich warned "you will pass on this attitude of not knowing to your children as well."
You have to know who you are, what you can do, and you should talk about it. "Men can't do it better, they just have less inhibitions to say yes." however, it is also appropriate, especially for women, to be able to say no once in a while. "Remember, no is a whole sentence – it is not necessary to put a whole appendix of explanations after it." and in no case should you always take refusals personally.
It's all a matter of training
"negotiating is like dancing – it's about getting dressed up, asking people to step on the fube, and even getting a basket sometimes." it is important to be able to assess your negotiating partner well, she said, and to be quick-witted.
Negotiating at eye level is the keyword. "When they get a rejection, they try to find ways to change or reverse things.", said the expert. "If you don't have the necessary qualifications for the job, think about how you can get them – and don't take such an informal no personally."
More solidarity demanded
But claudia kimich also called for more solidarity among women. "We are not in solidarity ourselves and do not drag women after us when we ourselves are successful", she criticized. It reminds her of two crabs in a bucket that keep pulling each other down as they try to climb out of the bucket. "If we start to show real solidarity, we'll make it!"
in addition to the equal opportunities officer of the district office, the action alliance also includes the counseling center for the unemployed in kulmbach, the multigenerational house in mainleus and the women's representative of the vdk district association in Kulmbach.