#YourCareer : How To Land A Promotion While Working Remotely. Is this a Good Time to Ask? Great REad!

If you’re like a lot of other professionals, you had high hopes for 2020. You started the year on the right foot, outlined incremental goals to achieve each quarter, and had your eyes on a promotion just in time for the holidays.

Unfortunately, you’ve been wearing your pajamas to work since March, a few major clients paused their accounts, and the company is struggling to get back to pre-pandemic production levels—not exactly an ideal time to ask for a higher salary.

Or is it?

Almost no one escaped the disruption caused by the pandemic, and many workers experienced the chaos as a massive increase in demand. Whether sales were up or way, way down, you’ve had to pivot, learning to do your job with fewer resources and more stress—you might even have received an entirely new set of duties. These situations don’t always bring out the best in people, but if you’ve shown patience, adaptability, and grit, you might be poised to leap up the career ladder.

Vaccines are being distributed as you read this sentence, but the pandemic is far from over. We can expect at least several more months of “business as unusual” before things go back to nearly normal, but that doesn’t mean putting your ambitions on hold. To prevent the pandemic from sabotaging your career goals, focus on these four steps:

1. Build relationships with clients

Forging relationships is an important part of your career, but you shouldn’t limit your focus to establishing connections with your colleagues and managers. Nurturing strong relationships with clients takes trust, communication, and the ability to cater to specific needs that vary from client to client. As Jeff Winters, CEO of Sapper Consulting, explains, “Engaging with prospects’ social posts, writing handwritten letters, and giving strategic, genuine gifts within your company’s ethical guidelines are all smart tactics for staying top of mind—but they’re just the tip of the iceberg.”

There are lots of ways to go the extra mile for clients, from making a delivery when someone mentions a badly needed home-office supply to remembering their favorite restaurant and giving them a gift card on their birthday. Knowing how to build these relationships shows your employer that you’re capable and that you see the bigger picture—characteristics that reap dividends when you’re hoping for a promotion.

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2. Look out for your co-workers

In your quest for a promotion, be sure not to trample your co-workers on your way to the top. Managers often look to promote the individuals who make the whole team better with their efforts. These people finish their own work and then reach out to peers to see where they can assist. Build your personal brand attribute of being collaborative, while diminishing actions that seem competitive or self-centered. Not surprisingly, these gestures of camaraderie go a long way.

D.G., a manager at Oracle Cloud, points out that “collaboration with teams across the organization always stand out. I always look at an employee’s internal branding to see how they are viewed by others.” The approach makes sense. If an employee is resented by his or her peers, there’s probably a reason for that. Maybe they frequently show up late or fail to pull their weight, or maybe they’re far more interested in ingratiating themselves with the manager than actually doing the work. When you come up for a promotion, you want your co-workers to have nothing but great things to say about you.

3. Talk with your manager about growth opportunities

For whatever reason, plenty of employees keep their desire for promotion to themselves and then resent being passed over in a favor of a more vocal candidate. If you want advancement, you’d better make sure the person with the power to grant that wish knows that you want to be in the running. Expressing interest doesn’t make you a shoo-in, but it can give you deeper insight into what the position requires or what specific skills the hiring manager is looking for. Approach the situation from the decision maker’s point of view. Mentioning your interest in moving ahead—always with the greatest humility—can help them see you in a whole new light.

4. Focus on professional development outside of work

Whether you get a promotion has a lot to do with your manager and employer, but don’t let that overshadow the control you have over the growth trajectory of your career. The more you know, the more promotable (and hirable) you are, and there’s never been a better time to teach yourself valuable skills. According to 2019 data from the Statista Research Department, employees most wanted to improve their influencing and negotiating (46%), having difficult conversations (24%), design thinking (24%), and leading and managing change (21%).

According to David Parnell, author, communication coach, and legal recruiter, “When you are trying to get promoted, it is impossible to go ‘above and beyond’ without knowing exactly, to a T, where the ceiling is. So be crystal clear about what is expected of you, when it is expected, and how it is expected. This way, you can meet and exceed your manager’s expectations.” If your desired promotion involves a set of tasks that you don’t normally perform, train yourself on whatever programs, equipment, or skills will be most relevant in order for you to excel. People with strong personal brands are life-longer learners, remaining relevant and ready for what’s next. Even if your self-directed development doesn’t get you a promotion, a portfolio of these self-taught skills will look great on your résumé and will demonstrate initiative that employers find extremely valuable.

It’s tough to ask for a promotion when you don’t know what kind of situation your company is in, so do your research just as you normally would. It obviously won’t do you any good to try to advance on a sinking ship. But if your organization has weathered the storm and is on an upward fiscal trajectory, show them exactly how you made unique, valuable contributions to that success. There’s no reason to put off asking for what you’ve earned, along with the new responsibilities and initiatives you know you’re ready for. By establishing your worth, you also indirectly demonstrate what your employer stands to lose if they don’t entice you to stay aboard.

Author:  William Arruda is a founder of CareerBlast and co-creator of BrandBoost – a video-based personal branding talent development experience.

Forbes.com – January 10, 2021