Today, we're thrilled to have LeChez Solages join us to discuss a vital yet often overlooked aspect of career progression: understanding total rewards. LeChez, who also co-hosts the Your Corporate IQ podcast, brings a wealth of knowledge about negotiating job offers and strategizing career moves.

Today, she’s here to help us look beyond the salary and consider the complete package, including work environment, benefits, bonuses, and even stock options. So, if you're currently navigating job offers or planning your next career move, turn up the volume—this episode is packed with invaluable insights to ensure you make well-informed decisions that align with both your financial goals and lifestyle needs.

Get ready to expand your understanding of what truly constitutes a rewarding job offer!

About Our Guest

LeChez Solages is a Talent Acquisition Strategist, DEI Global Leader, and Career Coach with over 10 years of corporate experience. LeChez has helped Fortune 500 companies such as Marriott International, Volvo Group, and Robert Half International achieve their talent acquisition and DEI initiative goals.

She advocates for sustainable DEI hiring and career development programs supported by mentorship and sponsorship. She strives to amplify Black voices and serve her community with corporate navigation coaching. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Towson University and currently resides in the DC metropolitan area. LeChez served on the board for Carlisle Young Professionals and is a graduate of the Leadership Cumberland Fellow Program.

Connect with LeChez

Website: https://yourcorporateiq.com

LinkedIn: LeChez Solages

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Website: https://www.moneytalkwitht.com

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Timestamps

[00:00] Consider salary, lifestyle, and willingness to adapt.

[05:35] Conduct research on potential employers for confidence.

[08:12] Remote, hybrid, onsite work arrangements in pandemic.

[11:11] Recruiters face challenges with stock and bonuses.

[14:55] Podcast covers career advice and negotiation tips.

[16:40] Expresses gratitude and promises comprehensive show notes.

Key Points Discussed

1. Understanding Total Rewards:

- LeChez explains that total rewards encompass not just the salary but also the scope of work, work environment and culture, work arrangements (remote, hybrid, onsite), medical benefits, and other perks such as bonuses and stock options.

2. Evaluating the Entire Offer Package:

- Importance of not focusing solely on salary.

- Importance of understanding all components of the offer to meet both basic and lifestyle needs.

3. Negotiating Job Offers:

- Tips on assessing whether to accept a pay cut.

- Importance of factoring in job satisfaction, company culture, and other non-monetary perks when considering an offer.

4. Company Culture and Fit:

- Strategies to evaluate company culture including informational interviews.

- Importance of finding a work environment that aligns with one's preferences and values.

5. Remote vs. Onsite Work Preferences:

- Discussion on how work arrangements affect job satisfaction and personal flexibility.

- Strategies for negotiating start dates around bonus cycles and understanding company policies for vacation payouts.

6. Additional Perks and Benefits:

- The significance of bonus structures, stock options, and other financial incentives.

- Understanding and not overlooking these perks when evaluating a job offer.

Additional Links & Resources

• Myers & Briggs Foundation
• Increase Your Corporate IQ With Tangil Johnson | Ep. 269
• Boost Your Career With Personal Branding: What You Need To Know! | Ep. 241
• How To Become A Better Negotiator So They Can’t Say No

Support this Podcast

Copyright 2024 Tiffany Grant

You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your money

nerd and financial coach. Now tighten those purse strings

and open those ears. It's the money talk with Tiff

podcast.

Hey, everyone. I am so excited because I have Lachez

Selaj on the line, and she is one of the co hosts of the your

corporate IQ podcast, which is put on by

one of my. The other co host is my career coach. So I

wanted her to come on the podcast today to talk about

something that's super important. So those that are in careers, make sure you

are turning up your headphones. Right now we're going to talk about total

rewards, how to negotiate job offers, and what to look for. So,

hey, Lachaise, how are you? I'm great. I'm great. Happy to be here. So happy

to be on your podcast, Tiffany. So proud of you.

Thank you so much. All right, so let's just hop right into for the audience.

First and foremost, what is total rewards? Great question.

So it's. It's a lot of things. So the total rewards,

as I see it, is. So it's the salary. So that's just one component of

an offer. It could be the scope of work. It could be the

environment or culture. It could be the work arrangements. Even so,

remote hybrid onsite. It could be the medical insurance.

It could also be other perks like bonuses and stocks. So that's really the

total offer, the total rewards. So the main point here is you don't want to

just focus on the salary piece. There's a whole set of

offerings that you have to concern yourself with, the entire package. So when it

comes to the money. So the salary piece,

you'll like this, Tiffany. So understanding the financial pieces, right? So

this is what you're concerned with. Evaluate what meets your basic

needs, right? So what's going to pay your bills? You know, fundamentally understand

that, then understand, perhaps your lifestyle needs. You know, you might have some

requirements around lifestyle. I know you and I have talked about lifestyle

and lifestyle creep before, but it's very important to know what your

requirements around lifestyle are. Is it? You need your nails done, things like this,

and just kind of do the math for both things, right? Your basic

needs and the lifestyle requirements. Do the math there first.

Yes. Yes. So I'm glad that you mentioned that it's more

than just salary, because I preach about that all the time. And

when I was in HR, you know, sometimes the salary

looks good, but the benefits are not there. So I'm glad that you

started us off with that and then looking at the salary

first. Right? So, yeah, that's a. That's cool. Everybody looks

at, you know, that number. But if we dig

deeper, what else should we be looking at once we get past making

sure the salary is where we need it to be? Yes, yes,

absolutely. I think salary is important, so of course that's going to be one of

the main considerations within that total reward. So I understand that,

but I think that once you know what your lifestyle requirements are and your basic

needs are met with a clear mind, you can start to look at and

understand what your expectations are now. So are you expecting

a 20% increase, for example, from where you are, or a 15%

increase? Right. So we can think about that clearly, knowing that, hey, I can

eat. Right.

And then are you willing to take a pay cut also, it's another consideration as

you're presented with this offer. Is it less than, you know, what you were expecting,

or is it less than what you're currently being offered? Are you willing to take

a pay cut? And why would you be willing to take a pay cut? What

are those things? I think you should know that as well. You know, that's a

good point, and let's just dive right into that. So if someone's like, you

know what? How do I figure this out? Like, I have no idea. I've

only been looking at the money and I'm like, if I see a few extra

dollars, I'm there. How do people figure out if

it would be a good move for them or not, even if it does entail

a pay cut? Yeah, I think that when we, when we go back to that

analysis of the total rewards, that's what helps you to do that. So you start

to prioritize. Right. So if the money is not

necessarily a priority, then if you look at things like the scope

of work, is the work that you're doing. Interesting, that might be a

big weight in terms of the total rewards. And if the offer is

attractive to you, so is this is the environment

something or culture that you really got a good feeling about, the company

or organization or the team? Do you feel comfortable there? That might

actually have more weight than the salary, even so, that would even

allow you, some of these things might allow you to take a pay cut. So

I think that's how you evaluate the offer. But understanding the other

pieces allows you to. To kind of do that. Maybe the medical

insurance, maybe that's something that's really pressing for you. What if they have great

benefits? Right? So if the medical insurance looks great. That might

allow you to take a little bit less if you're able to do that, but

it's about understanding what you want and then also what you're able to

do as you evaluate the offer. Amen. And going back to your

first point about making sure that the culture

is there, I feel like that is extremely important because if the

culture is not a good fit, you will be stressed out beyond be

belief, and it's probably not a good move. So one

strategy that I teach my students is to have informational

interviews with people that currently work at the

company or are in the department that they're interested in

or even in a position that they're interested in at another

company, just to see if the role that they're going

for would fit what they're looking for. So that's one tip

that I have. Do you have any tips when it comes to checking out company

culture? Yeah, I think that's a great one. Informational is a good way. Your

research too, right? I think particularly as a

candidate, if you're seeking work, looking for a job, you're actively

in the market, really do some research. And even if you're not, even if you

are currently working and you're presented with an offer, always do the research

about the company, right? Do a Google search.

What are some of the things that they're doing? What are they doing? Perhaps for

the community? How are they showing up? Perhaps in the DEI space, you

can kind of know these things before you even interact with a company or

interact with a recruiter or someone that's in a position of high hiring at that

company. So you could always say, you can already know that, oh, wow, this company

is showing up in a fantastic way with DEi, for example, if that's

something that you're interested in. But doing that research could also help you be a

little bit more comfortable with that culture and also provide you

with a foundation of knowledge to ask questions around that. So how

you know, how you know, what is your presence in Dei? Do you

have employee resource groups, things of that nature? You can start asking

questions that allow you to understand a culture during the interview

process so that at the end of the process, you're comfortable with the company. And

then from an environment standpoint, really understanding what type of environments you

thrive in is really important as well. You know, if you're a person that doesn't

really thrive in a big or kind of large organization, you need to

kind of understand that at the onset. You know, this might not be the right

environment for you? Are you better served at a small company versus a

large company? Is corporate really not a space for you? I think those are great

things to understand at the beginning as well. Yes, I love that. Know

thyself, y'all. And one thing that is really

huge, I know with your co host and probably

also with you, is the MBTI. So the Myers Briggs.

So understanding, like, what your personality type

is. And that way you can see, you know, if you would be a

good fit in certain situations. I know for me, in my

corporate career, the best employers I had were small employers.

It just felt like a family atmosphere. And I know some people are

like, I don't want to call my coworkers family,

but it really made the work more enjoyable for

me. So I learned kind of early on that I really like the

small companies and like the family atmosphere. So I'm

glad that you mentioned that because it is something important to consider.

So we've already talked about salary. We talked about

culture. We talked about maybe medical and, you know,

benefits in that regard. What else should people think

about? That's part of the total rewards. Yes, absolutely.

Something like work arrangements. So what I mean by that is remote

hybrid and onsite. This is something that, you know, in the

pandemic here, has increasingly been a concern or something

that people really need to understand about themselves. So a lot of these

companies, and I'll speak about the DC area, a lot of the large

companies here, have moved away from remote work. So I think that a lot of

us are seeing that now the opportunities to work remotely aren't

necessarily there anymore. So really understanding that about yourself, what are your

requirements there? I say that because, let's say, for

example, if a role is remote, you might be more flexible

with some of the other components of the offer. Right. So I know for

me in particular, I can be a little bit more flexible if the

role is remote, whereas if I'm going on site, I'm

looking for probably everything I was looking for. Right. So there's less wiggle

room when I have to drive into the company. Hybrid

is a nice in between. Right. You're going into the company, you're driving

in there twice a week or three days a week. That's also something to consider,

but I think it's as you evaluate and prioritize the total

rewards, these things could be priorities or things that you're really concerned with

as you evaluate the offer. I think other perks,

like bonuses and stocks, let's not forget about those other perks

as well. Outside of the salary and all these other things that we've talked

about in medical, there could be some other perks that you're currently

receiving. So let's say if you currently get a bonus in your

current role or you get stocks, what I want to say about this is you

want to make sure that you're not leaving something on the table, right. You don't

want to be losing money. Right. So you want to make sure that you

understand what your current offering is. Baseline, what's your

current offering? To make sure you're not losing out or leaving

money on the table with bonuses and stocks and perks like that as well. Oh,

my gosh. You said a mouthful of so much I want to hit on. Okay,

so let's rewind back

to the remote work component. So that is

really important because I know, like you said on the onset of COVID

everybody's like, oh, I want to work for home, I want to work from home.

That's what I want to do. But I know, like, for instance, when

I was in corporate, prior to going full time as an entrepreneur, I

enjoyed going to the office because it was like my getaway from home.

I could say, I'm at work, I can cut off work when

I come home. You know, those are some of the things that you have

to take into consideration, too. If you have your work at

home, they can kind of bleed into each other. And

so for me, me, I really enjoyed going to the office and

having my little space, and that was mine. And then once I was done with

work, leaving it there and getting home, so I really

enjoyed that. So I'm glad that you mentioned that. And then the other thing that

you mentioned about the stock options and then also

bonuses, this is something that doesn't really get a lot of

chat, but it can be significant. Yes,

yes, yes. I think as a

recruiter and certainly as an executive recruiter, I

bump into this very often. Right. So individuals that are

receiving hefty stock allowances and

hefty bonuses. And so those individuals

oftentimes they knew exactly what their stock offering

was, their allocation, they knew exactly what their bonuses were.

They know the time of year that you're going to receive your bonus.

So that even helps you to understand when you can start a position, right? So

there's so much knowledge that you go that you have to have before you even

start to evaluate that offer. You know, where are you in that

cycle? So if your bonus pays out in March and this

company needs you to start in January, there might be a

problem there. Right. So perhaps the solve would be I can

start in March. Right. Because you don't want to lose that

bonus. So those are the things that you have to know. And that's back to

the negotiation piece then. So it's okay, well, I can start my

position in, you know, the midpoint of March because you have to

take that bonus into consideration because you don't want to lose money on

the deal. Yes, yes, yes, yes.

That is so important. I remember when I

was considering leaving a job and they made

it, well, they didn't make it clear after doing my research, I

was like, oh, if I leave now or if I don't give the

notice that they require, then I'll leave, like my

vacation day payout and everything on the table, too. So let's talk

about that a little bit. So some, like companies have different

policies when it comes to vacation payouts and

sick day payouts and things like that. So when we're thinking

about making a transition to a new

company, what are things like that that we should

consider, too? That's really a good one. I think it's so

varied with that vacation payout. I

think in my career, what I've seen most often is that, yeah, you

are getting a vacation payout if you have not used your vacation

days. What I've seen as a standard is that you are being paid out those

vacation days. So I really couldn't speak to, like, another

policy. I think that's what I've seen the most. But you do have to pay

close attention to those things. Are you getting a vacation

payout? I think one of the most important things about

these types of things, whether it's the bonuses and the stocks and the vacation

payouts, I think the overarching lesson,

or what you need to do with evaluating is understanding. We're

understanding potential losses and gains.

Right. So you have to understand what the potential loss would

be, whether it's in salary, whether it's in the benefits, whether it's the

bonus or the stock. Right. And you want to mitigate that. You don't want to

have losses. Right. Or what the potential gains

could be. Right. So we want, do we want to gain in every area, do

we want to increase on salary and we want to increase on benefits and increase

on bonus and stock. So those are the things, you balance those things. But I

think that at a minimum, your total reward should at least meet

your current offering, if not exceed it. So those are the

things that fundamentally, I think you need to be concerned with making sure that

you're not losing money, making sure that it's at least

meeting your basic needs there, or at least equal to what you're receiving today.

Oh my gosh, you've dropped so many gems

on this podcast today. So if people were interested in

learning more about total rewards and benefits and things

that they should think about, is this stuff that you go over on the your

corporate IQ podcast? Yes, I mean, we. Yes, we definitely

cover that on the podcast so they can definitely connect with us. Your

corporate IQ episodes are on YouTube, so like us and

subscribe. You can visit our website as well,

yourcorporateiq.com, to learn about us and also schedule

an appointment for coaching services. So your corporate IQ,

LLC, we do provide coaching services. We do talk about things like

this, how to negotiate, you know, your

offers, your salaries, as well as other just general

navigation tips. Some of the things we talked about earlier in terms of knowing

yourself, I think those are some of the things that we start with really providing

you with the foundation of knowledge. Before you can even understand

these things, you have to know yourself and your skills and your abilities to

feel comfortable with having these negotiation conversations.

You can certainly find us on LinkedIn as well, and then you can also email

us@infoourporateiq.com dot we definitely want

to build, you know, an online community with the listeners, but I think that

the coaching services are so thorough and complete in terms of

starting with the foundation and then kind of moving into the evolution of,

you know, the actionable navigation tips

as we learn ourselves. I love that. I

love that. And I'll make sure I have all of that information

in the show notes as well. Now, are you all on social media or is

there anywhere that people can follow you there? Yeah, I'd say LinkedIn is a great

one because corporate IQ is a corporate space.

I think that's the best forum in terms of social media would be LinkedIn.

You can definitely see our content on TikTok. We are there. You can

see us on IG as well. But I think LinkedIn is a great

starting place for us just to be in a corporate community. Awesome.

Awesome. I'll make sure I have all of that in the show notes, y'all. So

if you didn't catch anything, definitely look there. Thank you

so much, Lachez, for coming on the podcast and talking about total rewards,

because I don't think we've ever talked about it and you dropped so many

gems. And I know we could talk for hours about

this, but we can't give it all away for the people.

So thank you so much. You're welcome. Happy to be here. I think this is

a great topic. I think, I think like you said, it's not something that is

talked about enough. Certainly with the bonuses, I think that piece

and just the total rewards, you're not just evaluating a salary. I think there's

not enough discussion about that. So I appreciate you for doing

this. Wonderful. Once again, wonderful. Thank you so much. All right. Thank

you. Bye. Thank you for listening, joining and

being a part of the Money Talk with TIFF podcast this week. You can check

Tiff out every Thursday for a new money talk podcast. But if you

just can't wait until next week, you can listen to previous podcast

episodes@moneytalkwitht.com or

follow TIFF on all social media platforms at

moneytalkwitht. Until next time, spend wise

by spending less than you make a word to the money wise is

always sufficient.