New Research Is A High Price For Women In The Workplace

In a press release issued today, October 11, 2011, by VitalSmarts, an online poll regarding women in the workplace, conducted by author, Joseph Grenny and Cynthia Good, CEO of Little PINK Book, is being plugged as a “new research.”

The poll, consisting of 845 women in business, claims to have revealed that the most difficult issue for women in the workplace is to discuss and successfully resolve negotiating the limits of their workload. Therefore, causing 1 in 5 women to leave their job. The “research” continues with stating the 4 most difficult issues for women to discuss in the workplace.

According to the poll, the 4 most difficult issues for women to discuss in the workplace are:

1. Negotiating limits when asked to do more than is reasonable or possible

2. Giving performance feedback to someone without hurting his or her feelings or damaging the relationship

3. Asking for a raise or a change in a performance plan related to a raise

4. Not receiving support from other women

The findings is the poll continue with, “only 13 percent of women are very or extremely confident in their ability to candidly and effectively bring up these issues while the rest fear how they'll be perceived if they speak up or simply don't work for an organization that supports candid dialogue. The inability to speak up and resolve these issues is a substantial drag on productivity. The majority of women waste an average of 1 to 5 days ruminating or complaining to others about the issue before stepping up to the crucial conversation.”

The press release asks, “What happens when a crucial conversation goes awry?” and proceeds to quote answers from Grenny and Good.

"Most of us fail to make the connection between our ability to speak up and our personal influence," Grenny said. "And yet our research clearly shows that women who are skilled at stepping up to difficult issues at work experience greater satisfaction and increased productivity."

"The bottom line is women can, and must, take the initiative to be advocates for themselves," Good said. "The mantra at PINK is, 'If you don't ask, you don't get.' Of course how you ask is key too."

The bottom line of this “new research,” which erroneously cites its margin of error at approximately 3%, is to plug both Joseph Grenny and Cynthia Good’s companies at the expense of women.