Negotiating Isn't Just for Pay

Suzanne Lucas wrote a piece a while back whose title sounds like a corrective to a certain type of nosy person: "Your Co-Worker is a Slacker. Here's Why She Gets Special Privileges."

My hot take is that such a piece will be lost on about three quarters of the people who need to read it. The kind of person who assumes you're a slacker on the basis of any of these alone is probably a little too invested in finding fault with others.

The rest will be fine after thinking something like Oh. I never thought about that.

For the rest of us, the piece gives lots of interesting examples of things that, while sometimes resulting from improper government regulations, are things one can negotiate upon, say, accepting a job offer. Compensation need not be confined to money.

Here's an example of what the unimaginative will take for clay feet and the innovative might consider during the appropriate time with a hiring manager or a boss:

"Asses in seats:" a surrogate for productivity for bad managers and a surrogate for virtue for nosy coworkers. (Image by kreatikar, via Pixabay, license.)

Some people value flexibility over money. Some people want a 35-hour workweek instead of a 40-hour workweek and are willing to be paid for 35 hours instead of 40 to make that work. Your co-worker may be working fewer hours than you are, but she may be getting paid a heck of a lot less than you are for the privilege.

The title is great: I bet lots of people can tell when a coworker wrongly thinks they're getting away with something. (I once got grief for the position I placed my desk in. I did it because I startle easily and had to share space with two other people.)

Many readers will come for the catharsis from reading an all-purpose corrective/gentle rebuke, and leave with some possibly useful ideas.

-- CAV