One positive (if you don’t get mad at me for saying this) that can come from the coronavirus outbreak is companies are more than happy to have you work from home to help contain the potential spread. I know many of you would LOVE to continue to work from home even after this public health concern subsides. So how can you negotiate a work-from-home role?
Here is how I advised a Fortune 100 high-level executive to successfully accomplish this in her new job recently:
1. Research the organization to determine how WFH (Work-from-Home) is perceived culturally.
2. Determine how prolific work-from-home opportunities are already used within this organization.
3. Demonstrate how familiar you are with online project organization/communication apps, such as Slack, Asana, Microsoft Teams, Trello, etc., to show how you can either introduce them to your organization or assimilate quickly into what exists at the organization.
4. At the offer stage, make a proposal of working from home partially for the activities that can be done from a phone or computer. Cite the many advantages that can come from working from home.
5. Offer a trial period of evaluation, 90 days for example, to give the employer a chance to alter the arrangement if needed.
6. Once you accept the offer inclusive of your work-from-home component, work your tail off to make the work from home arrangement work out! That can be key in being able to continue doing so.
Working from home is just one of the flexibilities that should be evaluated into an offer when comparing offers received to your current employment situation. It can help to compare quality-of-life perks side-by-side to determine if you are getting a good deal as there are a number of critical factors to consider when deciding if the job offer is right for you. Of course, a large part of that is salary and making sure you can negotiate yourself into the salary range you want and deserve. Be mindful not to lower your salary goals too much just for the opportunity to work from home. The goal is to secure a financial future that aligns with your lifestyle goals. These tips should help.