Everyone wins with job-share

Job-sharing benefits employers, as much as employees. One of the major benefits is that it can bring a wider range of skills to one position and increase productivity in the workplace.

For employees, having a job-share partner provides extra support and “an extra brain” to overcome problems, as well as the opportunity to work part-time.

Parents juggling young families with work are the major job-sharers, but others include mature workers hoping to gradually wind down to retirement and students balancing study and employment.

Monica Rosenfeld, managing director of Sydney PR agency WordStorm, began a job-sharing arrangement with Amanda Cummergen in 2007 to reduce an increasing workload after the birth of her first child.

“Amanda and I are able to share the responsibility of building the business and overseeing all aspects of our clients’ campaigns,” Ms Rosenfeld said.

“However, when one of our children falls ill or needs to be picked up early from childcare, we truly rely on flexibility and maternal understanding to balance out the sometimes unforeseen responsibilities of working mums.”

Ms Cummergen also believes job-sharing can create a happier and more productive work environment for employees with families.

“Job-sharing with Monica really has provided the best of both worlds. I have a challenging senior role and the flexibility to incorporate my family’s needs,” she said.

Large companies, such as Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and IBM offer job-sharing, but many make it available only to limited positions because of the additional organisation and oversight that job-sharing requires.

However, Westpac offers job sharing at all levels and any employee can apply to facilitate a job-sharing arrangement.

“In principle, any job can be shared, including management roles,” the website says.

Although the concept of job-sharing in the workplace has been around for more than a decade, such roles are rarely advertised and most are filled within the company because staff request an arrangement.

IBM’s Australian operation provides a “Job-Share Register” , where employees can register their interest in job-sharing and potentially find a job-share partner.

Letitia Zwart has held two job-share placements at IBM over the past five years.

“I’ve job-shared on two occasions – the first time for 12 months and then, more recently, for 18 months,” she said.

“It was actually in a people-management role and there are a number of executives here who job-share.”

Employers have found that, as well as preserving worker satisfaction, job-sharing can reduce turnover in demanding and arduous jobs and even reduce the amount of sick leave that employees take.

The biggest problem associated with job-sharing is doubling-up of work, which can be overcome through planning, management systems and clear communication between the sharing partners and supervisors.