With International Women’s Day fast approaching, businesses across Australia are scrambling to secure a woman to present to their workforce in an effort to tick a diversity, equity and inclusion box. But is it window dressing, or is it a sincere effort to change the tide on gender equality by giving a genuine platform to women leaders to act as a role model and inspiration for others?
This year’s International Women’s Day theme is March Forward: It’s time to turn promises into progress. It stems from the lip service of too many businesses failing to turn their intent into action. While it’s easy to slap a phrase on a website about being an inclusive and diverse organisation, it’s much harder to ensure it’s a reality.
It’s ironic that, in many cases, female leaders being asked to speak on this exact topic are being expected to do so for free.
While it’s encouraging that women are being tapped on the shoulder and that we get to see more of them grace our stages, we need to talk about whether they are being justly compensated for their time and wisdom.
Women leaders need to hold their ground and know their worth
International Women’s Forum Australia members recently discussed shared experiences of having received requests to speak at IWD events with a proportionate fee completely omitted from the discussion. In some cases, requests involved the women being expected to cover their own expenses for overseas travel and accommodation to fulfil the expectations.
While the cohort is connected by a shared desire to further women’s leadership and is generous with mentoring and sharing their knowledge to achieve this, it was agreed participating in these requests only exacerbates the problem and devalues their worth.
IWFA member Gabrielle Dolan is an international keynote speaker, best-selling author and podcaster. She believes in the power of storytelling to move people, spark change and influence and she urges women not to diminish the craft, nor themselves.
“If you’ve been approached to speak to any number of people it clearly demonstrates that what you have to say is of value. Therefore, there is no reason why you should feel uncomfortable putting forward your proposed rate for this activity, in fact doing this often completely flips the script and instead (if they have any self-awareness) the person making the request might reflect and realise their misstep,” Dolan said.
“It can be difficult to determine what fee is fair for a keynote slot, but it’s vital women leaders know their worth when it comes to ensuring fair renumeration. There are exceptions to the rule and in rare cases you might decide to waive your fee for not-for-profits or organisations you are particularly passionate about. Generally though, speaking at an event isn’t just about the hour or so on stage, it’s a heavy lift that requires planning, creativity, speech writing, plenty of practice and mental load as the nerves kick in. All of these factors need to be taken into account when determining how much to charge.”
Why organisations need to consider their reputation and how seeking freebies could backfire
There are drawcards to being a keynote speaker. Presenting to a large and influential crowd can build credibility, position the speaker as an authority on a given topic, build their reputation and in some cases lead to future business or speaking opportunities. However, businesses shouldn’t assume that these kickbacks justify a zero-fee arrangement.
“It baffles me that organisations and event organisers today think it is okay to use women to further their own agenda, as though our contribution means nothing. A token bunch of flowers or bottle of wind in appreciation does not cut it. International Women’s Day is about women stepping into their power, businesses who don’t realise this risk being called out.”
As the workforce continues to evolve and improve across a number of key gender disparities, to truly turn promises into progress, this year women need to appropriately charge for their efforts and organisations need to recognise the benefits of investing in their insights.
