Episode: 391

Episode Title: Shattering the Zoom Ceiling

For many workers, remote work has become the norm. But what if working from home is hurting your career? Let’s talk about it, next on The Perna Syndicate.

Ep 391 show:

Thanks for starting your week with The Perna Syndicate! I’m your host Mark Perna, and today I want to talk about a growing concern for the hybrid workforce: the Zoom Ceiling. Coined by Dr. Elora Voyles, this term refers to the invisible barriers that may be holding remote workers back compared to their in-office counterparts. 

Part of the problem is that while much of the workforce has pivoted to go remote, many companies haven’t really updated their policies or handbooks. So people are still operating under the old ways of working—they’re just doing it from home. 

But a hybrid workforce, where some of the team is in the office and some are remote, requires more than just a cursory change to the company policies. It’s a whole new way of working—and to ensure it’s fair for everyone, business leaders need to be proactive in engaging every worker in meaningful ways, whether from home or in person. 

There’s a very real chance that your workplace could experience a Zoom Ceiling, where remote workers unintentionally become second-class workers next to those who show up at the office every day. 

This will ultimately hurt everyone in the company, so it’s best to nip it in the bud before the Zoom Ceiling becomes entrenched in the company culture. We’ll be talking this week about how to shatter that ceiling and make hybrid work a great option for your organization—and everyone in it. 

Tomorrow: what’s proximity bias and what does it have to do with the hybrid workforce? We’ll talk about it on the next episode of The Perna Syndicate. See you then!