2023-05-30 22:00:00
The new world of work demands more flexibility. How job sharing can help.
You know it from dating platforms: one swipe, one match. But does an algorithm also work in the world of work? If Katharina Miller has her way, definitely. The founder of Job Twins has been bringing part-time employees together with her team since summer 2020. “The algorithm relieves HR departments of the task of pre-selection,” explains Miller. “He reacts to how competencies and social skills harmonize.” In the further course, the agency is at your side in an advisory capacity.
Demographic change means that classic incentives such as a higher salary, food allowances and a fruit basket no longer work. The desire for more flexible working hours is gaining in importance – at the same time, 90 percent of the jobs are still advertised full-time. A recent PwC study shows that job sharing has potential. 65 percent of managers would be willing to share responsibility with a second person.
For Miller, it’s a model that she describes as a “jack of all trades”: It ensures greater job satisfaction, internal and external players always have a contact person, and there are arrangements for replacing employees in the event of vacation or illness. In addition, resources, such as those of well-trained women returning from parental leave, are no longer idle; long-serving employees can pass on their experience to the next generation. This makes it easier for young people to get started: “The tendency to strive for management positions is falling, especially among them. It’s easier with two people,” Miller is convinced.
Part-time management position: trailblazers at Teekanne
Elke Kickinger and Astrid Harner came together without any algorithm at all. The two have been colleagues at Teekanne for many years and are among the 15 percent of the 152 employees at the Salzburg- Liefering site who work part-time. The two mothers have shared the management of a five-person marketing team for two years – and in doing so want to encourage other women to dare to take part-time management positions.
“In 2021, the department needed to be restructured. This gave rise to the idea of shared team leadership,” says Harner. The management supported the two in their project, following all, the tea specialist relies on flat hierarchies, appreciative cooperation and short decision-making processes. “With flexible working time and workplace models, we try to offer the greatest possible flexibility for all situations in life,” emphasizes managing director Thomas Göbel, who is himself the father of three children. These efforts have not gone unrewarded: Teekanne has received multiple awards as a “Great Place to Work”.
Shared leadership is one of those models with which the company responds to the needs of its employees. Kickinger and Harner have divided their areas of responsibility according to product range and markets: one has taken on the agenda for Central-East Europe, the other for fruit tea, green and black tea. “The requirements of the working world are becoming more and more complex. It’s good when we can act as sparring partners for each other and discuss what’s coming up – we make big decisions together,” say the marketing experts. “We also complement each other wonderfully in terms of our skills. Because we don’t have to do everything, we can play to our strengths,” emphasizes Harner. For them, this is product development and management, while Kickinger takes care of strategic brand management and market analysis. “
Leading and developing employees is a common strength of ours,” the two agree. The women are also private friends, and they enjoy working together. “We enjoy our work, the atmosphere is benevolent. This good spirit is also transferred to our team”, Kickinger is convinced. Over a good cup of tea – Kickinger prefers blood orange ginger, Harner prefers organic highland green tea – they like to exchange ideas informally, and there are also classic ones the weekly stand-up and the team day, when all team members are in the office and also use lunch together to strengthen team spirit.
Job sharing also offers some very pragmatic advantages: “We always know what’s going on in the respective work area. That way, not everyone has to attend all meetings; we take turns. We divide the weekdays so that one of us always in the office. And it’s immensely reassuring to know that someone is there to stand in for me when I’m on vacation.” Of course, this was preceded by a lot of hard work: “You have to communicate well in the team who is responsible for what, in order to avoid duplication. It’s a constant learning process.”
Shared leadership: shared work, double the power
Matching agent Miller also concedes that job sharing poses challenges, especially in the early days: “As far as billing, acceptance in the company, productivity are concerned: due to the agreements that have to be made, there is time at the beginning.” In the long term, however, job sharing pays off, true to the motto: “Shared work, double the power.”
According to the expert, job sharing is suitable for every position and every industry. “However, not every personality is suitable for the concept. It requires a certain openness, flexibility and, above all, the ability to work in a team. A pronounced ego has no place in job sharing.”
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