A new challenge for hybrid and remote workers: Promotions

Shedding the constraints of a five-day workweek and embracing a remote or hybrid work model has been life-changing for employees. However, this lack of facetime may have a negative impact on milestones like raises and promotions. As the saying goes, if 80% of success is showing up, how can employees in a home office prove themselves equal to their in-office peers?

Trade organization The American Staffing Association recently surveyed 2,019 U.S. adults and found that 56% believe employees who work exclusively in-office have a competitive advantage over their fully remote counterparts when it comes to getting raises, bonuses and promotions. For the 44% of those surveyed who would be willing to take a pay cut if it meant they could work remotely, this may not be an issue. For the rest, a balance between flexibility and professional advancement must be established. 

"A majority of adults believe hybrid work arrangements could have a negative impact on their careers and career development," says Richard Wahlquist, president and CEO of ASA. "Many of us grew up with performance evaluations, and one of the ticks on those was, 'Does [this employee] show up every day on time?' It has been reinforced that to get ahead in life as a working adult, I have to follow a schedule someone else set for me. The anxiety that is ingrained — dependability equals success and accomplishment and recognition — is pretty hard to overcome both for employees and employers." 

Read more: What's a 'quiet promotion,' and why is it bad for business?

On the flip side, employers have seen firsthand how productive their people can be at home, and according to research from Zippia, 83% of workers desire a hybrid work model. The ASA survey also showed that parents, Millennials and Gen Z are more likely to choose a hybrid work model, and as such a large majority of the workforce and the future of many companies, these groups cannot be overlooked. So where are the discrepancies when it comes to deciding who is entitled to a promotion, and how can these be properly addressed so that this newfound flexibility isn't sacrificed by those looking to climb the corporate ladder?

"Now all of a sudden we've been given this freedom — the unintended consequence of COVID — that for most white collar workers gives the opportunity to work remotely for at least part of a week," says Wahlquist. "Some of the discussions are about the future of remote and hybrid work, and how we are going to strike the right balance, so it's not surprising that this is causing a lot of concern and uncertainty for employees." 

Read more: 40% of the C-suite wants to quit due to stress. Who will replace them?

In order to make good on the promise of flexibility within the workplace, employers should incorporate ways to tap into the individual productivity of their workers and make sure that all are on the same page when it comes to responsibilities and company expectations. A clear perspective of what it takes to succeed at their job will equip all employees, regardless of office setting, to work toward future career goals.  

"Communicate, communicate, communicate," Wahlquiest says. "It has been so much harder to manage, develop, engage and retain employees when there isn't communication."  

Yet equating visible communication with productivity can lead to some unconscious biases, Wahlquiest says. Assuming someone is busier at the office because you can see them working, versus someone who stays home, could inadvertently have a negative impact. 

"Avoid those unconscious biases that were drilled into our heads early on and can negatively impact our view on hybrid and remote work," he says. "It's just natural — if you see me at my desk every day and you hear me on the phone, you may begin to develop a mindset that I'm a little more productive than my colleague who is actually knocking it out of the park, but he or she only comes into the office a couple days a week." 

Giving employees a sense of ownership in their company and investing in them, says Walhquist, are more ways employers can both engage and assess. The engaged employee is the one that's going to try and get the manager's attention and also create a better environment for colleagues and clients. 

For employees who want to stay on a hybrid or remote schedule, Wahlquist offers advice on how to maintain a presence with employers.

"Look for opportunities to engage," he says. "If I'm new to a company, or looking to be promoted because I think this is a place I'd like to stay for the foreseeable future, it's up to me to look for ways to connect on business-related things that the company is doing. I look for ways to keep myself in front of [my boss]. One of the things we're hearing from employers today is that there's been less focus on what they used to call soft skills — now they're being called human skills. It is good communication, it is eye contact, it is dependability and it is contribution." 

Read more: The workplace has changed. Management hasn't. How to work better with your dispersed workforce

Today's evolving work arrangements will have to come with new methods of how people are evaluated. This is not a bad thing, and done well, can be a great step forward. 

"We've become pretty good at measuring productivity and we're developing tools that are employee-centric," Wahlquist says. "Very few of us went to executive leadership classes that taught us how we're going to grow and develop a hybrid workforce — it's not intuitive. If you're going to announce that you have flexibility and it works within your company, it goes a long way in terms of employee morale, productivity, retention and engagement. This is all evolving stuff, and it creates a tremendous opportunity for HR and C suites, but it's a different kind of focus and set of skills that managers and supervisors have got to develop and embrace."