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Job satisfaction
Job sharing
Before you read
Could you imagine sharing your job with someone else?
Reading
Read this article from the Financial Times and answer the questions.
Flexible employment: job shares can work for everyone .
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Flexible working, often through a job share, is pushing its way up corporate agendas as a way to attract and retain staff in the unceasing 'war for talent'. More than 90 per cent of job sharers are women, and most of them have childcare responsibilities. The industries keenest on job shares include banking and finance, IT and public services. A recent report from Incomes Data Services says the number of workers in job shares has doubled to about 200,000 in ten years. Management jobs are now being shared, whereas formerly only occupations such as nursing and secretarial work featured.
Angela Baron, adviser (employee resources) at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, believes all jobs can be shared, up to the highest level. She says: "After all, hospital nurses and doctors make life- affecting decisions based on handed-over information. What is more important than that?"
Most employers who allow job shares like them. Staff are more motivated because they can work the hours that suit them. There is less absenteeism, staff working half-weeks are often fresher, and two workers on the same job can be more creative. Ms Baron says: "When there's a tricky problem, you actually have two brains instead of one." One disadvantage for employers is potential difficulty finding a replacement if a job-share partner leaves. Extra training and equipment may also be necessary.
Workers like job sharing because it allows them to keep a firmer footing on the job ladder, when, for example, returning from maternity leave. There is, however, no blanket legal obligation on an employer to offer a job share or part-time working. If management opposes the creation of a job share, there may be no easy way to secure it. It is often easier in areas with a history of job sharing. They are far more prevalent in the public sector, for example. If your company has a flexible working culture, you are more likely to achieve a job share. Most shares operate on a 50/50 basis, with one partner working from Monday to Wednesday and the other from Wednesday to Friday.
The key to a successful job share is a compatible and trusting relationship with your partner, underpinned by a satisfactory contract. If you hoard and play power games with information, this sort of arrangement is unsuitable. Individuals need to be organised and good communicators. Sue Monk, chief executive of flexible workers' charity Families at Work, and a job sharer herself, says: "You've got to be prepared to put in extra effort to make it work. For example, if you're busy, you may need to put in a phone call in the evening. You have to be very responsible. It's easy to leave things for someone else to do."
From the Financial Times
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