Besides classic tag-team wrestling, job sharing can be
dated back to the 1970’s and 1980’s where it was created to provide women with an
opportunity to balance running a household with earning some income. Then again in the 2000’s job sharing became a
semi-popular option for companies to attract talent by offering flexible
schedules. Today over half of the companies
listed on Fortune’s 2014 Top 100 Best Companies To Work For offer job
sharing. This seems like a no brainer so
why aren't more companies getting on board?
Maybe they are afraid of the potential drawbacks or aren't quite sure
how to implement such a change. In any
case there is an enormous talent pool of high quality employees that are
sitting on the sidelines due to a lack of flexible work options.
What’s the worst thing
that could happen by testing a job sharing situation? It’s hard to imagine the risks outweighing
the rewards. Job sharing is extremely
exciting for candidates who want a challenging position but not the 50 hour
commitment. It is more exciting than
other traditional part-time employment opportunities. Instead of flipping burgers or ringing a cash
register, talented workers looking for more could take on a stimulating and
challenging assignment that otherwise might only be available to candidates with
50 hour per week availability. This
should excite groups who could potentially leverage job sharing
opportunities. Graduate students focused
on their education, stay at home parents, and those considering retirement
could all be groups interested in job sharing opportunities.
An employer
considering a job sharing situation should consider the pros and cons to such
an arrangement and whether or not job sharing will work for a specific
position. Not all jobs are tailor-made
to be split and this is easy to understand when you consider the pros and cons
of job sharing.
Pros:
Job sharing provides opportunities for enhanced work-life balance,
flexible schedules, improved morale, competitive environments, collaboration, and
helps bring unique approaches to problem solving.
Cons: The
drawbacks or “things to consider” when implementing job sharing include communication
challenges, a tendency to duplicate work, negative perceptions or confusion
from other employees, and difficulty or near-impossible implementation with
some positions.
Even though there are
challenges when splitting a job these obstacles can be overcome by setting
clear expectations and by staying in close communication with your job partner
and boss. It is imperative to have the
right partner in most situations. There
should be clear expectations when dividing the work. Communication hand-offs should be routine and
not skipped to prevent duplicate work.
Finally, the job sharing situation should be explained to other employees
to prevent negative perceptions and confusion.
Examples of jobs that
might be well suited for job sharing include nursing, teaching, project
managers, shift managers, and consultants.
Positions that would be more challenging to implement a job sharing
model include those that require frequent collaboration and communication. One example is a business partner responsible
for solving problems and communicating with multiple parties on long-term
problem resolution. Involving a job
partner in this situation would frustrate a lot of people and muddy the waters.
Who’s currently practicing
job sharing? Qualcomm, for example, has
been named as a company that is embracing job sharing. In addition 51% of Fortune’s 2014 Top 100
companies to work for also provide job sharing opportunities. The full list can be viewed here: http://www.greatplacetowork.com/best-companies/100-best-companies-to-work-for
In the end I would
love to see more companies embrace job sharing and offer challenging opportunities
paired with a condensed work week.
Does your company offer
job sharing opportunities?
Have you had any luck as
a candidate finding a position that offers a job sharing opportunity?
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