How To Get Paid What You're Worth With Abadesi Osunsade

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Research from the Inclusive Tech Alliance has highlighted that just 12.6% of board members in the country's largest tech firms are women and that BAME people make up just 8.5% of senior leaders.  

We clearly still have a long way to go where gender and diversity in the UK tech industry is concerned, so what are some of the barriers that women and ethnic minorities are facing and what can we do to improve on this?

In this episode of The Wallet, we are joined by Abadesi Osunsade, founder of Hustle Crew, a careers community focused on giving underrepresented professionals the skills and support they need to succeed in a workplace through talks, training and mentorship. 

Inclusion and diversity in the technology community has become central to Abadesi’s mission, empowering women to recognise their worth and to ask for more. 

However, negotiating and understanding your own value can be tricky, and those conversations can feel daunting or uncomfortable. In this episode, Abadesi shares her own experience of salary negotiations, getting paid your own worth as a business owner or freelancer and her top tips for practically, how to overcome your fears and mentally preparing for those conversations so you can go in feeling like a million bucks.  💕

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You can listen (51 min) and subscribe here:

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1. Understanding your worth

Before you even begin to think about negotiating your salary, it is vital that you know your self-worth. It is this acute awareness of your worth and the skills, talents and experience you possess that will assist you during pay negotiations. Through understanding your worth, you will be able to enter salary negotiations with confidence and enthusiasm, conveying to the employer that you are not willing to settle for anything less even if you really want the job. Abadesi argues that knowing your worth is, in part, understanding what you financially require to not only survive, but thrive.

Too often do women step back from negotiating their salary for fear of being disliked and rejected. Effective negotiation takes an immense amount of self-confidence that in turn requires you to acknowledge the true value of your skills, while clearly demonstrating your set boundaries and standards.

It can be incredibly challenging to arrive at your actual self-worth, without underquoting or overestimating yourself during the process. Abadesi offers some helpful tips for realising your self-worth:

  • Do not settle for less if you know your skills are in-demand and that the employer is trying to undervalue your talents

    • If you think you are being undercharged for your work, you can choose to walk away and deny the employment offer. While this could negatively impact you initially, in the long run, you are more likely to find people who will value your talent  

  • Know that nobody is perfect and you should learn to embrace your imperfections

    • Being aware of your own strengths and weaknesses can enable you to strategically position yourself in the job market and maximise your earning potential

Understanding your self-worth is the first step to valuing yourself, accepting your imperfections and getting paid appropriately for your talent.

“I’ve learnt to recognise that discomfort is a sign I’m doing something good for myself”
— Abadesi Osunsade
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2. The art of salary negotiation

Negotiating your salary begins with understanding your financial performance and position. Abadesi suggests that in order to establish what salary you should be asking your employer for, you must work backwards, auditing your expenses to ascertain what level of income you need to not only survive but thrive. Once you have established this, it is up to you to convince the employer about your real worth vis-à-vis the market. This will require you to do careful market research to understand the salaries offered for your job role across different companies in your industry. For this purpose, leveraging online platforms such as ‘PayScale’, ‘Glassdoor’ and ‘LinkedIn’ for free salary comparisons based on job title, skills, experience, and education, can be illuminating. Discussing your salary and, more broadly, your employment package with peers working in the same role can also be helpful in enabling you to get a sense of whether your talent is being undervalued by your current or potential employer.

Although initial market research will provide you with a ballpark figure for how much you ought to be asking your employer for, it is important to consider your experience, unique capabilities and knowledge surrounding the work. For example, if you are sufficiently experienced such that you can handle tasks independently without the need for additional training then you should incorporate this into your salary negotiation since you have higher worth to your employer. Abadesi advises women to have examples exemplifying their unique talents and to be armed with tangible evidence of their worth when they enter salary negotiations. By having clear examples of your previous work successes to hand, you will be more able to hold your firm ground during salary negotiations because you will have supported your argued worth.

When entering a salary negotiation, it is also important to balance what you are worth with what the employer is able to offer you. You do not want to request a higher salary without having done your research first. It might be the case that the employer believes that you deserve what you are asking for but is not in a position to give it to you due to constraints such as salary caps, which no amount of negotiation can resolve. If this is the case, you should be prepared to negotiate additional perks, such as health-benefits or flexible working hours, in place of a higher salary, and if this fails, you should be willing to walk away from the employer. Remember: you should avoid accepting the first offer the employer makes you but simultaneously be aware of their position!

During the salary negotiation process, remaining positive and professional is a must, no matter how scary, stressful or frustrating the experience is. Monitor your body language and how you present yourself. Working towards practising a professional tone and structuring your argument prior to the negotiation can help you to keep your emotions under control and remain respectful yet firm. Salary negotiation can be a tricky process for many women starting out, but it can be one of the most rewarding skills to develop over the course of your career. By mastering the art of salary negotiation, you will be able to earn the salary you deserve.

“It is so important for each of us as individuals to really do the work of auditing what we spend our money on, and having an idea of not just what we need to survive, but what we need to thrive. And that should be the starting point of every conversation you have about money.”
— Abadesi Osunsade

3. Developing an awareness of implicit bias

Abadesi makes the simple yet profound point that when negotiating your salary, it is important to remember that people with decision making authority are not necessarily rational. Women and ethnic minorities still face many barriers when seeking to advance their careers, and this is especially the case within the technology industry. Research from the Inclusive Tech Alliance (2019) has highlighted that just 12.6% of board members in the country's largest tech firms are women and that BAME professionals represent just 8.5% of senior leaders. Abadesi explains that during her ten-year career in the technology sector, she has observed that there appears to be no space for mediocre women, only women that were excellent in every way above and beyond their male peers. Being aware of these additional career barriers for these underrepresented groups is crucial for when quoting your worth in the context of salary negotiations; do not allow toxic gender, ethnic and cultural stereotypes to subconsciously inform you of your self-worth, knock your confidence and lead you to undersell yourself during salary negotiations. Instead, remain strong and be sure to assert your talent, worth and brilliance.

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You can listen (51 min) and subscribe here:

Apple Podcasts

Acast

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Resources: 

You can follow and connect with Abadesi at: 

We shared some resources in this episode. All the links are below:  

ArticlesMillie Ngai-LenoirPodcast, The Wallet, Financial Planning, Financial Goals, Pension, Negotiate, SalaryComment