Virtually Impossible? Getting a Promotion for your Remote Job.
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Working Remote is a Dream, but How do You Get Promoted?
Working 100% remotely is great… or is it? How do you get noticed for the promotion? Decision makers don't see you in the office anymore and it seems you're being overlooked for better positions.
Headlines and streams scream, “we can’t find good people”, “we will do anything to keep the talent we have”, “we gave everyone a 50% raise”. Yet, there are hardworking, loyal people at every level who don’t seem to be swimming in the prosperity.
Is your remote working situation getting in the way of your career advancements? In this post get some career advice to keep your remote work from getting in the way of your next career move.
Remote Work Has Significant Benefits. Could the Cost be Lack of Career Advancement?
Two years of Covid have forced many employers into a new reality where survival has brought with it a pandemic game of Whack-a-Mole (has the name been changed by the PC police?). A workaround on one challenge leads to another issue popping up.
A record 3.8 million Americans quit their jobs in December, 2021. Signing bonuses, once for professional athletes and executives, may have found their way to shop floors and neighborhood service shops.
The world of remote, virtual, hybrid jobs can have significant benefits. No commute. Pajama work uniform. Savings on childcare. Where is the downside?
Working Remote Can be Career Stalling – Failure to Communicate.
Frustrated and finding that promotion just out of reach? Could YOU be the reason? A recurring career mistake is assuming “my work will speak for itself”. It probably never did, but a remote job presents new risks of invisibility, no matter how hard you are working. If your boss doesn’t recognize your skills and contributions, it’s on you.
Can You Communicate Your Boss's Expectations?
Working from home may mean more hours and fewer boundaries because you are “always at work”. Lots of content available on this. However, what if you are working hard, but your efforts are not in alignment with your boss’s expectations? If you can't articulate your boss’s priorities, you don’t deserve to be promoted. Communication and calibration are even more important when working remotely. Your boss can’t see what you are doing. Could you be working passionately on the wrong things?
- Create your own feedback loop that spotlights your contributions and their impact.
Would You Promote You?
Expecting your boss to wake up tomorrow and make promoting you a top priority is unlikely. How have you made your employer more profitable, efficient, responsive? This is not bragging, tooting your own horn, kissing up or any snide description.
Tips from an Executive Career Coach:
Sharing your accomplishments with your boss is an essential exchange of data. Get comfortable with initiating this conversation. Document the numbers and other metrics necessary to support your case.
- Don’t wait for your boss to notice.
- Give your boss clear reasons why you should be promoted. If the boss likes an elegant Excel worksheet, use it. If she prefers a sit down over coffee, start pouring.
Just as the workplace has changed, your intentional communication with your boss needs an update. Waiting for your performance review may be too late.
To get in touch with Executive Career Coach, Mark Gonska, use this link to schedule a 15 minute phone call, or fill out this form to tell him more about your situation.