So you’re a manager making the transition to job share. Now what?

Scenario 1: Imagine you have a high performing employee on your team who wants to go from full time to half time. What do you do?

A. Nothing

If you do nothing, then your high performing employee will likely become disgruntled and leave the company. This will result in a loss of productivity and talent for your team.

B. Remote — yes, but that won’t solve for the part-time need.

C. Maybe try part-time…

But what happens when they’re away, who covers for them? And what happens when you, your boss, clients need a response on their day off. So either you lose or they do. It’s not that great of a deal for the person — they soon realize they get part-time pay for full-time hours.

D. How about job share?

Scenario 2: Now, imagine you've had job requisition open for months. What do you do?

A. The usual

B. How about job share?

1. What is job sharing?

Job sharing is a work arrangement where two or more employees share the responsibilities of a single job. This can be done either on a part-time or full-time basis, and is often used as a way to accommodate employees with family or other personal commitments.

2. The benefits of job sharing.

There are several potential benefits of job sharing for both employers and employees:

For employers, job sharing can:

• Help to retain talented and experienced employees who might otherwise leave to pursue other commitments.
• Attract a new category of talent - employees who might not have considered the organisation otherwise due to inflexible working arrangements.
• Enable the organisation to be more productive by utilising the skills and knowledge of two or more employees.
• Increase job satisfaction and motivation levels among employees, as they feel supported in achieving a good work/life balance.
• Reduce training and induction
• Improve morale and motivation among the workforce.
• Increase productivity by giving employees the chance to have a better work/life balance.

For employees, job sharing can:

• Give employees the opportunity to work flexibly and still maintain a good work/life balance.
• Enable employees to pursue other commitments, such as parenting or caring responsibilities.
• Develop skills and knowledge by working with another employee
• Provide more flexibility and control over working hours.
• Reduce stress levels associated with juggling work and personal commitments.

3. How to manage a job share arrangement.

• Define the roles and responsibilities of each employee clearly from the outset.
• Make sure that communication is frequent and clear between employees, their managers and other colleagues.
• Encourage employees to develop a good working relationship with each other, so that they can effectively support and collaborate with each other.
• Manage performance as you would for any other employee, by setting clear goals and expectations and providing feedback on a regular basis.
• Be flexible in your approach, as job share arrangements can sometimes require adjustments to be made along the way.

Offer advice for employees considering job sharing.

There are a few things to bear in mind if you're considering job sharing:

• Make sure that you have a good understanding of what the job entails and what your responsibilities would be.
• Discuss your plans with your manager or supervisor to get their feedback and input.
• Have a frank discussion with your potential job share partner about your expectations, how you would like to divide the work between you, and how you would communicate and collaborate with each other.
• Make sure that you are clear on the organisation's policies and procedures around job sharing, such as how leave or other benefits would be pro-rated.

Discuss the challenges of job sharing.

While there are many potential benefits of job sharing, there are also some challenges that should be considered:

• Communication is key: Clear and regular communication between both employees and employers is essential for job sharing arrangements to be successful.
• Time management: Job sharers need to be organised and efficient in their work in order to make the most of the time they have available.
• Setting boundaries: It is important for job sharers to set clear boundaries between their work life and personal life in order to avoid burnout.

Case study: Job sharing at Microsoft.

Microsoft is one of the world's largest technology companies, with over 130,000 employees in more than 100 countries. The company has a long history of promoting flexible working arrangements, and job sharing is one of the many options available to employees.

Derrik McCourt, GM Customer Success at Microsoft UK, has enabled number of job shares on his team , and after experiencing the successes and benefits of this working arrangement, said he's "moving into the default of advertising roles this way. It gives us an opportunity to reach a different candidate set that we wouldn't have reached before."

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The key points to remember when job sharing are:

• Job sharing can be beneficial for both employers and employees, providing increased flexibility and the opportunity to maintain a good work/life balance.
• It is important to manage job share arrangements effectively, by communicating clearly and setting clear goals and expectations.
• Employees need to be organised and efficient.
• Find potential partner on Roleshare.com and discuss your plans with them.
• Open your full-time jobs to a new category of talent on Roleshare.com.

Originally published at https://www.roleshare.com.