Flexibility: Job Sharing
- Success Stories
(SAMPLE – to be replaced by
Our Firm)
Here are two examples of how job sharing has been used successfully at
other organizations:
Kim Baker and Lee Smith, Managers,
Service Center, HRIS
According to Kim and Lee, two heads are better than one –
that’s the beauty of job sharing,
They began their job sharing arrangement in December 2006 as
project managers because of their desire to focus better on their work
and reduce their hours to allow more time to spend with their families
and take care of personal business. While Kim tried telecommuting, the
arrangement didn’t work for her because of the customer interaction
required by her job. That’s when she decided job sharing made more
sense for her. In April, Lee and Kim proposed this arrangement and were
promoted as a team to their current roles..
“When I started interviewing employees for their current position, it
was apparent that the two best candidates for the job were Kim and
Lee,” says the department’s director, Anita Wild. “Both had the
skill set needed to set up this new area, so we were able to get real
talent to lead a critical function, which wouldn’t have happened
without the job share arrangement. It ended up being a win-win for us
and the company.”
Kim and Lee both work two-and-a-half days a week and are in the office
together part of Wednesday. They still do updates on the weekend to
ensure that their work is coordinated. They use a job sharing log to
record the things they’ve done and things that still need to be done,
call one another every day and send emails when things aren’t urgent.
Organization, planning, communication and flexibility are the
keys to making their job-sharing arrangement work.
The Company benefits because the job sharers are able to get their
personal errands accomplished on their off days, allowing them to focus
their time and thoughts on business while they’re at work. An added
feeling of commitment is invaluable to the company for the long-term.
“I think we’re better employees because we have balance in our work
and personal lives,” says Kim, who before her promotion thought
she’d have to postpone her career goal of moving into a management
position until she returned to work full time. “It’s something I’m
very grateful for and don’t take for granted.”
Leila Jones and Henry Adams, Administrative
Assistants, IS
For 20 years, Leila was the only administrative assistant in the
IS department, supporting two
IS Analysts and three Systems Techs. She could have retired from Our
Company but wanted to stay on for two more years. Her manager, Richard
Lapporte, wanted her to keep working as long as possible.. However,
Leila didn’t want to continue working full time, especially since she
often had to work up to 10 hours a week overtime.
Leila considered requesting a reduction of her hours to part-time, but
knew the position required full-time coverage. The workload of the
department was continuing to grow. Having
learned about job sharing by reading Our Company’s Flexible Work
Arrangements Guidelines and taking the online job sharing training, she
decided to look for a job sharing partner. She found Henry, who had been
with Our Company for three years and was an Administrative Assistant in
Customer Service. He wanted to finish college and was also looking for a
way to reduce his work hours.
The job sharing arrangement they proposed had benefits for both the
sharers and for Our Company: 1) They said they would each work 20 hours
per week and be available for up to 10 additional hours per week of
overtime, paid at straight rather than premium rates. This would save
the Company money while allowing each of them to work part-time. 2)
They agreed not to take vacations at the same time, providing
continuity of coverage. 3) Henry said that two years down the road, when
he finished college, he wanted to work full-time, so in effect, Leila
would have two years to teach him everything she knew about the job.
One year into the job sharing arrangement things are going smoothly. The
concerns that their manager, David Andrade, had at first (that things
would fall between the cracks, that it would be too much work for him to
supervise the sharers) did not come to pass. The Company is saving money
on overtime and the sharers are delighted with their arrangement.
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