How To Get Promoted When Working From Home (5 Keys Things To Know)

Getting your boss’s attention while you’re in the office is hard enough, but what about when you’re working from home and you want to move up in the organization.

Well, you can get promoted when working from home; you just need to know these 5 key aspects of doing so. 

There’s No Right Time To Ask For A Promotion, So Ask Anyway

OK, we know, the world’s been through a lot of upheaval in the last couple of years thanks to the pandemic. 

But do you know what? Life goes on all the same. And so have most businesses. 

That means it’s your job to take care of yourself and not to assume that your company can’t afford or doesn’t need to promote you. 

The trick is to understand that there are always reasons not to promote people and there are always reasons that people should be promoted.

You can’t know if you’ll get a promotion, unless you bring it up. 

Though we do have one clause to tack onto this – don’t ask to be promoted to another job after spending just a couple of weeks in a job you’ve just been promoted to. That won’t work. 

Promotion Is, Usually, A Long Process – It Doesn’t Happen On The Spot

Getting promoted, usually, isn’t an instant process. 

Most people have visions of a promotion discussion as “I go in and ask, the boss tortures me for a bit, then I have a decision.”

It doesn’t work like that. 

A smart employee prepares the ground. They discuss their ambitions with their manager(s) and they ask for ways to achieve those ambitions.

They act on the action plan that they’ve agreed on and bring back proof of skills attained, targets achieved, etc. 

They make it easy for their boss to see progress and know that they’re moving toward that conversation about promotion. 

That conversation then tends to involve very little “torture” 

You might also want to read out “remote job interview questions you need to prepare for” as getting promoted is basically being interviewed for a new job. 

You Need To Build Relationships WIth Your Boss, Your Team And Anyone Else You Work With

You may be working remotely, but if your boss and colleagues don’t know who you are and how much you contribute? You’re not remote, you’re off the radar entirely.

Make sure to share the work you’ve done well, praise others when they do well, stay in contact with everyone and know their priorities and how you can help them achieve.

Then, when you want to move up, all those people will be rooting for you to succeed as opposed to wondering who you are? 

Highlight The Advantages That Come With Working Remotely

You should never let the fact that you’re working remotely get in the way of anything, in fact, you should understand the pros and cons of remote work as they relate to your employer.

Then, when it comes time to have that chat about promotion, you can show how much more productive you can be and the benefits your employer will get from having someone with your experience.

Think about how many workers with kids leave the workforce because the feel that they can’t work and raise kids, for example, by allowing you to work remotely – your boss is investing in your loyalty and dedication to your job. 

Just remember, losing an employee is equivalent to losing 33% of their annual salary, because that’s how much it costs to recruit and train a replacement. 

If You’re Not Getting Love With Your Current Employer, Don’t Be Afraid To Go Elsewhere

This is going to feel a bit like tough love and that’s because it is.

Here’s what you actually owe an employer when it comes to your career development; nothing. 

If you are trying to move up and you’re getting nothing but excuses, roadblocks and resistance, it’s time to move on and up, instead. 

Don’t threaten to do this (it might work, once, but you’ll never be fully trusted again) just go and do it. Interview for other positions and when you’ve got one, hand in your notice and go. 

Final Thoughts On Getting Promoted When Working From Home

The right time to put our tips on getting promoted, when working from home into practice, is now. 

Fortune may favor the brave but those who plan their careers and work toward their goals do pretty darned well too. 

And congratulations, if this leads to a job, and if it does, make sure to read our article on what question to ask before accepting a remote job, to make sure that the job really does suit your needs.