Shared climb up corporate ladders

Nowadays, some potential executives are using job-sharing to climb the leadership ladder.

Job-sharing started as a way to help working mothers juggle jobs and family. Nowadays, some potential executives are using the two-for-one job arrangement to climb the leadership ladder.

Jolanta Coffey and Raffi Manoukian are one such duo. Last year the senior engineering managers landed a new assignment together at Ford Motor Company helping run key aspects of product development worldwide. It was their second promotion since first splitting a managerial role at the carmaker in 2012.

The two hope to gain an executive title next, inspired by colleagues Julie Levine and Julie Rocco. Last year those partners landed their third advancement together, becoming the company’s systems engineering director and the first job-sharers to join Ford’s executive ranks. The setup works because they make sure “no one should have a burden because we job-share”, Levine says.

Employers introduced job-sharing decades ago, but it never spread widely and often was limited to roles considered “mummy-track” jobs with little upward mobility. In a 2016 survey of 920 US employers, 18 per cent said they allowed job-sharing for at least certain staff members.

But in today’s tight US labour market, the battle to retain talent and a sharper focus on workforce diversity are reviving interest in the practice — and in positions with career-growing potential, companies say. In a typical job-share, two colleagues divide duties normally performed by a full-timer and overlap one day of their three-day weeks.

Coffey and Manoukian each work four days a week with full benefits. Both usually are in the office Tuesdays through Thursdays. Because they are committed to working 36 hours a week, each earns 90 per cent of their position’s full-time salary. They each averaged 45-hour work weeks before job-sharing.

Ford doesn’t tally how many of its several hundred US job-sharers are managers but says the practice is growing at higher levels. “We are going to see a lot more Julies,” chief human resources off­icer Kiersten Robinson predicts. “Your career doesn’t stall just because you choose to work flexibly.”

At Target’s Minneapolis, Min­nesota, headquarters about 100 staff members share jobs, including some in management, the retailer says. Two high-level managers at Unilever command US marketing of Hell­mann’s mayonnaise, a brand with $US1bn ($1.47bn) in US annual revenue.

How do you turn the unconventional setup into a career booster? The experience of successful job-sharers suggests you need a savvy mix of collaborative planning, supportive superiors and extensive networking. Job partners also must share a similar work ethic and a willingness to share the limelight. “Be bold and be visible and document your progress as a team,’’ says Melissa Nicholson, founder of job-sharing consulting firm Work Muse.

Wanting more time with their children, Manoukian and Coffey proposed sharing a managerial role after 22 years and 16 years at Ford, respectively. They knew each other well because Manoukian had previously supervised Coffey. “Our immediate management was very supportive,” Coffey says.

Ford approved their job-share because “we could take on a wider scope of assignments as well as be retained as long-term employees”, she adds.

From the outset, they crafted a map of possible internal moves together. “In an ideal world, I would get to be a Ford vice-president in a job-share partnership,” Coffey says. The pair say they use their complementary strengths to solve problems together. Coffey prefers to act quickly, while Manoukian spends more time deliberating. They keep communication seamless by being available for quick calls outside normal work hours, Manoukian says. They trust each other so much that “I find it relatively easy to make decisions on our behalf,” Coffey says.

A decade older than Coffey, the 55-year-old Manoukian wants to continue job-sharing until retirement. So he has encouraged her to pursue broader joint assignments. “Do what you need for the long term and I will go along with you,” he recalls telling her. Their latest promotion came soon after they showed their boss their career map.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL