I learnt a valuable lesson last weekend, but didn't realise it at the time. Thinking about it now, it wasn't my proudest moment - either as a supporter of women in the workplace or as the mother of a young girl.
Let me rewind.
Last weekend, my nine-year-old daughter came to me with an idea.
"If I do my chores, can you pay me Dh10 in pocket money for each one?" she asked.
"So if I do five chores a week, then you have to give me Dh50."
I thought it was amusing. Not that she'd finally remembered her five times tables, but because she was negotiating a "pay rise" and yet avoids her chores like the plague. And then wonders why she's not getting any pocket money.
But, as we say in our house, you don't get money for nothing. Unfortunately, that ethos is taking a while to sink in. So she continues to get no pocket money for, well, doing nothing most days.
Keeping her bedroom tidy, packing her schoolbag and taking care of the stray kitten she has adopted are just a few of her daily responsibilities.
It's hard to gauge how much a child's pocket money should be these days - it's not like there's an industry standard to turn to on this one.
My daughter, though, reckons she's worth Dh10 a chore (just between you and me, I think she is priceless), or a minimum of Dh30 a day. So seven times Dh30 is Dh210 a week, or a grand total of Dh840 a month.
That's a lot of money for many people in the UAE - and way too much for a nine-year-old child to receive in return for doing just a few chores a week, if they do them at all.
It's also a far cry from my first job as a dishwasher in a Chinese restaurant when I was a teenager. Sure, I worked just four hours a week on a Friday night, but all I received was A$2 an hour (that's Dh7.65 at today's rate) for my efforts. That amounted to $8 a week, or $32 a month. Suffice to say, I do my best to avoid doing the dishes these days. And will never get out of bed for $2 an hour again. But I did learn the value of money and how hard it can be to earn it.
But back to the negotiating table.
"What if you do all your chores for Dh20 a week - or Dh80 a month?" I shot back. "And you don't get paid if you don't do them."
But I think my daughter knew that: "Oh, OK," she replied.
And that was the end of our first "salary" negotiation exercise. She went back to her Littlest Pet Shop toys and I didn't think about it again.
Until a few days later, that is, when I read a working paper explaining why there continues to be a gender pay difference in the workplace.
Unfortunately, I didn't recognise in my nine year old what many women tend to avoid in the workplace: negotiating their salaries.
So kudos to my daughter, but not to me - who acted like an unapproachable, dismissive, tight-fisted employer.
The working paper, by Andreas Leibbrandt from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and John List, from the University of Chicago in the United States, asked the question: do women avoid salary negotiations?
Their findings are based on a field experiment they conducted that "randomises nearly 2,500 job-seekers into jobs that vary important details of the labour contract".
And what they found is interesting.
"We find that when there is no explicit statement that wages are negotiable, men are more likely to negotiate than women," they said.
"However, when we explicitly mention the possibility that wages are negotiable, this difference disappears, and even tends to reverse.
"In terms of sorting, we find that men in contrast to women prefer job environments where the 'rules of wage determination' are ambiguous.
"This leads to the gender gap being much more pronounced in jobs that leave negotiation of wage ambiguous."
My first thought? Why do women wait to be told that it is OK to negotiate their salary? Are they being polite? Or do they take it on face value that if a company doesn't state if a salary is negotiable, then there's no point in even trying?
Men don't seem to think so and will take a shot at it anyway. Nothing ventured is nothing gained, as they say.
And so it's back to the negotiating table for me. Not to give my daughter that pay rise, but to let her know that we'll be reviewing her request in three months' time. And to help her learn that all-important art of negotiating.
After all, I don't want her to be backwards in coming forward when it comes to workplace bargaining in the real world - even if it might be years away.
fglover@thenational.ae
WHAT%20MACRO%20FACTORS%20ARE%20IMPACTING%20META%20TECH%20MARKETS%3F
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
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Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.0-litre%20four-cyl%20turbo%20%2B%20mild%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E204hp%20at%205%2C800rpm%20%2B23hp%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E320Nm%20at%201%2C800rpm%20%2B205Nm%20hybrid%20boost%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E9-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E7.3L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2FDecember%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh205%2C000%20(estimate)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness'
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg and Rachel McAdams
Rating: 3/5
'Nope'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jordan%20Peele%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Daniel%20Kaluuya%2C%20Keke%20Palmer%2C%20Brandon%20Perea%2C%20Steven%20Yeun%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
Quick%20facts
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