Building ties from afar: Networking and upskilling for remote employees

In the past, employees could rely on the proximity of their workspace and coworkers for opportunities to make career-advancing moves. But what happens when you work remotely or are only in the physical office part of the time?

Even amid the RTO push of 2024 and 2025, there are still many organizations that have key employees working in remote and hybrid roles. Comms pros form a critical part of the upskilling and networking equation for these team members — creative messaging can form the difference between seeing these employees excel in one organization or seeking greener pastures elsewhere.

Showcasing opportunities for upskilling

Communicators can facilitate upskilling by creating engaging messaging that encourages remote and hybrid employees to participate in these offerings.

Jenn Ocampo, vice president of marketing and communications at Nobilia North America, told Ragan that in addition to creating internal messages for employees about upskilling courses, communicators should consider more informal meetings for general knowledge sharing across business functions.

“When my team meets, we try to share discussion questions to get a sense of what our teammates are interested in,” she said. “This can help comms pros determine what learning offerings employees desire and how to talk about them.”

She added that communicators should put in the research to know what types of upskilling opportunities might fit their remote and hybrid colleagues’ needs and create messaging tailored to them. These can include:

• Creating a central place within the company intranet or employee newsletter to find learning resources.
• Hosting an employee spotlight once every month or so, in which employees can learn from a colleague.
• Work with HR to determine how to point employees to existing learning resources and determine what new and external ones might help upskilling remote employees.

Ocampo added that one of the benefits of the rise of remote work is that an increasing number of companies offer remote learning and upskilling classes.

Networking from afar

Just because employees are physically distant from their colleagues and peers doesn’t mean they can’t form meaningful relationships and professional connections. But communicators need to ride a fine line between facilitating these relationships and not overwhelming people.

Ocampo told Ragan that comms pros should work strategically to help employees network from their home bases.

“Communicating about networking opportunities for connection is a big part of working in a business-first capacity,” she said. “It’s good for both the employee and the company to network out.”

She offered a few solutions for communicators looking to help their employees expand their networks from a distance.

• Promote remote-friendly networking events. Although many shudder to think of the times when remote happy hours were common, creating spaces for remote employees to connect internally (and with external peers at other organizations) is important for growth. “Getting engagement and facetime in with colleagues both past and present is really important to a robust network, and communicators can help set the gears in motion,” Ocampo said.
• Showcase opportunities in the local community. Not all remote networking needs an internet connection. Ocampo suggested that internal communicators research and point employees to volunteering and service organizations in their local areas as a way to help make professional connections. “If you’re working with a remote or hybrid organization, show people what they can do to make connections at a local level,” she said. “That can include things like alumni boards, non-profit groups and business leadership groups.”
• Show face — literally. This one might sound tired after years of being employees being asked to turn their cameras on. But Ocampo said that the more remote and hybrid employees show their faces to colleagues, leaders and professional peers, the more likely they are to stick out of the crowd and form meaningful relationships. Internal communicators can step in and make this happen by scheduling “facetime” internal networking meetings or breakout rooms. “It might seem obvious, but non-verbal cues and communication can make a huge difference when it comes to connection,” she said.

 Ocampo said that internal communicators should think of facilitating networking and upskilling opportunities as a business-centric activity just the same as they’d promote a new hire or messaging platform.

“When employees are given opportunities to thrive, the business will thrive — no matter where the employees are located,” Ocampo said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.