A quip from a bygone era? A lot has happened since Covid. But too many SMEs still live by this philosophy and are therefore blocking their own chances of finding well-qualified, skilled workers. There are ways and means of opening up and testing new working models such as top-sharing. In our view, this is essential in times of labour shortages.
There is a general lack of responsible, driven, reliable staff. Employers have to be creative to find, attract and, above all, keep great employees. So why not break new ground in management. Managers also have a claim to a good work-life balance.
Many people are familiar with job sharing, i.e. two or more employees sharing a full-time position. The term top-sharing is becoming increasingly established as well. In this work model, two people not only share the job, but also jointly bear a high level of responsibility, which includes managing employees.
Top-sharing at profawo
At profawo, the top-sharing model has been essential in creating an effective and sustainable management structure. First and foremost, profawo uses the working model to support cultural identification and to best further the upcoming changes related to the merger of two internal organisational units. However, the innovation also helps the two managers to have a good work-life balance, despite having more responsibility.
As part of the top-sharing model at profawo, the two regional directors share the management of the national umbrella organisation. They share responsibilities and make decisions together. This model enables the two directors to work for the national umbrella organisation, yet still be permanently assigned to one region. This eliminates any travel time, making it easier to reconcile personal needs with the professional role.
profawo as an employer benefits as well. Thanks to top-sharing, continuity in management is ensured in times of upheaval and change. Likewise, the management level is always seamlessly present. Thus the organisation gains in effectiveness.
Top-sharing at profawo promotes cooperation and the exchanging of knowledge across the Swiss-wide management. The managing co-directors also manage a regional office and thus ensure the flow of information and proximity within the growing organisation. They share experiences and create synergies.
A flexible working model with many advantages, including at management level
By splitting one full-time job into several part-time jobs, professional life can be combined with childcare/caring for a relative, further education or other activities. This gives jobseekers access to interesting and demanding part-time jobs. By combining the skills of two co-leaders, challenging tasks can be mastered. Mutual learning leads to a valuable increase in competence. Attitudes are mutually reflected and responsibility can be shared, especially for difficult decisions. In the case of absences or illness, tandem partners can take each other's place.
For companies, this means increased attractiveness. Companies with flexible, innovative working models have an advantage in the “battle for talent”. The pool of potential employees is also expanded through the greater range of workloads. Actively practising top-sharing at the company increases diversity in the workforce and exemplifies inclusive behaviour which can be experienced through tandem workers who support, accept and respect each other despite (or thanks to) their differences.
Challenges for companies and employees
Job sharing positions also bring challenges. Complexity increases and there is a need for clarification and coordination in many areas (HR, line, systems, etc.). Many job tandem systems report an increased need for communication, especially during the familiarisation and adjustment period which usually lasts 6 to 12 months. Usually there are also additional costs (infrastructure, salary, etc.).
Carrying out a job-sharing position can also be challenging for employees. More work is required due to the increased need for communication as are a higher degree of transparency, flexibility, organisation and perseverance. A certain pressure to succeed - especially for pioneers in the field - may be noticeable. Fortunately, there are now numerous role models. And the vast majority report that the opportunities created by job sharing outweigh any possible risks.
earlyBird @ profawo
At this year’s earlyBird, profawo’s breakfast for innovative workers in Zurich, Karin Ricklin and Stephanie Briner from WeShare took an in-depth look at the pros and cons of top-sharing and also gave the profawo co-managing directors a tip or two to help them get their new model off to a good start.
Thank you for the exciting insight into the topic of top-sharing