Women are better at negotiating their salaries - well that’s according to a snapshot poll undertaken by Perriam & Everett, a talent management consultancy.

The poll asked owner - managers and directors of recruitment consultancies a number of questions regarding gender differences within their organisation. Most organisations (98%) said that the top performers in their organisations were pretty evenly split between men and women. There was also a healthy percentage of women in top jobs with over three quarters of respondents ( 78%) saying that half or more of their senior roles were held by females. One national finance recruiter said that four out of five of its regional directors were women.

Interestingly, almost two thirds (64%) of respondents said that women were better at negotiating their salaries then men. “Men tend to focus more on the money they have earned in fees while women are better at using their softer skills to show how they add value more holistically through leadership, mentoring, and problem solving or customer service” said one respondent. “I find that often, women tend to drill down much more quickly to what they have actually achieved and, importantly what else they have contributed - while sometimes men concentrate solely on hard targets and numbers,” said another respondent

“It’s these ‘softer’ skills that can really make a difference to an organisations bottom line”, said Aisling Tighe, of Perriam & Everett.

 “Evidence of a link between profitability and women at the top is growing. Recent research from McKinsey found that European companies with the highest proportion of women in influential leadership roles do better than their sector average in terms of return on equity, operating results and share price growth. While across the pond, a study by Catalyst, the US research body found that companies with the highest proportion of female directors are more profitable and efficient than those with the lowest.”

“Given all the column inches devoted to the gender pay gap and the ubiquitous ‘glass ceiling’, it’s good to see that the recruitment sector is championing the business case for gender diversity and that women, often criticised for not always asking for what may be due to them, are beginning to lead rather than follow in the salary negotiation stakes!”