Reverse Telecommuting

There are so many new words being birthed by the changing workplace.  Words like “googling” as a verb, electronic immigrants, prairie dogging, ohnosecond, blamestorming, seagull manager, chainsaw consultant, flight risk, assmosis, uninstalled, and cube farm.

We all understand the term “telecommuting” – when you have work from the office to complete at home.  How about the opposite of that – “reverse telecommuting.”  This is the commonplace practice of bringing personal work to the office. It’s no secret a whole lot of time is spent with employees paying personal bills, making personal phone calls, making flight arrangements, medical and social appointments, reading online newspapers, updating FaceBook, and texting family members – all on company time.

Arguably, some of these can only be handled during normal work hours, but how much is acceptable?  According to a recent survey by Salary.com, the average worker admits to frittering away 2.09 hours per 8-hour workday, not including lunch and scheduled break-time.  Yes, companies assume a certain amount of wasted time when they determine employee pay.  However, the survey indicates employees are wasting about twice as much time as their employers expect.  Estimates are that employers are spending $769 billion per year on salaries for which real work was expected, but not actually performed.

Would you be willing to be paid for results only, rather than for time spent in the office?  Would that increase or decrease your compensation?

Show me the money – in my paycheck!

Here’s a question I received a couple of days ago:

“Dan – I work for a large corporation and have recently applied for a new position. The person in this position before me has the same credentials as I do and about the same experience. They have offered me the position for about $5,500.00 less than what was being paid to the previous person.  What do you think is the best way to handle this situation?”

 Here are some guidelines:

Pay is NOT based on:

• Your age
• Your previous salary (or the previous salary for the position)
• Your degrees
• Your work history
• The amount of your mortgage payment
• How long you’ve been unemployed
• Whether you’re married or single

The only criteria for determining your value is:

• Your unique value and level of responsibility

 The biggest mistake people make in negotiating salary is:

• To discuss it too soon

 Check sites like Salary.com to see a realistic range