How much cleavage should you flash at work?

Sarah Brummitt, image consultant.

Thanks to Sarah Brummitt (right) for airing the important issue of cleavage in a corporate environment.
I must admit, I've long been bewildered by the trend for boob-flashing at work. 
And now it seems that more mammaries equals less salaries.
Sarah, an image consultant and training and development consultant, keeps us abreast of this issue:

Last year, a survey commissioned in the UK suggested that women who display too much cleavage at work could end up sabotaging their careers. More than 3,000 managers found that almost half of bosses would overlook a woman for promotions if she regularly exposed her cleavage.

Is this fair? Or is it sexist nonsense? Is cleavage cool or crass at work?

I'm not a prude - and as a small chested woman I can appreciate a fabulous bosom as much as the most hot-blooded male...but.......a glorious cleavage in the office is just not on. It's a distraction to both men AND women - but for different reasons.

1. Men see it as a clear 'come on' sign OR, they are so embarrassed they don't know where to look.

2. Women can either be continually distracted (I know I am because one of my colleagues insists on regularly exposing her cleavage and I can't help but keep looking.......). The altenative female response is to elicit some good, old-fashioned, bitchy jealousy and loathing.

As an Image Coach, I'm all about personal brand - helping professionals create a perception by colleagues which conveys the real essence of them; their reputation; their unique expertise. 

Who on earth wants to be known as the girl that always has her baps on show? 

It's not right and it's not fair, but the reality of still working in a predominantly male-orientated work environment means that to succeed in business we need to be viewed as credible, professional and authoritative.

A woman can't do that if her boobs are out.

So, ladies please - a glorious bosom is for a date, a cocktail party, a social event. It's not for the office. So button up, put them away and create a focal point somewhere else. May I suggest the face instead?

Thanks Sarah - check her out on www.sarahbrummitt.com. Thank goodness the good old polo neck is coming back into fashion.

And remember, psychological research confirms that the image you portray may be at odds with the one you intended. 

You may think that a flash of cleavage is cool, alluring even. 

They may think you look like a lap-dancer. 

Think about it next time you dress for the office and keep in mind that less is probably more.

10 reasons why men need Sheconomics

Don't let our pinkness put you off - we have lots of bloke-friendly stuff going on. Here's why we think men need Sheconomics too:

·      1. Because research shows your investments would surge if you used your feminine side a tad more. No need to greet your latest dividend with a tearful acceptance speech, it's just about not being over-cocky, a risk-taker or one of the boys. More diverse portfolios, caution and not over-reacting to a volatile market explain why female investors outperform men consistently.

·     2  Because you could learn how to dress for success. Drop that favourite well-worn brown suit off at Oxfam and let someone with a tape measure get intimate with your inside leg. Seriously, people do judge you by what you wear. A lot. Men in bespoke suits are judged to be more successful, confident, trustworthy, flexible and higher earners than their off-the-peg counterparts.

·     3. Because you could suss out how to have cool, non-confrontational conversations about money. And you could have a better, happier home-life if you did so. There are tricks and strategies we can all learn that will make money-chat nicer. No issues. No arguments. Hugs optional.

·    4.  Because you could be a better Dad.  Without realising it parents play more roughly with boy babies than with girls. They let boys explore more than girls and use more emotion words with their daughters than with their sons. Swat up on the significant but subtle ways you can give your daughter the kind of start in life you are unconsciously giving your son. Get wind of some good Sheconomics strategies for raising kids.

·      5. Because you’ll do the right thing by her in the event of the unmentionable happening.

     When multi-million selling author Stieg Larsson died suddenly at 50 his estranged family, and not his life-long partner Eva, inherited his fortune. Eva's even having to fight a legal battle to stay in their apartment. No-one wants to think about death but not thinking of those you'll leave behind is dumb.

  

·     6. Because you overwork your logical left brain and neglect the poor old right. Ever thought about which side of your brain is managing your money? Intuition can be a useful tool, but seems to be the reverse of logic. The field of behavioural economics is obsessed by these concepts because humans are rarely rational decision-making machines. They fall victim to flawed logic, emotional reactions and cognitive biases.

·      7. Because you could realise some of the hidden forces behind financial success, and why it helps to be tall, left-handed and tidy. 

      Yes, we said tidy. No, we’re not nagging. It's just that taller people earn more than shorter people and left-handed people earn more than right-handed people. Things that are hard to change. But people with tidier homes do earn more than people with messy homes. Reason to not drop those socks on the floor?

·      8. Because if you’ve ever suffered death-by-dinner-party you’ll see how company boards make the same mistakes as very dull hosts. Mixing up the guests brings livelier conversations and new perspectives. About 10 years ago Norwegian boards were mostly made up of men with very similar views and backgrounds who went hunting and fishing together. This meant there was a huge risk of group-think in the boards’ decision-making processes, and a real lack of diverse perspectives.

     Adding just 3 women to boards has been shown to increase the company's bottom line by 40% and boost the country's economy.

·      9 . Because emotional intelligence is just as important as IQ. You’ve always known that IQ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be - there are better ways of selecting the right bunch of people to work with.

     Studies show the most effective groups listen to each other, share constructive criticism, have open minds, are not autocratic and use conversational turn-taking to good effect.

·      10. Because we can all learn something from the bagel man. You can tell how much people like their bosses and their work from how much dosh they drop in the honesty box. It could be a good metric for getting to know the health of your company and the happiness of your employees. Honest. 

 Final word from a lovely friend of Sheconomics, Alan Newman of the Finance IT Network:

• "There's probably some merit to the accusation that the financial services sector is 'male, pale and stale'. The insights from this book - co-authored by a Professor of Psychology and a Financial Coach (who left IFA boredom behind her) - should be compulsory reading for us blokes."                        

I don't wanna talk about it...

“It’s the one topic we can’t bring ourselves to talk about” I heard Jenny say on Woman’s Hour last week. She was talking about incontinence. I won’t say more here – this isn’t weeconomics – but it reminded me of that other big taboo: money.

Did someone mention the M word?

Women aren’t as comfortable talking about their earnings as men, according to new research from the Money Advice Service. But neither sex is too fond of shouting their salary from the roof-tops. Just 5% of women and 10% of men would tell a stranger how much they earn.

We have our hush-hush places too – one in four of us feel it’s wrong to discuss money at the hairdressers (where we'll share every other intimate detail of our personal life), others wouldn’t bring it up at a party or down the pub with friends (28%).

As I've said in earlier posts, it really is time we tackled this taboo. Why? Because money secrets wreck marriages and make people downright miserable. And money problems and mental health problems seem to go hand-in-hand.  According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists:
 - One in two people with debts has a mental health problem.
 - One in four adults with mental health problems is in debt.
And being in a financial mess can make you feel:

• As if everything is out of control and there's nothing you, or anyone else, can do about it.
• Hopeless, especially if you have debts that are growing.
• Embarrassed to talk to anyone about your financial situation.
• Guilty - that the problem is your fault, even if it's due to mental or physical health problems.
• Anxious and depressed.

Talking about money problems is the first step to sorting them out. Our friends over at the Money Advice Service are running a Money Chat campaign. They want to break down the big taboo and get people talking more about money*.

They even have this fab Money chat map so you can view the regional figures

So, if you have been keeping mum about money, maybe we can help you open up?

Check out the downloads section of our Sheconomics website for useful tip sheets.

Tip sheet no 5 is about How to Talk to Your Partner about Money and Tip sheet no 6 is How to own up to a Money Problem.

Plus in Sheconomics we devote a whole chapter (Share Financial Intimacies) to tackling the great taboo. The money taboo that is. Sorry - we can’t help with incontinence, although you may be able to catch the programme again.

*The Money Advice Service has Money Advisers available on the phone or face-to-face. To help get the conversation started, there’s a personal action plan produced by their free online health check, which identifies a list of short and long-term money priorities. Available online at moneyadviceservice.org.uk and on the phone via 0300 500 5000

Savvy-nomics rules this yule!

Will the festive season knock the stuffing out of your budget this year? 
Is it going to be a blow-out Christmas, or will you be sipping Lambrini instead of Laurent-Perrier on the 25th?

According to new research UK shoppers are going to rein in their spending this Christmas, spending on average £26 less per head than last year.

It seems austerity messages have hit home and people are thinking about how to make their money go further. Does that sound familiar to you?

The CFEB’s survey says we’re more savvy this year than we were five years ago:

• ·      Nearly twice as many of us (37%) now set a Christmas budget and intend to stick to it (up from 19% in 2005)
• ·      6 out of ten people will post cards earlier to cash in on cheaper 2^nd class postage rates (up from 40% in 2005)
• ·      Twice as many of us (16%) are happy to source second-hand items as gifts (up from 8% in 2005)
• ·      More than half of us (54%) say we’ll cut back on the food budget by buying supermarket’s own brands (up from 25% in 2005)

This is great news and should mean that Santa's the only one who'll be starting 2011 in the red. 
Although a worrying 34% of people say they will fund Christmas from their December pay packet. 
Then they've still got another long month to get through before the next pay day. 
And…er…no they haven’t done anything so far this year to help spread the cost.

So, while I'm not saying ho ho ho to those who intend to have a no frills, fully paid up Christmas I'm reminded of psychological research showing that intentions don't always translate into reality. 
Will those good intentions melt away when the jingle bells and seasonal smells of the festive stores seduce us into slipping extra boxes of baubles and novelty socks into the basket?  


Will we be overcome with guilt at the paucity of the present pile and nip out for another singing fish at the last minute? 
Might we even risk buying things people don't need with money we don't have?
It’s the unplanned, impulsive purchases that can trip us up and, as sheconomics research shows, women are especially likely to get overwhelmed by the urge to splurge.

Check out the cheery CFEB Christmas website www.moneymadeclear.org.uk/christmas

Luckily the Consumer Finance Education Body has some great tips on its Christmas website launched today. There is a Christmas cut-back calculator to work out where you can release cash from other expenses to cover the seasonal spend. Plus they’ve got lots more Christmas tips and really accessible, useful (and free) financial advice.


Check out their tips now and be a savvy spender this Christmas.

IF YOU'D LIKE TO HEAR MY PODCAST INTERVIEW ON THIS TOPIC GO TO
http://www.sheconomics.com/news.html

Women make the bottom line more attractive!

I spent a very uplifting day in the company of some of the top financial brains on Tuesday, at the Financial Services Research Forum in Westminster. 

The title of my talk was:

The Rise of The Sheconomist: Why Women are a Wise Investment,

in which I  discussed the financial capabailities of women.

It boiled down to this.

Women are as good with money as men. In some cases they’re even better. They get higher returns on investment, for example. And companies with women leaders have a 35% higher return on equity.

But men tend to over-rate their own capabilities. And women under-rate theirs! 

Little wonder then, with all the other societal factors that come into play, women have been marginalised when it comes to money.

However, we're soon to see a shift in financial responsibility from the state to the individual and women will need to be more financially self-reliant and assume greater financial responsibility. It’s vital to ensure they rise to the challenge and not become second-class financial citizens. That’s what Sheconomics is all about.

Pine, 2010, The Rise of The Sheconomist

When women’s skills are harnessed at an organisational level for example, it improves a company’s bottom line and gives them a competitive advantage. There’s lots of evidence for this, but one study by Pepperdine University found:

When a company had at least 3 women on the board of directors it outperformed the competition on all measures by at least 40%.

Norway saw the sense in this years ago, other countries are catching on more slowly.

Legislation in Norway in 2003 made it mandatory for every state-owned company to fill 40% of board seats with women by 2006, and for public companies to do so by 2008.

I wonder if there’s a link between Norway’s decision and the fact that the coutnry enjoyed 3% economic growth in 2009 and an 11% budget surplus, while much of Europe was  in economic decline?

Could a recipe for the success of corporates be:

Add three females and watch profits rise?

If you want to read my full report on this download it from the Recent Talks section on our website.

The 30% Club

With perfect timing, the 30% Club was announed on the same day. This is a fantastic new inititative encouraging UK companies to aim for at least 30% female representation on their boards by 2015. 

The initiative was founded by Helena Morrissey, CEO at Newton Investment Management and comprises a group of senior businesswomen. Go girls!

Read more about their progressive and impressive move here

Tall, attractive, left-handed man with tidy home wanted.

Cor, what a nerve! The indignation in the voices of the people answering the radio interviewer’s question was palpable:

“I’d prefer not to say”

“That’s confidential!”

“It’s not appropriate to discuss that”

“I’m not prepared to tell you”

............................

     

Is money the great taboo?

What topic had Daniel Finkelstein probed them about for his programme Can Pay Will Pay? 


That brazen broadcaster had the nerve, the sheer bare-faced gall to accost complete strangers - and ask them how much they earned. 


The responses that could be broadcast consisted of polite but firm refusals.
Why is money such a great taboo? 

Actually, as DF pointed out, it’s the great British taboo. A Polish girl was quite happy to reveal all and was shocked by the anal Brits’ secrecy over the size of their pay packets.

Here are 10 fascinating facts about people’s earnings that you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask:

1.       The UK earnings average is just under £26,000 p.a.
2.       Most people earn between 15k-35k
3.       If you earn over £51,000 you’re in the top 10%
4.       Women make up the majority of the paid less group
5.       Ethnic minority groups and people with disabilities are overrepresented in the low earners group
6.       Taller people earn more  than shorter people (an extra inch of height results in an extra 2.5% of earnings)!
7.       Ugly people earn 10-20% less than the average
8.       People with tidy homes earn more than messier people
9.       Lesbians earn more than heterosexual women while gay men earn less than heterosexual men
10.          Left handed people earn more than right handed

So if you’re a short, ugly, right-handed, messy, heterosexual woman from an ethnic minority group your pay-prospects don’t look too good. But one consolation is you’ll probably hush up your low pay. Unless you’re Polish of course….

One research finding that might console the low paid is that you’ll only be unhappy about your low pay if you discover that someone is earning more. Relative earnings, rather than absolute earnings, are what make people happy, apparently. Perhaps that explains the pay-talk taboo. If someone else is earning more, we'd just rather not know thank you very much.

Do Something Different with Money

When did you last Do Something Different? Let's face it, we’re all creatures of habit at heart. I know I feel I can’t start the day until I’ve had my tea in the morning. Earl grey. With soya milk. One sugar. In my Billy Childish mug. Then I can sort out my tasks for the day while I sip it.  

Psychologists estimate that up to 90% of what we do and think every day is a repetition of what we’ve done before. That’s  because the brain operates on an efficiency principle. Why waste precious energy, it says, coming up with new ideas and re-inventing ways of doing things? Might as well bring out the old ones that we know and like.

No surprise then that when we're asked to come up with a decision or get something done, we act in a ‘here’s one I made earlier’ kind of way. Because fresh ideas take a huge effort. And new behaviours require that we knock ourselves off autopilot and get in the driving seat.

Do Something Different (DSD) is a powerful technique to change behaviour. It now underpins all the behaviour change work I get involved in and brings about some amazing transformations. Put simply, DSD works because to change we first have to become unstuck. Unstuck from our old ways. Unstuck from our usual habits.

That applies to financial behaviour too. Our attitude to money will have become ingrained over years and years. There will be areas of finance with which we’re comfortable (maybe managing the family budget or settling bills on time). Then, lurking deeper, those which are outside our comfort zone (perhaps dealing with taxation or pension issues).

Doing Something Different (DSD) is a way of dipping a toe into the discomfort zone of your finances. That’s why we have lots of DSD exercises in Sheconomics. 

Here are just a few:

Scared or intimidated by financial jargon?

DSD and look at a website that demystifies the world of finance e.g. www.moneymadeclear.org.uk for just 10 minutes every day. Or make a habit of flicking through the financial pages of the weekend papers. Get comfortable with money talk and money facts. It's not rocket science, honest.

Held back by a contempt for money or feeling you don’t deserve it?

DSD and go somewhere that feels out of your league. Maybe have a coffee in a posh hotel, tell yourself you've every right to it.  Test drive a top-of-the-range car and see how it feels.

Head-in-the-sand and then hit by big expenses?

DSD and divert a sum via direct debit every month into an emergency fund. Folk who are financially savvy have at least enough stashed away to cover three month's living expenses. Then if a job-loss or big expense hits, there's less chance you'll dive into debt to deal with it.

Trapped by salary creep (earn more-spend more)

DSD and pretend you didn’t get your next pay rise- divert the difference into a savings account. Use the human habitual tendency to your advantage and automate savings and funds. You won't miss what you haven't had and it'll grow without you doing anything.

Living for today and ignoring the future?

DSD and get a current value on what your pension will bring you. That's all, just call up your provider and ask for the estimated annual amount payable. Divide it by 52. Then try living on that amount for a week. How does it feel? When you've recovered from the shock go and talk to an expert about how you can boost your pension.

Overwhelmed by the financial tasks left untackled?

DSD and organise your paperwork into neat orderly files. You’ll find you start feeling in control immediately. Those big problems won't seem anywhere near as overwhelming.

Whenever you're feeling stuck or that you're not getting what you want from life, just ask yourself 'What do I usually do?' Then try doing the opposite. As Einstein said, it's crazy to keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. To get something different you have to do something different. That applies to your financial behaviour as well as to other areas of your life, like health, relationships or work.

The Do Something Different journal contains a hundred ways to DSD (see panel on the right). For a daily DSD you can follow it on twitter (http://twitter.com@DSDjournal).

It's good to talk sheconomics

I loved talking to the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women in the luxurious setting of the RAC Club (not a fluorescent jacket in sight) on Pall Mall last night. Those RAC people are amazing, they can not only fix your car but also serve up some damn good crudites ….

The TCPW are a feisty bunch of bright, high achieving women of all ages and I learned a lot from their comments and questions during our lively session.

We had fun with some of the behaviour economics problems from Sheconomics. To a woman they got the intuitive reasoning problem right (three out of four women usually get it wrong) but they did let their emotions intrude on the ultimatum game. OK, shows they place high value on fairness and social co-operation so it came as no surprise to learn that many work in philanthropic or fund-raising roles.

On the subject of females asking for money, one woman said she can shamelessly extract millions of pounds from others for her cause, but can’t ask for a pay rise for herself. That captures the tendency of the female money psyche to put the needs of others first. It’s what makes us loyal friends and caring individuals, but if we’re not careful it could make us poor too. 

Do you hate asking for money?

Why are women so rubbish when it comes to asking for money?

Bill Morrow (the inspiration behind angels den) told me recently that when entrepreneurs have to pitch to investors, the women rarely ask for ­enough money.

This led me to thinking about the psychology behind asking for money. The very thought of it makes many women cringe with embarrassment. Even if we don’t grovel to someone clutching a begging bowl, the simple fact that they have the money we need shifts all the power their way.

The truth is, shrinking Violet won’t drive a hard pay bargain for fear of upsetting people.

Women are socialised to be people pleasers; we put the feelings of others before our own needs. Men are likely to see the financial benefits as worth a few moments of discomfort.

I’d love to get to the bottom of this sex difference.

Please help me by taking part in a short survey.

It’s just 7 quick questions and there’s a chance to win a £25 Amazon voucher.

Click here to take part.

Also don’t forget Sheconomics tip sheet number 2 - How to Ask for Money – can be found on our website.