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•
Examples •
Benefits and Challenges •
Success Factors •
Compensation and Benefits
Implications
• Internal
Best Practices • Job
Sharing Agreement • Troubleshooting
• FAQs |
Job
Sharing Internal Best Practices
(SAMPLE
– to be replaced by Our Company)
Here
are two examples of how job sharing has been used successfully
at Our Company:
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 2000 as project
managers because of their desire to work part time 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 position. In April, they were promoted as a
team to their current position.
“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 three
days a week and are in the office together on Wednesdays. That
still requires 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 to keep her 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 reducing 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 FWA 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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