How Might Working from Home Be Limiting Your Career Chances?
As we approach the 3-year mark since the start of the pandemic, remote and hybrid work arrangements are now the norm. Workers’ expectations for flexibility and freedom have been firmly established, and it’s unlikely the clock will be turned back. Organizations and their leaders, especially HR leaders, have been experimenting with, and in many cases struggling to implement best practices that support the new working arrangements. Balancing the business demands with the different preferences of workers has proven to be challenging.
Citrix studied 900 business leaders and 1,800 knowledge workers employed in 9 countries. Employees had three distinct working arrangements:
a. Office-based - full-time in the office
b. Hybrid – a mix of 3-2 or 2-3 days in the office and WFH
c. Remote – full-time WFH
The good news is that the study found that hybrid workers reported being more productive and engaged among other benefits than their entirely office-based or entirely remote counterparts.
But how are these new work arrangements impacting career advancement opportunities? Are those working from home at a career opportunity disadvantage relative to their office-based colleagues?
The short answer to the question of how working from home (WFH) may be hurting your career is that ‘it depends.” Here are five questions to ask yourself and four actions you should be taking when it comes to working arrangements and your career goals.
1.) How competitive are your skill sets? In a tight labor market, employers can cast a wider net to source talent that is in short supply, and they are taking the opportunity to do so. Employers report being able to fill positions that were otherwise hard, if not impossible to fill, by offering fully remote or hybrid work arrangements. In a low-unemployment, competitive labor market such as the one we are experiencing now, career advancement may be possible within or outside your current organization, but how marketable you are and how in-demand your skills are may matter when it comes to opportunities to advance.
2.) Are you vulnerable to proximity bias? Are some or all co-workers working under the same arrangements and can this matter? Proximity bias is the dynamic where leaders favor employees who are in the office more often for promotions and pay raises and according to some, the problem is not only real but also likely to get worse as more companies return to the office. Studies by Envoy and SHRM suggest the contributions of remote workers are overlooked more often and result in fewer promotions than their office-based peers (in spite of their higher productivity).
Why being in the office might matter.
Workplace platform Envoy surveyed 1,000 employees and 250 executives in the U.S. and found that 96% of executives say that they notice, and value employees’ contributions made in the office far more than work done from home.
“People are choosing to be remote with the expectation that their career will move at the same pace as their in-person colleagues. If proximity bias persists, it could damage their career advancement without them understanding why … and that worries me the most.”
3.) Do your organization’s leadership and culture support or discourage WFH arrangements? Several prominent CEOs (Elon Musk and Jamie Dimon among them) have spoken against working from home while other leaders embrace and foster strong WFH arrangements, including GM’s CEO, Mary Barra.
“It is up to leaders to focus on the work, not the where, and we will provide the tools and resources needed to make the right decisions to support our teams. ”
4.) Is technology supporting remote and hybrid employees and teams? The right tech can drive inclusivity and equalize performance according to Citrix. Does your organization offer the minimal technology necessary for you to successfully connect and collaborate with your colleagues?
The good news is that new technology is around the corner that will improve remote working. This includes holograms and augmented reality. As cameras become cheaper and higher in quality, online meetings will be enhanced by zoom capabilities and more in-room cameras, making remote participation a superior experience.
“We are seeing the beginnings of ‘Extreme Collaboration’ where tech enables us to collaborate in ways that we have never seen before and promises to reconfigure the relationships between colleagues and teams.”
5.) Do your leaders possess good virtual leadership skills? Even if your leaders support WFH arrangements, only 20% rated themselves as “very effective” at leading virtual teams, according to DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast, 2021. DDI identified five key leadership skills that are proven to impact team engagement and performance:
Build trust and inclusion
Communicate well and often
Drive focus and accountability
Create a strong team culture
Avoid burnout with empathy
If your leaders lack these virtual leadership skills and the culture is not inclusive of all employees, wherever they are working, ask yourself how ideal the environment may be for advancing your career.
How Hybrid and Remote Workers Can Promote Their Own Career Advancement
Do your part to combat proximity bias. Where feasible, be sure to work from the office one or two days a week, especially when in-person meetings are scheduled to increase your visibility. Be sure to provide your bosses with regular brief updates and reports on progress against your key objectives. Take time to connect with co-workers. Learn about and show interest in the work others are engaged in. Introduce yourself to colleagues (face-to-face and over email). Share what you’ve been working on.
Strengthen your networking skills. Networking is even more important for hybrid and remote workers, and it requires investing time to successfully manage your career. Remember, making and strengthening connections today doesn’t have to be in person. Nor do you have to be an extrovert to be a successful networker. Join relevant professional associations and participate in in-person and online meetings and conferences. Set up coffee/lunch dates and/or 30-minute calls. Use your LinkedIn network to connect with fellow professionals and prepare notes/questions ahead of time to get the most out of these opportunities. Tip: A must-read is “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi.
Keep your skills up to date. Keep up to date with developments in your field and hone your technical skills. In order to advance your career in leadership roles, however, demands that you develop relevant competencies. Learn about leadership competencies required for success in your organization through your HR department and by asking leaders about their career journeys and skill development. Ask about leadership programs, including coaching and mentoring opportunities.
If you are actively seeking a WFH role, be sure to ask questions about the policies and technology in place to onboard and support WFH employees.
Working arrangements take several forms, and there are many factors that can play into how easy career progression will be for WFH employees.
Working from home can be isolating, but you can combat this by purposefully scheduling time to connect with others.
Reading & References
articles
Akhter, Maria. Proximity Bias in the Workplace: Data Shows It's a Problem. Envoy, 27 Sept. 2022.
deBara, Deanna. How Hybrid Work Is Shaping Career Development. Lattice, 22 Mar. 2022.
“Hybrid Workplace: Are Your Leaders Ready to Lead Effective Hybrid Teams?” DDI.
research
Bloom, Nicholas, et al. “How Hybrid Working from Home Works Out.” NBER, 25 July 2022. Hybrid working from home (WFH), whereby employees work a mix of days at home and at work each week, has become dominant for graduate employees in the US. This paper evaluates a randomized control trial on 1612 engineers, marketing and finance employees of a large technology firm that allowed odd birthday employees to WFH on Wednesday and Friday and kept even birthday employees full-time in the office. There are four key results.
“Covid-19 & Careers: The Effect of the Pandemic on Career Progression.” BambooHR, Apr. 2021. BambooHR surveyed 1000 U.S.-based employees to discover how remote work and the events of 2020 impacted their careers, well-being, and plans for the future. 78% think their career development has been negatively affected over the past year, with the top factors being burnout (25%) and having to balance home and/or family life (25%).
“Work Rebalanced: The Citrix Hybrid Work Report - Citrix.” Fieldwork by Citrix, 2022. The study included information from 900 business leaders (job titles included Chief Executive Officer, Chief Finance Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Managing Director, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Operating Officer), and 1,800 employees (knowledge workers) in Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
audio/podcast
Ringer, The. “Is Hybrid Work Doomed?” Apple Podcasts, Plain English with Derek Thompson, 14 Oct. 2022.
“Work Rebalanced: The Citrix Hybrid Work Report.” Fieldwork by Citrix, 2022. Listen to the article cited above, covering the results of this extensive opinion study on the four pillars (technology, flexibility, trust, and collaboration). Insight into the forces challenging and reshaping their organizations.