Written By: Jillian Climie.
You’ve gotten the job offer and you're feeling good about the compensation and benefits package. Anything else you should be negotiating for?
We recommend thinking about allowances. Over the past few years, we’ve seen them become more and more common as organizations compete with each other to attract and retain the best talent. Read on for five types of allowances you should consider negotiating for.
1) Professional development & coaching allowances. If you’re entering a new role, chances are you’ll need to learn new skills or tools to excel at it. This is a great opportunity to think about what coaching or support might be helpful to set you up for success. For example, maybe you’re taking on your first people leadership role. In this case, you could ask for an executive coach for the first four months in role so you can master your leadership skills and set up a strong team culture. Coaching and professional development is often a small expense to the company, but can have big implications on your success in the role (as well as your enjoyment of it). Think about specific training, coaches, professional development organizations, industry associations and certifications you might want to negotiate for.
2) Fitness allowances. Another important allowance we’ve seen become more common in the last few years is coverage of items like gym memberships, exercise classes, personal trainers, exercise bikes, and workout gear. It's a meaningful way for employers to be supporting their people more holistically. If this is something important to you, especially if you’re moving to a new office location where you might need to switch up your fitness routine, it’s a great one to negotiate for.
3) Technology allowances. Most employers will purchase you a laptop if that's something you need to be able to do your job, but another item to consider getting coverage of is your cell phone. As part of your responsibilities, are you expected to be available by cell phone for texts, calls and/or emails, especially outside of typical working hours? If so, consider asking your employer to cover a certain amount of your phone bill each month, or request a work cell phone. It might not seem like a huge amount, but it adds up over time.
4) Work from home allowances. This type of allowance rose in popularity over the past couple years due to the pandemic. Now that many employers have remote or hybrid work arrangements, make sure you’re getting the coverage needed to set yourself up with an appropriate home office. This might mean being able to expense monitors and an ergonomic office chair, or it might look like a pre-set allowance for you to use as you wish on an annual basis.
5) Car & home allowances. Are you being asked to drive a lot for your role? Make sure you’re getting all expenses related to this travel covered, or consider requesting a company car. Additionally, if you’re being asked to travel frequently to another location (for example, traveling to a head office in another city) housing allowances are important to think about at the executive level. Lastly, consider the time you're spending on travelling as well – are you getting some of that back in banked time if it's on evening and weekends?
Once you’ve determined the allowances you want to negotiate for, it’s time to figure out how you’ll frame the ask. Reach out to us at The Thoughtful Co today to book in a prep session to set yourself up for success.
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