The hybrid work environment has led to some unconventional advice for workers who wish to advance their careers.
One important tip: Fold your clothes.
When on a video call with a colleague whose clothes are clumped in a pile in the background, "it detracts sometimes from the points that they're making that I just want to help them with their laundry," said Anna Greenwald, chief operating officer at MoneyGram International.
Greenwald and Michelle Young, general manager of merchant solutions for financial institutions at Worldpay, — both honorees from this year's
Decluttering is just the first step. Next, consider whether any personal touches – Star Wars memorabilia, for instance – are charming or off-putting to others in a professional setting. Children are an exception: "The person who loves you most should be allowed to come and visit you once in a while," Greenwald said.
Ultimately, employees should treat even one-on-one meetings as though they were public appearances. "If you're ever offered media training, take it, because even if you don't ever talk on a stage or to a reporter, it just gives you confidence about your ability to handle things," she said.
The goal of these exercises is for the career-minded employee to improve their visibility within the organization, and to compensate for the absence of in-person interactions by making the most of virtual ones.
"You have to be the captain of your own ship in your career, so you're in charge of your career development, but I think this new age that we're working in has made it more challenging," Young said.
Four years after the COVID pandemic started, many companies around the world have yet to return fully to the work schedules and office-attendance expectations that were normal before the lockdowns. Global companies have a jumpstart on solving this problem because they have long employed people who don't work together in person and see each other only on video calls.
Executives can help junior employees with networking by making sure to talk about their own lives and interests, giving subordinates something to discuss with their leaders, Greenwald said. This happens naturally in an office setting, or when colleagues travel together for work, but it's harder to manage over video calls.
"It sounds, maybe, strange to say that this is a building block of helping young people feel connected, but it certainly helped us at MoneyGram to have leaders be just more accessible in who they are personally," Greenwald said.
It's incumbent on employees to take advantage of their companies' networking avenues, whether those are virtual or in person. In today's companies, you can't just wait for a promotion for time served: "We need to set fair expectations that it isn't always, your boss leaves and there's the traditional path," Young said.
Especially in a remote environment, Greenwald advises employees to be" thoughtful and very deliberate" about what they want to get out of networking or their personal growth.
Taking advantage of corporate intranets is one way to start. Employees often use the Ladies of MoneyGram internal chat channel to ask and answer questions on career development topics, she noted.
At Worldpay, an internal program called Be Connected allows staffers to signal their interests as a conversation starter. This was especially helpful for junior employees looking to grow their networks within the company during the pandemic, Young said.
"It kind of gave you people to network with and it wasn't weird that you could just say, 'Hey, as part of Be Connected, I wanted to talk to you about your passion for food safety and food security or whatever,'" she said.
Leaders can also help employees advance by always being on the lookout for talent "in every single meeting you're in," Greenwald said. She finds that skip-level meetings involving executives and people who report to managers one or more levels below them are useful for understanding which staffers are interested in which types of opportunities.
"The tool set that you need as you build your brand earlier in your career and your tenure is very different than what you have when you are advanced in your mastery," Young said. "And I think we are trying to give those people different support as we look at how we can enhance … networking across industries even and within our own organizations."
Companies' own recognition programs also can provide a place for leaders to find their next team members. At Worldpay, a "circle of excellence" awards program brings together high-achieving employees at an event with executives. Because it's a room filled with "hungry top performers" who already work for her firm, Young named it her "favorite place to shop for talent."
With everything that's changed in the shift to widespread hybrid work, both executives agreed that flexibility is likely here to stay, requiring employees to get creative along their career paths.
The pandemic "forced us to look at networking and career development differently," Young said, including "being your own champion — but how do you be your own champion, especially when you're newer in your role?"
