What is needed to further advance the job sharing model? Great practical examples! Birgit Schmidt and Andrea Morgan-Schönwetter are one such example. And they have been doing it for a long time! Since spring 2013, they have been working together as a management tandem at Deutsche Telekom, with double the power, as heads of the personnel recruiting department. A win-win situation for their company and for the tandem. I talked to them about their experiences in job sharing and the important role of HR and managers in introducing job sharing.
Andrea, congratulations on your third child! You are currently on parental leave and you are in a “dormant” job share, so to speak. Now Birgit is taking on a project role in your absence. What is your preferred scenario after parental leave?
Andrea: In any case, working with Birgit again in a job share! We don't even know if it will be the same role again. In any case, I can also imagine taking on a new role together with Birgit. We have become so accustomed to each other and work so well together that even during my parental leave, we still spar with each other a lot.
Birgit: I can only underline that! We always stay in touch, even if there are sometimes background noises from screaming children (laughs).
What do you see as the biggest difference between traditional job roles and your job-sharing role?
Andrea: Working in a job share is simply much more rewarding! Instead of being a lonely player, I can spar with Birgit all the time. On my own, I would definitely lack the second perspective.
Birgit: And the exchange has a different quality than a situational brainstorming session with colleagues, precisely because it is continuous. Andrea is always on the ball, because we have to ensure that we are always available. You can get straight down to business, without any warm-up.
So great personal added value for you two! And you feel that Deutsche Telekom, as your company, also taps into this added value?
Andrea: Yes, absolutely. The two of us were already experienced and recognized leaders when we went into job sharing after our parental leave. Deutsche Telekom was able to retain us and at the same time ensure the success of the recruiting department. Our boss had to get used to it a bit. For example, he asked us: Which of you should I call now? Our answer: “It doesn't matter!” And that's a very important point. Our organization among ourselves is not shifted to our boss or our team, but we take the complexity with us. So it doesn't matter to anyone else which of us they contact.
Birgit: This only works because we are both responsible for our topics and our team. We made a conscious decision to do this.
A classic skeptical question that I often encounter at least: doesn't a lot of duplication occur as a result?
Andrea: Yes, for the first three months, but after that no more than five to ten percent. It all settles down. The funny thing is that our employees also tested it at the beginning, trying to bring up topics with one of us first and then the other. That quickly stopped once it became clear that the other one would know about it and we would take the same line.
Birgit: But you definitely need to allow a bit more time for coordination. That's why we plan for a maximum of 1.3 FTE (full-time equivalent) for tandems.
And how many hours did you work then?
Andrea: 24 and 25 hours. By the way, at Deutsche Telekom, everyone has a standardized right to return to full-time work. This is a huge advantage for the company, as it eliminates the administrative work involved, such as new contracts and works council hearings.
So it makes it easy to reduce and increase hours depending on the phase of life. A great incentive for other companies! Do you have any tips for people who would like to do job sharing in their company?
Andrea: In companies that don't yet offer job sharing, it's definitely a good idea to think carefully about the areas and positions where it can be done and then present it clearly. It's better to take the short route with your own manager in tow and coordinate the job sharing idea in a small group. In other words, just test the waters. Otherwise, many companies go about it in a big way: a huge concept, works council hearings and so on...
Birgit: Yes, otherwise it is often overthought and loaded with too many concerns, so just try it out for a short time. And then you can see what works well and what doesn't. This is also a great foundation for the company to then launch a larger rollout.
That is indeed consistent with our experiences. And what role does the HR department play for you?
Brigit: In my view, HR has to create the framework conditions. These must be clear and transparent. The HR business partner – as a strategic partner of the business – has to sell the model and be able to show the business to what extent the department will experience strategic added value from the use of an executive tandem. Andrea: Exactly. HR has to be an advisor, push the topic, network and show best practices.
In your opinion, is this role already being sufficiently practiced?
Birgit: Partly, it depends on how the role is understood and to what extent the strategic approach is actually practiced. For example, HR knows there are a certain number of positions to be filled. When planning the staffing, a suitable job-sharing model can be used as a personnel development tool, such as the generation tandem. Such topics are already being implemented to some extent, but not nearly enough.
Absolutely. Sometimes it's a matter of understanding the role, sometimes it's simply a lack of time and resources to delve deeply into the topic or to bravely engage in learning by doing. In both cases, companies often approach us at this point. At the same time, there are of course other important players when it comes to job sharing: the managers. What role do you think they play?
Andrea: The first violin, the absolute lead role! The model is much more likely to be accepted if the manager is behind it. I made an interesting and funny observation in a male management group. They were talking about the women's quota. Suddenly, typically male, a competition started: “I've already met my quota!” The next one: “And I even have a tandem!” And then the third one: “But I already have one, not just you!” (laughs). Actually the best thing that could happen! Corporate culture can only be changed by example.
Competition invigorates the model, very good! And in general, what is your prognosis for the job sharing model over the next 10 years?
Andrea: It still needs rethinking, a lot of advice and a lot of trial and error. Demand is increasing immensely because people often no longer want to work full-time in the traditional way, or they want to do something else. I'm sure companies need to rethink!
Birgit: A cultural change is still needed. Rigid structures must be broken down. Demand will definitely increase – keyword shortage of skilled workers, agility – and companies have to react. In order to meet these developments, we need, among other things, working models such as job sharing.
Well, then we'll get on with it! It's great how you've shown us. Thank you both for the interview and all the best!
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