Job sharing at Livit
A well-established duo
Many companies continue to neglect job sharing in management roles. But two Livit team leaders, Laura and Regula, demonstrate that job sharing can also work seamlessly at management level. They have been successfully leading one of our property management teams together for four and a half years.
‘When I became a mother, I knew that I wanted to keep my job on a reduced workload,’ Laura begins. A downgrade was unthinkable, not just for her, but also for her line manager and the HR department. She received a lot of support and encouragement, and shortly afterwards they worked together to find a solution. The solution was Regula, who joined Laura’s team four and a half years ago as a 50% job-sharing partner.
«Before starting with job sharing, I had been solely responsible for team management for several years. First, I had to learn to let go and support decisions that I would have made differently, depending on the situation.»
Consensus is the key to success
Regula is also a mother and Laura’s counterpart. ‘She’ the perfect match,’ laughs Laura. What a compliment! Nevertheless, Laura admits: ‘Before starting with job sharing, I had been solely responsible for team management for several years. First, I had to learn to let go and support decisions that I would have made differently, depending on the situation.’ It’s important to accept other people’s opinions anyway, or the collaboration would never work. The team leaders therefore foster a healthy culture of discussion, in which the aim is not to be right, but to find the best possible consensus for the whole team.
The twosome is well received
As managers, they rely on clear, transparent communication and give their staff plenty of freedom. ‘You won’t find an authoritarian leadership style here. That doesn’t suit us or Livit’s corporate culture,’ says Regula with conviction. So how do the staff find their twin managers? ‘We cover a 110% workload together. We are just as accessible for our employees as any other manager. And our Outlook calendars are always up to date, too,’ explains Laura, adding: ‘Our staff accepted the shared management without any problems, and know which days which of us is working.’
«You won’t find an authoritarian leadership style here. That doesn’t suit us or Livit’s corporate culture.»
No strict division of responsibilities
Speaking of leadership: the two consciously tackle both personnel and specialist management together. ‘We don’t have a strict division of responsibilities,’ says Regula, adding: ‘We spend half a day together in the office whenever possible. We use it to exchange ideas and keep each other up to date on a wide range of issues.’ On all other days, they keep in touch using modern communication tools such as Teams or WhatsApp. Such close cooperation doesn’t just help when they are standing in for each other, but also ensures that the team management is maintained seamlessly when the other is absent.
Job sharing is teamwork
They wouldn’t change anything about the way they have worked for the last four and a half years. Laura and Regula find it rewarding to have a back-up in an emergency or to be able to discuss ideas and approaches with someone, and to know that you don’t have to decide everything on your own. They both value their job-sharing partner, and they know what counts: mutual trust, conscientiousness and quality awareness. These are team leader qualities that are valued not only by our employees, but also our customers.
Job sharing at management level? Livit makes it possible.
Interview with Beatrice Lifart, member of the Executive Board and Head of HR
What are the prerequisites for job sharing?
Successful job sharing requires good communication and coordination skills as well as a lot of organisational talent. When recruiting, we make sure there is affinity, as you need to get along well with each other in job sharing. You have to treat each other with respect. Certain tasks require joint decisions, which makes understanding and the ability to compromise indispensable. This in turn requires a high level of social and leadership skills.
What are the benefits of job sharing for employers?
On the one hand, the high level of commitment and motivation that staff generally bring to job sharing. Added to this is the increased specialist knowledge that results from the collaboration. Seamless deputisation also helps prevent employee absences. Thanks to our working from home arrangements and how we coordinate with each other, we usually only need one workstation, which is shared. Last but not least, the prospect of job sharing makes us a particularly attractive potential employer.
And what are the disadvantages?
The need to cooperate closely on a regular basis certainly makes organisation more difficult than it is for staff who don’t share jobs. It also depends on the communication skills and interaction of the job-sharing staff. However, the benefits by far outweigh the drawbacks.
In which roles is job sharing possible at Livit?
In principle, we welcome job sharing in all roles.
Is it possible to pursue a career through job sharing at Livit?
Yes, we have many successful examples throughout Switzerland.