In Person or Online.... Which gives your career the biggest boost?

The world of work is changing.

Many of us who have spent our lives sitting in traffic jams during rush hour, battling to get home to pick the kids up, or shivering on the platform/bus stop/taxi rank waiting for public transport have now got … options.

Not just the option to work from home, with all the ‘perks’ associated with being able to cram washing into the machine between zoom calls and take frequent curious glances in the fridge, but the option to work for pretty much anyone, pretty much anywhere, providing the work itself can be done on-line.

And with that, an interesting trend is starting to emerge.

The trend of workers who point blank refuse to go into the office again,?ever.

For some, the stress of getting into the office and spinning all the associated plates is over.?With whole communities of workers now regularly working from home the workplace has, out of necessity, adapted to fit, leaving some questioning why they should?ever?bother going into the office again.

But does permanently working from home help or harm their careers?

The answer is complicated and is dependent on a number of factors such as;

• How scarce/ in demand are their skills (and for how long)?
• How can they work as part of a team, get noticed by the boss and colleagues?
• Get their individual voice heard?
• Learn from colleagues?
• Lead a team?

Humans, even the most introverted, are tribal creatures.?So can the camaraderie you need when things get tough personally, or professionally, ever be achieved, long term, on-line??If not, how can it be replaced?

For eons business has relied on face-to-face contact to create strong relationships, build trust, and share information.?Is this suddenly no longer as important??Maybe zoom has replaced it all … or are we not yet seeing the true cost of online only working?

In some cases, having the whole team working from home creates a level playing field.?However, when?some?team members are in the office at least some?of the time and others aren’t, trust and bonds can be eroded.?Suspicions frequently arise that those?in?the office might be more ‘in the know’, appreciated, perceived as working harder, or otherwise favoured above their online colleagues.

And maybe there is a good reason for this.

The informal ‘bump ins’ that happen when you’re hovering around the office kitchen create opportunities to interact (in person!) with colleagues in different departments, managers and even directors that just wouldn’t occur on-line.?

Without that kind of opportunistic interaction, online employees may be left out of the loop, struggling to stand out and build strong, career enhancing relationships.?

Recent research suggests this creates feelings of unease and mistrust, leaving online workers vulnerable to being seduced by companies who have managed to create on-line environments (almost …) as enriching as those in the office.?

But there are plenty of upsides too. The ability for on-line workers to work practically anywhere, means there are no shortages of opportunities for the most talented of employees. This creates real danger for companies who fail to properly nurture, support and integrate their online talent.

While some online teams may still be trading on bonds that existed before lockdown and homeworking became a ‘thing’, can new teams, set up in the post covid era be just as powerful and successful without the shared environment of the office?

I have spoken to companies who set up on-line teams from scratch during lock down who are thriving and posting exceptional results. I have also spoken to companies who have seen productivity dip to as low as 49% only recovering to the mid 70s% of pre-covid productivity.

By contrast, a Gaming Technology client trialled a 5 day a week return to the office and met with unprecedented success. So what is happening here? Perhaps the key is in?how?the on/offline employee experience is managed.

So, if home working is set to become a permanent feature, it’s time for companies to up skill their leadership team and infrastructure to cope with the social demands of the online v in-office workplace, or risk damaging the fabric of team-working and their bottom line.

But online employees also need to get creative, learn new ways to manage their career, stay relevant, confident and create opportunities to have as much impact as they would if they were office based.?They need to know how to ‘make friends and influence people’ in the online era.?

The market changes quickly and there’s always a risk that todays in demand skills might disappear into tomorrow's rear view mirror, so it's worth bearing in mind that if?what?you know isn’t quite as important anymore, then?who?you know definitely is.

What do you think??Have your say below!