Yesterday, I thought I had a thought:
What if a company created job share roles that created a partnership between an experienced and a early career employee?
My theory was that the pairing would provide benefits to all involved.
The structure could be set up in different ways:
A 50/50 job share – Both employees would get a 20 hour/week and they share the role.
A 50/100 job share – The senior leader at 20 hours and the junior at 40 hours.
Or, just a formal pairing where both are at 100% – 40 hours.
They could learn new approaches and skills from one another.
The 50/50 or 50/100 would have an efficiency of spend.
Only paying for 50% of the experienced salary and getting all the gains.
This might be ideal for someone who doesn’t want to retire, but also doesn’t want a full-time role.
Of course, when I went to look online, I found articles on the topic.
Here are just two from Forbes and the University of Kent.
Both articles focus on work/life balance and the transfer of knowledge.
I was surprised they didn’t cover the cost efficiency as well.
My Perspective
I think this is just another example of how future work models may change.
Companies who embrace new models and structures have an opportunity to lead.
The only way to see how the new approaches would work is to try.
Find one pair, place them in a role, and observe the benefits and challenges.
There will likely be quick wins and things to be worked through.
Your Turn
What do you think of a job shared between a younger and a more experienced employee?
What would the benefits be to both the employees and the company?
Are there challenges that you think the pair would run into?