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WTS Boston’s Professional Development Committee hosted The Thoughtful Co. for a presentation on how to effectively negotiate your compensation on Tuesday July 19th.  The Thoughtful Co. is an organization lead by Sophie Warwick and Jillian Climie. Sophie specializes in developing in-house gender equity policies, as well as chairing Employee Resource Groups and advocacy groups. Jamie has spent her career advising individuals and teams in executive compensation, both as a consultant and in-house at two global retailers. The Thoughtful Co.’s mission is to enable recognition, opportunity, and influence for women in the workplace through individual and employer coaching.

Jamie started off the presentation explaining the need to understand the importance of your first offer and explaining the importance of looking at the full compensation package. Health and dental, vacation/PTO, 401K savings plans, and even work from home days are some of the benefits and other key policies that can be negotiated.

She then explained that it is very necessary to understand bias in the workplace. Research shows that women are 30% more likely then men to get feedback that they are intimidating, too aggressive, or bossy. Because of this, women expect and ask for lower compensation than men do, and this is called the “ask gap”.

The next part of the presentation was about how to negotiate your package. Jillian explained that negotiating does not have to be negative; it is possible to negotiate in a positive, confident way. It is also important to know exactly what you are asking for when in a negotiation conversation.

Sophie emphasized that it is important to know how to articulate your strengths. Explaining something that you can do that no one else can do and being able to explain how you can add value to a company is extremely important. The presentation ended with Sophie and Jamie explaining to not let your compensation define you.

After the presentation concluded, breakout rooms were created with about 4 people in each room. Participants discussed if they have ever negotiated and what that situation was like. The event concluded with a short Q&A session with the presenters after the breakout rooms ended.