Job-sharing makes sense, but all the pieces must be in place.
Finding the right work/life balance is vital for colleagues Monique Douglas and Kristen Gallacher – between them they have five children under the age of seven. Two years ago, they decided to job-share and set up Daretwoshare, a Sydney-based boutique recruitment agency specialising in job-share, part-time and contracts.
They each work alternate Mondays, then Gallacher works Tuesday and Wednesday and Douglas, Thursday and Friday. Part of their business concept is to help women get back into the workforce in fulfilling part-time work.
Many of their clients come to them frustrated at the lack of part-time work advertised, along with the feeling that recruiters don’t actively promote them when they find out they want to job-share or work part-time.
“A number of companies do promote part-time, job-share and flexible work options, but I think it’s used primarily to retain a staff member. We don’t know too many who actively go out to access another part of the workforce, and attract a new calibre of people into the organisation,” says Gallagher.
A recent survey conducted by Hudson indicates there is a high level of interest from both employers and employees in considering job-sharing as a work option. However, there is a disconnect between the level of interest shown by individuals for job-sharing and the volume of organisations providing job-sharing programs. Of the organisations surveyed, only 40 per cent provide a job-share program. Eighty eight per cent of those stated an ability to attract and retain employees.
“It is critical for employers to embrace flexible work options in order to attract and retain talent from a broader talent pool, such as return-to-work parents and mature-age workers transitioning into retirement, says Kimberly Hubble, of Hudson’s talent management and managed services.
“Job-sharing is a compelling option for employees whose lifestyles demand greater flexibility without putting their career progression on hold or deskilling, which can often be the experience of individuals that participate in the workforce part-time,” she says.
Kerry Fallon Horgan is the managing partner of Flexibility At Work, a consultancy specialising in work/life and diversity strategies, flexible work practices, executive and life coaching. She wrote the book, Time On, Time Out! Flexible Work Solutions to Keep Your Life in Balance.
Fallon Horgan says there are a number of advantages to individuals who job-share. “For the individual, job-sharing allows them to maintain their employment and skills and to keep up with technological changes while pursuing other interests, or meeting other obligations. Being a job-sharer may reduce stress levels – you know that while you are not in the office, someone else is dealing with issues as they arise, and, you will not be inundated by them when you return after a few days off.
“In high client contact roles such as a receptionist, or intense contact roles such as a counsellor, there can be benefits for staff in working fewer hours than full-time. This reduction of ‘burnout’ or ‘stress’ potentially benefits the team as well as the client.”
Good communication skills are vital to successful job-sharing, says Ann Anderson, branch manager at Healesville’s Commonwealth Bank in Victoria. She says it’s also important to know the person you are going to job-share with. Anderson job-shares with Christine Kinneavy, with whom she worked in a previous job-share arrangement.
Anderson says some people think job-sharing must be a breeze because you only work two or three days a week, but she says it takes work to set up properly, and then to make sure it continues to work smoothly.
“You do need to be flexible and help each other out, and be willing to perhaps sometimes give a little bit extra on top of what you would normally expect in those two or three days a week.” She says it’s important to have cross over time as well as planning time, to be up to date with events occurring in your absences.
Anderson and Kinray split the week so that Anderson works from Monday to Wednesday and Kinray Thursday and Friday. They have overlap times twice a month so that they each work one extra day per month.
This allows them to discuss what they need to, and organise business for the next few weeks. They communicate through a communications book. It is the first thing they look at when they come into work; they also email one another and talk on the phone a lot.
Anderson says you need to have ultimate trust in the person with whom you are job-sharing, and know that decisions made while you are away are ones you’d be happy with.
“You’ve got to be willing to open up to other’s ideas, because it definitely has its advantages in that two heads are better than one in a lot of cases. We have each other to feed off, but we quite often find that we come up with the same sort of ideas or plan.”
The Commonwealth Bank has run a job-share program since 1990 and now has 384 employees who job-share – 93.5 per cent of these are women, says Janet Stanley of Talent and Development. “The bank has an online job-share request system that allows people to register their interest in searching for a job-share partner. This system is available to employees who are currently in a position, or looking to start a job-share arrangement,” she says.
There is no “one-size-fits-all” job-share formula – it will depend largely on the individuals as to how they share time, tasks and responsibilities. Fallon Horgan says there are usually three different types of job-sharing.
“The first type is where two employees share the one job and the same responsibility, and there is no division of duties. This arrangement is more suited to ongoing work than to project or client work. The partners need to be very compatible, with a similar vision and attitudes to work.
“The second type of job-sharing is where two employees share the one job and divide responsibilities between them. Sometimes referred to as job-splitting, this arrangement is most suited to work with distinct parts, where each partner can take responsibility for a specific part of the job, such as specific projects or customers.
“The third type of job-sharing is where two employees perform completely different tasks but generally work in the same vicinity. This is basically two part-time jobs, and would be appropriate where partners do not have a similar skill.”
Source: Julia Sterling, The Weekend Australian. 20 May 2007
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