A Work Alternative with Great Possibilities - Case Study Example

Job-Sharing: A Work Alternative with Great Possibilities TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction……………………………………………………………………….……..3 Overview…………………………………………………………………………..……..3 I. Proposed a job sharing work schedule…………………………….…4 A. Flexible/Alternative Schedules…………………………………….4 B. Finding a work partner……………………………………...………6 C. Telework……………………………………………………………...6 D. Leave/Holiday………………………………………………………..7 II. Body………………………………………………………………………7 A. Contract/commitment ………………………………………………8 B. Job responsibilities………………………………………………….9 III. Advantages………………………………………………………………9 A. Opportunity for a more balanced life-style…………………...….9 B. Higher level of job satisfaction………….…………………….…10 C. Less stress…………..………………………………………….….10 D. More flexibility……..……………………………………………….11 E. Reduce child care cost…………………………………………....11 IV. Disadvantages…………………….………………………………..….12 A. Changing in benefits …………………………………………..….12 B. .Limited in job advancement……………………………...………12 C. Harder to change jobs…………………………………………....12 D. Possible conflict between work partners………………………..13 E. Less identification with work…………………………...…………13 V. Conclusion………………………………………………...……………14 A.. Summary…………………………………………….…………….14 B. Recommendations…………………………………….…………..15 References……………………………………………………………………………..16 INTRODUCTION In this day and age, life has become so fast-paced that people often wonder where their time went. One wakes up in the morning, go to work, spend time with family and retire at night, often not relishing the events that happened during the day. A strong tendency is just to go with the flow, often leading a life that is purely functional. However, the awareness of living a more meaningful life with life-work balance is growing. Perhaps, people have realized that life is truly worth enjoying with the people they love and the things they want to do, and that even includes work. Where before, work usually takes most of one’s day, now, there are more options. Full time work which often extends beyond the required eight hours takes precious time away from family and self. Some even spend more time at work and minimal time at home even during weekends and holidays. For people who would rather spend more time with family or pursuing personal goals like studies, indulging in a hobby or simply want to be more laid back, alternatives to full time employment include part time work, compressed work week, flexitime, working from home and job sharing. Overview Job sharing is a great way to work without it interfering with family obligations. Job sharing allows two or more individuals to share a single full-time job, creating a new flexibility and freedom, while still maintaining the benefits and salary on a prorate basis. It becomes a part-time employment alternative developed in response to employee’s needs to work less than full time hours. One definition of job sharing is a voluntary work arrangement in which two people share the responsibilities of a full-time position because each employee wants to work less than full time (Chapin, 1990). Unlike traditional part-time work, job sharing is said to provide greater opportunities for career advancement, remuneration and workforce commitment (Buchan, 1991). I. Proposed a job sharing work schedule A job sharing schedule is usually agreed upon by the people who share the job based on their schedule. They evaluate the time most convenient for each to put in at work without leaving any business hour unmanned. They consider the load of work balanced with the time off from work that they desire and decide who reports for duty at a particular day or hour. They share the compensation package accordingly. A. Flexible/Alternative Schedules Job sharing is an efficient way to conserve energy. It is now commonly implemented in the corporate world and in the fields of education, medicine, and many others. In schools, teachers share the work by splitting their work week to oversee one classroom. One teacher may report Mondays to Wednesdays and another works Wednesdays to Fridays, with Wednesday as an overlapping day for meetings and swapping feedbacks and evaluative plans. This “fosters a collaborative atmosphere, enhances accountability and reduces burnout. Students likewise benefit from it by having two energized teachers invested in their education” (Blair, 2003: para.5) Even in the medical fields, nurses and doctors are taking advantage of job sharing opportunities. Health practitioners may still provide comprehensive patient care without having to sacrifice their personal lives and being on-call all the time. Sharing positions with others in academic and private practice settings has helped one health institution to develop a job-share model that provides patients with an unbroken “circle of care” (Worzniak & Chadwell, 2002). It has come up with 3 models of job sharing schedules. Model I is for arrangements with two part-time physicians. One physician provides out-of office services such as hospital rounds and nursing home visits while the other physician covers the office. Each works five half-days a week, trading responsibilities on alternate weeks. Model 2 is for arrangements with three part time physicians. Each week, two physicians work in the office while the other physician provides out of office services and alternate roles every week or so. Model 3 is for arrangements with two part-time physicians and two full-time physicians. Usually, this becomes necessary especially when patients grow in number. Each week, two physicians work full time in the office while one physician works five half-days in the office and another physician works seven half-days performing outside services. It is possible that in a practice this size or larger, another part time physician will need to rotate out to do rounds and perform other services. These models ensure that patients continually receive the care and treatments they need, and the doctors get to practice their skills in many aspects of medical and administrative functions. B. Finding a work partner For the models mentioned above to work best, work partners should also share similar competencies and a common work philosophy. “These characteristics will help facilitate the careful communication that cross-coverage requires” (Worzniak & Chadwell: 29). Aside from sharing the same philosophy, work partners must also be equally adept at organizational strategies. Work partners should be ready to give up autonomy and spend considerable time communicating with each other. For teachers, consistency and quality control of curriculum is required of work partners. The program should be designed to support students and ensure they get a high quality education and not just to give in to the whims of job-sharing teachers. C. Telework Job sharers need constant and consistent communication not just in face to face meetings but follow up on each other through emails and phone conversations. Job sharing teachers “ensure classroom stability by writing exceptionally detailed classroom plans, talking on the phone three to four times each day, and documenting morning and afternoon events in a folder that is swapped regularly” (Blair: para. 27). They contribute equally to the work even if they are not physically present at the job site. D. Leave/Holiday Because of the flexibility that job sharing brings, leaves and holidays can now be enjoyed by work partners, which in their previous full time employment may not have been entirely possible. All it takes is reaching a compromise on who gets to take a leave from work at a certain time while the other one covers for the one on holiday knowing he or she will have her turn soon. The models described above on the schedules of job sharing physicians easily revert to less people sharing the job when one gets sick or takes a personal leave. That way, the job continues to get done. This is not possible when one does a job all on his own without partners to back him up in the event that he needs to take a leave from work. II. Body Job-sharing in an establishment that submits to an administrative department does not just happen upon the whim of employees. This needs to be approved by management. Gretl Meier, an expert in the field of job sharing and part-time employment claims that two conditions need to be satisfied for it to work, namely managerial support and careful planning and consistent follow through of part timers and job sharers (Rosow and Zager, 1983). A. Contract/commitment Job sharers should have an inherent commitment to perform their duties and responsibilities in their jobs well and assure dependability to their work partners. Some companies come up with a collective bargaining agreement with their employees. For example, Local 6 of the Service Employees International Union and the Valley Cities Mental Health Center, a private clinic in Seattle declare that “permanent part-time and job-sharing arrangements are available to clinic employees only after they have worked full time” (Rosow & Zager: 20). This is to protect the interest of those in need of full-time earnings. The agreement also allows part-time employment only when it is necessary to the business. Prorated fringe benefits for permanent part-time employees such as vacation, holidays, sick, bereavement and jury duty leaves, unpaid leaves of absence, group medical and dental insurance for those who work 30 or more hours per week and an annuity plan were negotiated. “Protection against overtime abuse is also ensured by giving the worker and management the right to define overtime according to their own needs rather than having to abide by a definition that fixes the maximum number of hours that employees are to work per day or week.” (20) B. Job responsibilities Division of job responsibilities may be negotiated between the work partners. In the example mentioned above for classroom teachers, both partners share in every task. However, for some job partnerships, each partner may have different work roles. An example is the job sharing arrangement of two publicists, Barbara Fisch and Sarah Shealy. Lodge (2000) writes, “Though Fisch noted that she and Shealy have discovered that it works best for one of them to “own” a particular publicity campaign, each relies on input from the other on any given book project. “And we both bring something to the job that the other doesn’t.’ she mused. “Sarah is a great writer and has a wonderful sense of humor. My experience is more in the administrative and budgetary areas.”” (31). III. Advantages Research shows a multitude of advantages of job sharing. People are realizing their priorities in life and are striving to fulfill those, to say the least, and find that job sharing is one solution in finding time to do everything to meet their goals. A. Opportunity for a more balanced life-style People who find the need to spend quality time with their families while developing their career potentials to the fullest, find a balance of both worlds in job sharing. It allows them to advance in their careers while meeting family responsibilities. Since they have more control of their time, they can give full attention to their families, or indulge in personal hobbies and interests on their days off from work. On their work days, they are rejuvenated enough to give their all in the performance of their work duties without feeling guilty that they are not spending enough time to pursue personal obligations and interests. B. Higher level of job satisfaction Kane (1996) studied job-sharing and part time female employees and compared their job satisfaction. She used various questionnaires at both the initial testing and then re-tested them after one year. Part time nurses’ total well being and subscale scores started out higher than the job sharing nurses’ scores, however, after one year, the scores either leveled out or surpassed by the job sharing nurses. A great deal may be caused by more flexibility offered by job sharing. They do not get burnt out due to extended, stressful hours at work and can look forward to more time to breathe away from work and appreciate it more objectively. C. Less stress “Although the general well being scores were not statistically significant between the job sharing and part-time nurses, the results do indicate that a positive trend exists between job sharing and well-being. Further, the job sharing nurses increases in energy level and relaxed mood are consistent with previous studies which have stated that job sharing results in higher energy levels and less stress for women who are balancing work and home life roles” (Kane, 1996, n.p.) D. More flexibility Since job sharing operates under an agreement of trust and reliability between work partners, they enjoy more flexibility and better control over their schedules. For example, in the models presented above on schedules, part time physicians in a three-physician model could choose to compress their workweek into shorter days instead of spreading the hours over five days, except when they are truly needed. Open communication between work partners must be maintained, so they can tell each other their specific preferences that may be given in to in an equitable way. E. Reduce child care cost Job sharing benefits working parents, as they can spend more time caring for their children themselves, thereby reducing costs of hiring baby sitters on saving the money usually spent on day care services. IV. Disadvantages Like in any innovation there are also disadvantages in job sharing. Those who opt for this work alternative must be ready for them in order to take on the right perspective and embrace their decision fully. A. Changing in benefits Since job sharers’ full time work hours will be split amongst themselves, benefits are likewise equitably prorated. Surely, their salaries are much lower than if they are working full-time. However, for some, the attraction of getting more free time for themselves is greater than the fringe benefits offered by full time employment. B. Limited in job advancement Being less seen at the workplace than their full-time counterparts, job sharers have less opportunities to be noticed for promotions or other events that spell job advancement. Putting in less number of hours may be a reason for management to believe that their capabilities for more responsibility are likewise limited. C. Harder to change jobs With just one part time job to work on, a job sharer might hold on to it more tightly and be blinded to other available jobs. On the other hand, prospective employers might capitalize on the fact that the job sharer is content with what he currently has, and may not be interested, or worse, may not be qualified enough for a more lucrative, but full time employment. D. Possible conflict between work partners Conflict is inevitable in human relationships. The possibility of disagreement due to personal and professional rivalry between work partners is likely, especially when very stressful events happen on the job. Conflict may arise from miscommunication, differing principles and maturity levels of work partners and ego issues. E. Less identification with work The opportunity for more time outside work may possibly lessen one’s identification with the work itself. Although job sharers may find more satisfaction in their situation, they may not exhibit the same identification with the job as well as full time workers who get to see all the details from start to finish, and therefore feel ownership of the tasks. Job sharers need to relinquish autonomy and get to recognize another individual as a co-owner of the job (Blair, 2003). V. Conclusion This paper has discussed job sharing thoroughly, including its benefits and disadvantages. It concludes that it is an effective way to achieve work-life balance in professional workers. A. Summary The high stress brought about by too much work and family obligations may render an individual feeling helpless and burnt-out. Balancing a full time job then coming home to fulfill family responsibilities, or personal goals such as pursuing studies after work can be too draining. Alternative work schedules have been designed to meet the needs of busy lifestyles of workers. These include flexitime, part-time employment, compressed work weeks and job sharing. These may have differing mechanics, but the bottomline is that it attempts to encourage work-life balance. Studies have commended job sharing as an effective solution to workers struggling to balance work and family. It is the sharing of job responsibilities between two or more workers to fulfill a full time job. It follows that the job sharers likewise share in the compensation of one full time worker, along with its benefits. The job sharers put in their share of the work and spend the rest of their free time pursuing other things like quality time with family, further studies, or a hobby. The decrease in compensation and benefits is made up for by more time for self and family which may bring more fulfillment to the individual. B. Recommendations Since job sharing is a relatively new practice in work places, it is recommended that more research on it be done. Although there is much evidence that point to its efficiency as a work alternative, there is also room for more improvement, in order to be recommendable to more people. Questions like; How can one maximize job sharing to earn more on its limited work schedule?; How can companies afford to provide more benefits to job sharers?; Can job sharing be home-based, or will this tip the balance more to family roles more than work roles?; Would telecommuting be a kind of job sharing strategy?; and other related questions may be taken upon by researchers to study. Information on it may be valuable to people considering job sharing as a work alternative. Job sharers must be firmly decided on embarking on this new adventure in order to derive the benefits of work – life balance. If in the process of their shift in work pattern, they discover that it does not work for them, then they have to find ways to ease themselves back to full time employment, without forgetting their family and personal obligations they enjoyed and renewed in their stint as job-sharers. References Blair, J., “Job Sharing: Appealing for Teachers”, Education Week, Vol. 22, Issue 20, 2003 Buchan, J., “Job share. A share in the future.”, Nursing Times, 87 (23), 32-33, 1991. Chapin, V.J., Work life and personal needs: The job-sharing option. Ottawa, ON: Publications Distribution Centre, 1990. Kane, D., “A Comparison Of Job Satisfaction And General Well-Being For Job Sharing And Part-Time Female Employees”, Guidance & Counseling, Vol. 11 Issue 3, 1996 Lodge, S., “The Best of Both Worlds”, Publishers Weekly, August 28, 2000 Worzniak, M. J. & Chadwell, M., “ A Job-Share Model for the New Millenium”, Family Practice Management, September, 2002 Rosow, J.M. & Zager, R., “Punch Out The Time Clocks”, Harvard Business Review, March-April, 1983 Worzniak, M.J., and Chadwell, M., “A Job-Share Model for the New Millenium”, Family Practice Management, September, 2002 Read More