When I started working from home during the pandemic, I thought it would be a novelty – a necessity that would likely shift once the world situation changed. Yet, even as the threat of COVID-19 spread minimized considerably, one thing became clear: The world of work had changed, and working from home was here to stay.
According to a Statistics Canada report published in January 2024, 20% of Canadians worked mostly from home in November 2023, down from 40% in April 2020. Fully remote workplaces and hybrid arrangements are a reality in many global organizations. What’s more: Of the 10 major trends affecting career development outlined in CERIC’s recent Career Development in 2040 report, “work anywhere” is the first listed.
This shift has many career development professionals asking themselves, “How can I support remote workers to develop their careers so they feel fulfilled and energized in their work?” Remote work offers a huge opportunity to work with clients in other cities and other countries, casting a wider net on the value career professionals can provide. While some career development professionals may feel equipped to support this demographic, others may be hesitant to work with individuals outside of their home community where they are experts on career development supports and resources.
Here are some ways you can prepare yourself to support remote workers:
- Do your research: Stay up to date on remote work trends (for instance, through CERIC’s CareerWise Weekly newsletter) and become familiar with supports in other communities, such as employment centres, workshops, recruiters and networking events.
- Offer virtual career development supports and resources: Be flexible to offer virtual coaching sessions and workshops, and share resources like blogs and articles online. This may be a challenge if your preference is to work in person – if so, check in with your resistance to explore the reasons why, and how you can work with this resistance. Ask your clients for feedback so you can continually improve your offerings.
- Be mindful of the remote worker experience: Several remote workers will readily admit to feeling isolated from their peers, and feel challenged to integrate their work and life in a way that doesn’t result in burnout. Knowing this can help you when you check in with clients, and help them establish and hold boundaries around their work and time.
- Stay connected: Check in with clients to see how they are doing (both personally, and if they have any questions about career development activities you have provided). Be responsive and available, and celebrate their achievements and progress.
- Engage with industry networks: Groups like Career Professionals of Canada or industry thought leaders on LinkedIn, as well as LinkedIn discussion groups, can be excellent sources of information, trends and best practices
Now that you feel more ready to support clients who work remotely, what are some approaches, resources and strategies you can share with your remote clients to help them advocate for their career development?
Make space for reflection: Before clients can make a plan for their career development, they need to reflect on what’s important to them. Here are the top 5 questions I ask clients to grow their awareness:
- What is work that gives you energy – fires you up?
- What is work that you can do well (and perhaps are even known for) which saps your energy?
- What type of organization do you enjoy working for – what is their mission, their mandate, their values?
- What teams/leaders do you do your best work with? Think of the best teams/leaders you’ve worked with over your career – what made them so awesome?
- What are your non-negotiables/dealbreakers (things so deeply important to you that you’d walk away from an opportunity if these things couldn’t be honoured)?
Encourage networking and mentorship – both inside and outside the organization, to build relationships and have conversations to identify career opportunities and learn more about new paths. As networking (which is a big word for “having conversations”) doesn’t come naturally to many, you can help your clients develop approaches and strategies so they can confidently engage in networking, and cope with limiting beliefs around virtual networking. Encourage them to reach out to others and initiate virtual coffee conversations. If they belong to a professional association, there may be online forums or networking opportunities. Flexjobs also hosts networking events and regular free webinars on several job search topics.
Promote online learning: The LinkedIn Learning platform offers over 16,000 online courses to develop skills needed for a new role or career path, or even just to increase marketing appeal with recruiters and hiring managers.
Promote achievements at work: Help clients create opportunities to heighten awareness of their achievements, such as posting on LinkedIn, speaking about their “wins” at meetings, and providing updates on projects and other work to leaders in 1:1 check-ins.
Reach out and connect with others in the team: Make time for virtual lunches, coffee chats and collaborations to get to know others on a personal level, and to gain insight into their work and challenges.
Initiate career development conversations with leaders: Instead of waiting for the topic to be raised by a leader at performance review time, encourage your client to initiate this conversation, and to come prepared to discuss what work energizes them, what work drains their energy and what they would like to have the opportunity to do but haven’t yet.
Introduce clients to job boards for remote and hybrid workers: If your client is looking for work outside of the organization, job boards like Flexjobs can identify opportunities geared only for remote and hybrid work.
Encourage self-care: Some clients may love remote work, and for others, it may leave them feeling isolated and fatigued. Explore self-care options with clients and help them develop a plan to integrate these options into their day, such as taking lunch breaks away from the computer, making time for a walk, or establishing and holding boundaries around their time and their work.
Career development is an important topic for all employees, whether they work remotely or in person (or a blend of both). It is also a journey rather than an event, requiring advocating, nurturing and attention. Remote workers especially need to be intentional about their careers and identify opportunities for their development, making their achievements known to others and their voices heard in teams. There are lots of supports available. By widening your view to become more aware of what’s possible for them, you will be a valuable conversation partner for these clients to help them find work that gives them energy, for organizations that believe what they believe in.
