|
Job Sharing Job sharing is a growing trend and still today there are people who do not know what that is. Job sharing is exactly as it states - sharing a job. A typical 40-hour a week position is split between two employees who prefer to work part-time. The details of job sharing differ, but the bottom line is that you work fewer hours, and get less pay. The advantage of job sharing is that it allows people who prefer to work part-time to still get the benefits that go along with working full-time. The employee receives medical, dental, vision, 401k, vacation, sick leave, floating holidays and any other benefits that are offered to full-time employees. As an administrative assistant I worked as a temporary employee off and on throughout the years while maintaining my secretarial service business part-time. Being a single mother, I was afraid to try my hand at running my business full-time because any lapses in a steady paycheck could literally put me in the poor house. I had read about job sharing and knew it was something I wanted to try. I also knew that it was not going to be easy because even today, although there are companies who allow this type of flexibility, it is still up to the department heads to agree. In 2000 I worked at a local engineering firm as a temporary employee. I had to fill in for a woman who was due to go out on maternity leave in a few months. She told me that she really preferred to stay home after she had her baby. But due to the fact that this was her first and she wanted another, she decided she would continue to work until she had a second baby. Well there it was - the opportunity. I couldn’t wait to talk to her about the possibility of job sharing. After talking it over with her husband, she informed me the next day that she would love to give it a try. Finding and choosing a compatible partner is the most important aspect of job sharing and should be done before you actually develop and present the proposal to share your existing position. Because we had an opportunity to get to know each other’s skills, strengths and weaknesses we used that to our advantage in writing up the proposal. Identifying the specific person with whom you will share the position allows you to present a realistic, workable job-sharing proposal filled with the details, which you and your prospective partner will have discussed. In our proposal we thought that the most important factor for us to be successful would be communication. Additionally, our skill level was about the same and we were both dedicated to making this job sharing relationship work. The boss actually liked the idea. He was impressed by the proposal and his only request was that we not start job-sharing until two weeks after she returned from maternity leave. We both ended up working a 24-hour workweek. I worked Wednesday through Friday and she worked Monday through Wednesday. Wednesday was our overlap day. This was the day we spent catching each other up on projects. We each had our own computer and cubicle and a lap top in order to work from home in case there was a big project that needed both of our attention. We filled in for each other during times of vacation or illness, which was a great benefit for our department because one of us would always be there. We had the best of both worlds. This worked out for me because I was able to continue to grow my business without having to spend late nights working at home. For my job-sharing partner it was the opportunity for her to spend more time with her newborn. We enjoyed this arrangement for about two and a half years. When she decided to have her second child, she resigned her position and I had to increase my hours, but that did not last long. Due to a declining industry my department was laid off. My home-based business had grown enough that I decided to take a leap of faith and see if I could be home-based full time. Although more and more companies are trying to provide more flexibility for their employees, it is really still up to each individual department head or manager to make the final decision. If your manager is not comfortable with the idea, then it won’t happen. Job sharing of course if not for everyone, but for me at the time is was the perfect answer and I would definitely do it again. Presenting a well thought out proposal is key. Whether job sharing, telecommuting, or whatever flexible job situation you propose, the key is proving that you can be just as productive, attainable, and hard working (if not even harder working) and that nothing falls through the crack. As long as the boss is happy and satisfied with your work, then you have achieved your goal…a perfect flexible working situation
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Odetta
Taylor is the owner of Alternate Office Solutions, an office support service
that has been in business for 9 years in the Triangle providing a variety
of administrative services to companies both large and small.
