Maximizing Your Leverage – Negotiating Remote Work (And Other Perks) In The Post-Pandemic Era

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In the latest edition of CEOs Gone Wild, one CEO told her employees, “You can visit Pity City but you can’t live there,” because they weren’t getting bonuses (CEO’s compensation - $5 million), and another CEO commended an employee for selling their dog because they could not both own a pet and devote themselves to the company. Did we mention there are banking and cryptocurrency meltdowns happening? Those CEOs went wild too.

Professionals are at an inflection point with their fundamental relationship with their employers, many of whom turn out to be poor stewards of their businesses, hucksters, Cruellas, and people who are happy when other people are forced to sell their dogs. If only Dante was alive to add another circle of Hell.

While every sector has its own divides, one issue that unites skilled professionals is remote work vs. back to the office. Remote work’s demise is the prediction that never seems to materialize in a substantive way. Let’s be clear. It does not matter how many major companies push for a return to the office and how many employees ultimately do. Deep inside the professional’s consciousness, a paradigm shift has already happened. The tug-of-war has just begun.

For example, large and influential companies like Google and Apple are bringing their employees back to the office at the same time there is a new drive for asynchronous work, where remote work can be completed on any schedule the worker decides. The poles are moving further apart. Nobody wants to give. This test of wills is untenable. What happens when you want to work remotely and your employer wants you back in the office? What do you do?

As a job seeker, what kind of actual leverage do you have? Are you in an advantageous bargaining position?  The first step is to understand your parameters.

1.     Understand what’s important to you. Why do you want to work remotely? Is it because it’s a nice perk, or do you have a real need? Is it a matter of principle? You need to have an in-depth understanding of your motivating factors before you take an adversarial position than your employer or torpedo a job interview.

2.     Are you prepared for the trade-offs? You sacrifice visibility when you work remotely and it may impact your career mobility. If you are working in your remote silo, you aren’t actively developing meaningful professional relationships with your co-workers or/and clients. You may also be paid less. If you are in high demand and you want to be a digital nomad, you may be able to make it work over the long term. Otherwise, you may be a perpetual temporary worker who has walled themselves off from opportunities that may have been available to you have you returned to the office.

3.     Are you prepared to disconnect from communal and historic knowledge? Work used to be structured in a simple way - master and apprentice. In an office, there are many masters and many apprentices, and the interaction between all of these various people creates institutionalized knowledge critical for the functioning of the company and for learning new skills. If you’re not there, you’re missing out on all of that and you’re not building your professional network.

4.     Decide what you’re willing to accept. If you choose not to die on Remote-Work Hill and are willing to compromise, what model will make you happy? For example, let’s say you’re offered a mostly remote position but you have to come into the office twice a week, which means you have to live in the geographic location of where the office is located. Are those acceptable terms? If not, what would be? Think in through or what little leverage you do have may dissipate quickly during a negotiation.

5.     Companies have rights too. Hence the Golden Rule – he who has the gold makes the rules. If a company name is on your paycheck, it’s delivered on time, and it clears the bank, the company has every right to dictate the terms of what they are buying, in this case, labor. Your employer can set whatever requirements they want and if you don’t want to abide by them then you are free to seek employment elsewhere.

Now let’s take a quick look at what leverage you may have when negotiating the terms of your employment.

1.     Do an honest assessment of your skill set and the business landscape. If your employer mandates a return to the office and you’re committed to 100% remote finding common ground may not be in the cards. However, if you see movement on one or both ends you may have more negotiating power. Read the tea leaves.

2.     Understand that compromise comes from both sides. If a company is ready to compromise on how it schedules and manages its labor force, you should be ready to compromise on what you will do for the company. Unless you’re the Elon Musk of remote workers (you’re not), there will be give and take and you should be prepared to give (but don’t sell your dog).

3.     Be aware. Even if your employer is open to negotiating remote or hybrid work, you may not have as much leverage as you think you do. Don’t rush your actions. Do your due diligence. Your employer may be responsive, but if you overplay your position you may end up alienating yourself, or if you’re interviewing you may be removed from the process if they believe you’re not a right match due to differing opinions on remote work vs. return to the office.

4.     Make your opening gambit, but make it respectfully. Whether you approach a current employer or are in the interview room, be direct. Ask for what you want. You may receive a unilateral “no” and that’s that. But maybe you’ll get a maybe and then the game is on. Remember your professional etiquette. Don’t make an issue if you don’t get the answer you want. See where your e, employer or potential employer stands. If (when) asked questions about your position, be honest.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

The Joy of Salary Negotiation

After you've sent a resume to a company, somebody in human resources will call you up to screen you for fit. Inevitably, they will ask you what you will be looking for in terms of salary.

This is where it gets tricky. It's kind of like a game of chicken – salary discussions, especially at the beginning of the process, are especially difficult because the first one to give away their position loses their leverage to negotiate.

Your goal here is not necessarily aligned to the company's goal in terms of compensation. Assuming the position is a good match for both parties, here's where your interests diverge.

Your goal as a job seeker is to get the best salary offer you can.

The company's goal is to get the best candidate into the position in the most cost-effective manner possible.

In other words - you want to get a boatload of cash; the company would rather you work there for free. The actual figure you agree upon is the reality.

Before we get into negotiation strategy, let's discuss a few facts about how corporate salaries are determined (by the way, this is a heavy simplification of the compensation process, so I'm sure that some compensation professionals out will have some information to add):

1. Companies - especially larger ones - usually have salary bands in which employees need to fit. For a particular position, there is an assigned salary range. For example, the company may have determined that they are able to pay between $15 and $20 per hour for an administrative assistant. The reason for this is that they don't want to have too much of a salary discrepancy between individuals doing the same type of job, but they want to have some wiggle room for folks with more experience.
2. Salaries are usually driven by market data. A company will subscribe (and often provide information) to compensation studies telling them what the market will pay for a particular job. The data take into consideration several factors - the skill set involved, competitive nature of the market, geography, what competitors are willing to pay and other information.
3. A company decides upon a compensation philosophy. This goes back to the market data described above. After looking at the data, company executives make a decision about their compensation philosophy as to how it relates to their compensation. A company looking to aggressively hire high-performing talent or that competes in a fast-changing market like technology tends to extend offers at the higher end of the range. Other companies may look to hire at the general market salaries, tending toward the average.
4. Companies often have less flexibility on salaries for recent graduates and entry-level hires. This applies to your newly minted MBA just as much as it does to your nephew who recently received their bachelor's degree. Companies will often have a concrete salary structure for these recent grads, with adjustments up and down for work location and the ranking for the school from which they graduated.
5. There's a lot more to consider in the offer than just salary - benefits matter. A lot. Companies often pay a great deal of money to provide a competitive benefits package. You know that health insurance the company's offering? Not every employer subsidizes the same amount to cover that, often leaving you - the employee - to pay a larger share of your premiums or co-pays.  There are other benefits, too - dental insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, tuition reimbursement, vacation time, holidays, company car, 401(k) matches and so on - into which companies can often pay dearly. A richer benefits package leaving more money in your pocket may give an employer a viable incentive to offer a lower base salary while still helping an employee make ends meet.
6. Variable compensation matters too. By this, I mean bonuses, profit sharing and long-term incentives. Not every job offers an incentive, which rewards the employee if they or the company has a good year. A bonus is real money, and a company's philosophy may be to offer a lower base salary in exchange for a desirable bonus target.

Here are some considerations when negotiating salary:

• It's to your advantage to avoid giving a specific expected salary figure until it's essential.  It's not always possible to hold off - a recruiter may really push for a specific number to ensure that you fit their structures - but try. It's ideal to see if it's a good marriage before locking yourself down to a specific number - this way, you keep your leverage.
• Sometimes ignorance can work in your favor. This isn't always true, but in certain cases it can be. If you're a recent graduate and an employer is asking you what you are looking for in terms of salary, it's okay to say, "I don't have a specific figure in mind, I am looking for a compensation package that is in line for a recent graduate with an MBA from my university." A similar approach also works well if you know you've been underpaid against the market, saying something like, "I'm looking for a salary that is in line with my experience and education."
• The employer may really push to find out your salary expectations. In which case, you may wish to consider taking a slightly different approach with your answer - "In my current position I have been earning $x, I am looking for a salary that will take into consideration the accomplishments and experiences I gained in my present role." You're not telling the employer you are asking for a specific figure - you're giving an idea of where you've been.
• Sometimes it doesn't matter what you want. See #4 above - the company may pay EVERYBODY the same for a certain job. You have the choice of taking or leaving the offer.
• Ask about the benefits. A rich benefits package has real cash value. Consider what you're being offered as part of the perqs as part of the total compensation.
• A sign-on bonus may make up the difference. There are times when a company really wants to get you on board, but their salary bands (or some other reason) may prevent them from offering a higher salary. Or maybe you are walking away from a bonus at your current job. A sign-on bonus might help close the gap during that first year.
• Be sincere in your negotiations. Assuming this is true - tell the corporate recruiter that you really want to make this work and that company x is clearly your first choice. Perhaps you are willing to meet somewhere in the middle of what was offered and what you asked for - tell them. The more you can make the recruiter feel that this is a partnership designed to meet a common goal, the better.
• The choice is ultimately yours. You don't have to accept the job at the salary offered just because the company offers you the position. If you've negotiated in good faith, then you should be able to walk away from an offer with no hard feelings. Which leads me to one last point...
• Avoid getting into the negotiations for counter-offers with your current employer.  It's not recommended - find out why here.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.