The Power of Two: Job sharing in Senior Communications roles
In today’s increasingly busy and demanding work environment, balancing the responsibilities of a senior job role with your personal life can be challenging. Job sharing offers an excellent solution and allows two professionals to collaboratively manage responsibilities whilst enhancing their creativity and teamwork.
To find out more about the benefits and challenges of job sharing, I reached out to senior Communications professionals in the charity industry. I spoke with Lizzie Afonso and Anna Wilson from Leukaemia UK as well as Gayle Willis, formerly at Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation. They shared their job sharing journeys and experiences with me and here are some of the top takeaways from our conversations
Two brains are better than one
Job sharing offers numerous benefits, both for individuals as well as organisations. For an individual it offers a unique blend of personal growth and professional collaboration and can be an excellent way of achieving work-life balance while continuing to make a significant impact in your career.
Additionally, being in a management or senior leadership role can sometimes be challenging and feel isolating, but job share partners can support each other, align their skillsets and balance their strengths. They can also navigate challenges together and help each other feel more confident about how they approach their job role.
Often job share partners will split the working week in half, with one working the first half, the other the second and with an overlap day for collaboration, where they align on key projects. Although this works out marginally more expensive for an organisation than having one full-time employee, it ensures stability, consistent coverage and additional bandwidth, meaning the benefits outweigh the additional cost.
Finding the right partner
If you’re looking for a job share partner, networking is a recommended way of finding one, whether that’s through your existing professional network or industry events. When choosing a partner it is essential to consider compatibility in terms of work styles, your values, and long-term goals. It’s also important to be self-aware and give yourself time to adjust to the job share dynamic. A successful partnership will be built on trust, communication, and a shared commitment to the role and organisation.
Staying connected
To maintain effective communication and collaboration in a job share, it is customary to manage your work with shared emails and calendars, as well as organisational tools, such as Monday or Asana. Having strategic planning sessions on the overlap working day allows you to synchronise priorities and stay aligned on long-term projects and goals. In addition, outside of working hours it is important to be flexible and maintain open and consistent lines of communication with your job share partner in order to ensure there are no gaps or misunderstandings in your work.
Navigating challenges
Encountering challenges when job sharing is inevitable but they can be effectively managed by participating in coaching early on, in order to align on each other’s working styles and values. Once again, open communication is key, as well as being focused on collective delivery and the overall success of the team. Having an ego will not serve you well when job sharing! When disagreements do arise, it is important not to shy away from them but to handle them behind closed doors and present a united front to your team and the wider organisation.
Progressing as a team
In terms of progression, job sharing doesn’t need to hold you back. You can apply for job roles together, including executive director and co-CEO positions, and it is a great way to continue advancing while maintaining work-life balance. While certain organisations may not have a history of offering roles as a job share, it’s worth mentioning it to them and exploring the option, especially for leadership roles where diverse perspectives and collaboration are valued.
Advice for aspiring job sharers
For those considering job sharing, it’s important to know from the outset what you want to achieve and what you can contribute. Self-awareness, reflection and open communication are essential, and while it may take time and effort to establish a rhythm in a job share dynamic, the rewards can be immense, for both your career and personal well-being.
If you are looking for a job share partner or would like to discuss your options, please get in touch with us. We can help you find job share, part-time and fully-remote roles in the charity sector.
About the Author
Olivia is a Marketing and Communications Recruiter at Ashby Jenkins Recruitment and she specialises in charity sector recruitment. If you would like to get in contact with her, please email [email protected].