JOB SHARING:
A PROCESS AND EXPERIENCE
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1.
INTRODUCTION
Rosemary and I are jobshare partners in the School of Humanities and Human Services at QUT. We
each work five days per fortnight. During the past 19 months, we have undergone a process and an
experience to establish and implement our jobshare partnership. This paper shares with you our
personal experiences during the transition, establishment and on-going phases of the jobshare
arrangement with a view to encouraging interested people to explore the possibility of a jobshare
arrangement to suit their own circumstances.
2.
THE PROCESS TO CREATE A JOBSHARE POSITION
(i)
A Reason to Jobshare
I’d always planned to retire in my early 50s and do fun things which I could not fit in while working.
As time progressed, this plan wasn’t looking like it should – mainly for financial reasons. Then one
day, I arrived at work to be met with the news that a former employee had died suddenly, just two
years into early retirement. I did not personally know this person, but observed much sadness
throughout the Faculty as she was very highly regarded, as well as great shock on the suddenness of
her death. In the office we all talked about the fact that a similar situation could happen to any one of
us.
From this, I became very serious about considering options for achieving more leisure time If I
couldn’t afford to retire, then perhaps part-time work might be an option. Then another light went on.
I liked working in my current job and with my work colleagues – why not try for job share? It would
be like easing into retirement but still having the benefits of interesting work, and an income.
(ii)
Our position
Our position is probably typical of a School Administration Officer position in that our duties are
related to managing the School Administration Office, providing administrative support to the School
academic staff in relation to University policies and procedures, advising students on more complex
matters related to enrolment and progression, membership of various internal and external committees,
undertaking various projects for the academic staff; and monitoring the school budget. We supervise
five staff.
It is not a position in which individual tasks can be easily divided. Much of our work is reactive to
cyclical demands from central divisions and also to requests from academic staff and involves
coordination of activity and response. It is also work that needs to be completed within tight timeframes and cannot generally be put on hold until the following week. There is also attendance at
School, Faculty and university wide meetings required. We are based at a campus which is some
distance from the other QUT campuses so there is an extended time issue involved in attending
meetings.
(iii)
The issues
So at first glance it did not seem to be a position which would suit a jobshare situation. If each partner
could not be given ownership of tasks, then it had to be a situation of flow where one partner picked
up where the other left off. But 
If one partner was to pick up where the other left off, how would the information, the progress
and ‘the intuitive feel’ be communicated to her or him without having to spend long periods
on the telephone or writing copious notes?

How would academic and professional staff feel about communicating on a particular issue
with one partner and then having to talk about it later in the week with the other? Would they
need to explain things all over again?

Would they develop a preference for which jobshare partner they dealt with and accordingly
wait until the rostered days of their particular favourite before seeking assistance?
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

Would the students be adversely affected in any way?
Would matters requiring resolution fall through the cracks because one partner did not brief
the other due to a difference in perception of the nature of problems and issues?
What if we consistently disagreed on how to handle various issues?
What if one partner had skills which the other partner did not which necessitated the first
partner having to do all the work all the time on the jobs where these skills were needed?
What about supervision issues? What if subordinate staff relayed different information to
each of the jobshare partners?



Then there were the personal issues.

What if one worked hard and the other didn’t?

What if you got on each other’s nerves?

What if one was tidy in the office they shared and the other wasn’t?

What if one made a mistakes and the other got the blame?

Worse, what if one did a good job and the other took the credit?
Then there were the logistical issues:

What about the telephone and email – would we keep individual numbers and addresses? If
so, how would we remember to communicate every important message to each other? If we
shared, what about those occasional private messages that came in?
What about this – what about that - Oh heavens - was it all worth it?
Clearly I needed to get some answers to these questions before even thinking about approaching my
supervisor concerning a jobshare arrangement.
(iv)
The consultation
So I contacted other staff within QUT who were involved in jobshare situations and asked them
questions on these issues. Two of these positions involved a “pick up where the other left off”
situation and the third was a project based position. All of the jobshare partners to whom I spoke
provided positive comments on their jobshare arrangement and all, without exception, felt that the
jobshare worked. One said that she felt she carried a higher share of the work because of her
knowledge and experience but felt that this would improve as her partner gained more experience.
None provided negative comments in relation to issues outlined above – but I was not surprised at this.
It demonstrated the loyalty that the jobshare partners had for each other and also that even if there
were issues, they had been able to deal effectively with these. I then spoke with those people who I
considered were stakeholders in my position – subordinate staff, academic and professional staff in the
Faculty, staff with whom I regularly dealt in other faculties and divisions and students. There
appeared to be general support for “giving it a go”.
In its Flexible Work Guidelines, the Victorian Department of Education makes the point that support
from the top is critical where flexible work options are to be introduced1. So the next step was to
convince my supervisor that the jobshare would work in this position. My supervisor has a reputation
for being very open minded to new initiatives and change where she can see benefit to the Faculty
and/or individual – or alternatively, no loss of benefit. So I knew that whatever proposal I put to her
would be given a fair hearing. From the research I had undertaken I put together a submission which
covered aspects related to work flow, communication, attendance, leave and implications, advantages
and disadvantages to the School and Faculty. The submission included the recommendation that a job
share arrangement be trialled for six months so that its suitability and effectiveness could be assessed
by both the School and Faculty and the jobshare partners.
1
Department of Education and Training, Victoria, Flexible Work Guidelines, p. 47.
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My supervisor accepted the submission and put it forward to the Head of School and the Executive
Director of the Faculty for consideration. My feedback was that there were some reservations
expressed at this level about the suitability of this key supervisory position for a jobshare arrangement
– however there was agreement to allow the trial period to proceed. The position was advertised
internally within QUT and attracted three applicants all of whom were interviewed. The successful
applicant commenced three weeks later.
Enter my new jobshare partner – Rosemary.
I have worked in various administration roles at QUT since 1991 and in a part-time capacity since
1999. Part-time work has enabled me to continue to draw on my previous experience in the higher
education sector while retaining my skills and knowledge. Applying for the position at Carseldine
appealed to me as I could draw on previous experience while enjoying the benefits of continuing parttime work. A second reason was the fact ‘sharing a job’ would mean developing a collaborative and
team-work approach at a micro level with a work colleague and this suited my personal learning and
working style very much.
3.
THE IMPLEMENTATION
(i)
The first six months
The first six months of our partnership was challenging. I commenced in August 2004 and May to
December is an extremely busy period for our position. There are many deadlines to be met during
this time and although I had extensive relevant experience from my previous positions at QUT, there
was still a lot to learn in my new role and new Faculty. The courses offered by our School are
numerous and very flexible. In 2004, the School offered 17 undergraduate courses including double
degrees which were challenging to become familiar with. In our situation, while the new partner
undergoes ‘on-the-job training’, it was the more experienced partner who contributed their support,
time and expertise to a great degree during the initial months of the trial.
Those first few months necessitated many telephone calls between us as well as taking work home.
We spoke daily – sometimes more. Issues were resolved between us when one of us was in a
shopping centre, on a train, at the hairdressers and even once when Eve was out in the boat just about
to pull in a big one.
However without a blue-print from which to develop a job-sharing arrangement, the process of two
people meaningfully sharing one job began to emerge..
(ii)
Assessment of Performance during the trial period.
At the conclusion of the trial period, our supervisor, asked me, whether I had decided if I would like to
continue in the jobshare arrangement or return to full time work in the position. She reminded me that
if I wanted to remain a jobshare partner, then the effectiveness of the jobshare needed to be assessed
so decisions could be made on whether to convert the position into a permanent jobshare role or to
have it remain as a full time position for one person. I had already decided that I very much liked the
jobshare arrangement and would like it to continue. Our supervisor undertook a consultation process
with the School and Faculty academic and professional staff including each member of our
administration team, the Head of School and relevant staff in the central divisions, on their perceptions
of how effective or ineffective our jobshare performance had been. A feature of the consultation was
an assessment of whether the School’s students were adversely affected by the jobshare. We were
pleased with the result that those consulted reported good outcomes from the jobshare and generally
supported its continuation in a permanent arrangement. Rosemary was the successful applicant for the
ongoing position.
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4.
THE ESTABLISHED POSITION
(i)
Communication and the handover of information
Briefing paper
From the time of our first roster change-over, we instigated leaving the other a 1-2 page briefing of the
work completed, work that needed to be completed, issues to be resolved and deadlines to be met –
and general information on our subordinate staff relating to leave, RDOs workload etc. This was
placed on top of the pile of relevant papers in the middle of our desk, so it was the first thing we saw
on our arrival at the office on our first rostered day. We have continued this practice but whereas the
early briefings included details on just about every single thing living and breathing, we have now
refined this to more concise information – and make reference to documents in the pile which are self
explanatory. Now we also have two piles (sounds like a painful condition) – one is the “for
information”pile – and the other is that requiring action. It takes less than 15 minutes to write the
briefing – we tend to write sections of it during our shift as we think of things.
Email
We share an email with Eve’s address but both our names appear. Some of QUT’s jobshare partners
use a generic email address which both partners access and they still have their own personal email
addresses. As one of these partners pointed out, this arrangement still allows you some privacy with
respect to your own emails. However this has not been an issue with either of us.
We use email to communicate information or questions to each other that cannot wait. The frequency
would be one send and one reply each week.
Telephone
We still use the telephone to communicate where a more lengthy briefing on an item or issue is
required or a complex or sensitive issue needs to be resolved. The frequency of telephone calls
between us is on average now, one or less each week.
Meeting
About every six weeks, we meet personally to discuss a range of issues. It means one of us comes in
on our non-rostered days but we meet over morning tea and it is pleasant and informal. These
meetings in particular are beneficial as we tend to discuss a range of issues and the opportunity to
collaborate in a strategic way is invaluable. Our supervisor sometimes joins us on these occasions.
(ii)
Work distribution
In most cases we operate, in terms of work undertaken, as one whole person, not as two people doing
half the job each. In most tasks and activities of the job, each picks up everything at the beginning of
her shift, where the other leaves off at the end of her shift. If Rosemary at the end of her shift is partway through a task, I will complete the task during my shift – and vice versa.
In some cases of course, this is not possible. For example the School Administration Officer is
required to record the School Meetings which are held only on Thursdays. Thursdays are my days, so
I always attend and always record the meetings. The agenda however is always sent out by Rosemary
on the Tuesday before each meeting, as Tuesdays are her days.
Sometimes where deadlines allow, we will nominate ourselves to undertake a particular project from
beginning to end which could mean across two or more shifts.
To make identification easy, we have invented a system of using coloured folders to hold documents
related to different projects. We stick a temporary label on the front of the folder which describes the
task. The documents in the folders contain the background, action taken, where we are waiting for a
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response and what is pending and so provide the current status of the task. The folders sit on the desk
until the task is completed and the documents are then removed and filed in the main filing system.
(iii)
Glitches
We’ve had a couple of glitches but fortunately not of a too serious nature.
A document sent in by a student arrived in our mail box. Eve presumed it was something I had asked
for in relation to a student issue and left it in the tray. I saw it and thought it was something Eve was
actioning – and also left it in the tray. Because dealing with student issues is part of our every day life,
we usually only brief each other if there is something unresolved – and of course neither of us had
briefed the other on this document because we thought the other was handling it. After a week or so, I
asked Eve about the document and we were able to work out that it was indeed required for evidence
of reimbursement to a student related to a scholarship. This was a communication issue and from
this we learned never to “presume” in terms of what the other was handling”.
The second one related to a staff member in the Faculty, who relayed specific information concerning
an incident to one of us which required no action other than advice. The same staff member then
relayed different information to the second partner which did require some action, which was duly
taken. The staff member was required to submit a written statement concerning the incident in which
he stated that the first partner had not taken action immediately after the incident was reported.
Rosemary and I knew exactly what different information the staff member had provided to each of us
because we had discussed the situation and we were able to defend the actions that each of us had
taken individually. It highlighted again to both of us the need for that constant communication
between us.
(iv)
Supervision
Supervision of our five staff has not been problematic for us nor, we believe, for them. With respect
to Performance Planning and Review or PPr, we decide which of us will undertake the PPr with which
staff and then will swap when it is time for the six monthly review. If we are required to sit on
interview panels, we will discuss the applications, shortlisted applicants and prepare the questions
prior to the interview, and one of us, depending on whose rostered day it is when the interview is held,
will attend. Where there are staff issues or problems, we consult on these and agree on a course of
action.
5.
ADVANTAGES
The advantages of jobshare for Rosemary and me include providing us with

the opportunity to combine work with other responsibilities and lifestyle needs;

a sense of satisfaction which comes from working in a full-time job (although in a part-time
capacity);

a partnership where one’s skills and abilities are complemented by those of the other partner –
in fact it maximises individual strengths and minimises individual weaknesses2;

opportunities to learn from each other and to collaborate in a dynamic way;

an opportunity to reduce mistakes since as partners we informally monitor each other’s work;
and

mutual support and encouragement in our job with a view to continually improving processes
to ensure continued success.
Jobsharing arrangements in general also provide advantages to a faculty. These may include:
2
Southern Cross University Equity Services, Flexible work practices at Southern Cross University, A framework
for change, p. 9,
( http://www/scu.edu.au/admin/equity/flexibility/framework.html)
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






increasing employee retention, especially of workers with family responsibilities;
reducing absenteeism;
an opportunity for the wider team to benefit from different leadership and management styles;
increasing motivation, commitment and productivity because employee needs are met. This
is supported by a number of studies and evidence gathered over a 10 year period which
indicates that flexible work programs result in greater productivity and also a more committed
workforce 3;
peak period coverage – it may be possible for both job sharers to work during very busy times;
continuity of coverage – one partner is still working while the other is on leave; and
providing a wider range of skills and experience within the one job. 4
Such practices which assist staff with family responsibilities can also increase productivity and reduce
costs due to the match of employers’ interests with employees’ responsibilities.5
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DISADVANTAGES
For Eve and me personally, the disadvantages are minimal. In some cases, the following
disadvantages could apply for the Faculty:

Lack of continuity of client contact can be regarded as a disadvantage. However this can be
addressed to a degree by each jobshare partner advising clients of her days at work or by
advising the client that the other jobshare partner will be fully conversant with the details and
be able to assist.

Additional communication mechanisms between the jobsharers and other staff of the faculty
will be needed.6

Clearly in terms of communicating information to each other there will be occasions when
details on important issues – more than likely raised at meetings where several people
contribute to discussions – are not relayed for one reason or another, which could result in non
or incorrect action by the non-attending partner. However, we believe that a good
communication flow would keep such incidents to a minimum.

There is a possibility that individual staff may prefer to deal with one jobshare partner and
wait for that partner’s rostered shift, which could cause delays in any action required.
However we are not aware that this has happened.

There may be an increased management and supervisory load eg. two PPrs to be undertaken,
two staff members to send to training.
7.
KEY FEATURES OF A SUCCESSFUL JOBSHARE PARTNERSHIP
In a case study of a successful jobshare partnership between two staff at the Williamstown Primary
School, one partner emphasised the importance of planning, communication and shared values saying
that “it is vital that good communication is maintained and that the relationship is based on shared
3
Southern Cross University Equity Services, Flexible work practices at Southern Cross University, A
framework for change, p. 8
( http://www.scu.edu.au/admin/equity/flexibility/framework.html)
4
Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment, Flexible Work Practices Brochure No 3, Flexible Work
Practices in the Northern Territory Public Sector, p.1
(http://www.nt.gov.au/ocpe/equity/flexible/brochure_three.shtml)
5
Office of Industrial Relations, NSW Department of Commerce, Work & Family, Flexible Work Practices, p.1
http://www.workandfamily.nsw.gov.au/flexible/default.html
6
Department of Education and Training, Victoria, Flexible Work Guidelines, p. 14.
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values, respect and trust” adding “we discuss all our work and we are able to take over each other’s
work at any time.” The other partner noted that the key to success from his perspective was
understanding and agreement on key issues such as clarity of purpose, tasks, performance,
accountabilities and responsibilities all of which were documented. He believed that the planning
phase of the jobshare arrangement was a key issue in the success of the partnership.7
7.1
Important Attributes
From my perspective, during the last 12 months we have established a high quality jobshare
partnership in which we are equal partners. Initially I had to change my mindset from “my” job to
“our” job. I am fortunate because Rosemary is easy to work with and is also a very thoughtful person.
I felt she fitted in to the School well, right from the start and was well liked and accepted by our
subordinate staff and the other Faculty staff.
Eve has helped me to improve my organisational skills and instead of having piles of papers on every
available surface, papers are filed as I work and more thought is given to documenting actions and
outcomes rather than just focussing on the ‘big picture’. From my first day in the office, everything
was clearly labelled and organised.

Trust
This is an essential element of our partnership. We trust that each of us will work hard and try to
achieve as much as we can during our individually rostered days with an added outcome of lessening
the pressure on our partner at the start of her shift. As a general rule, we do not leave urgent actions
unattended to be confronted by our partner as soon as she walks into the office.

Realistic Expectations/understanding/tolerance
Because of this trust we have realistic expectations on what each other can achieve during their
rostered shift. For example if either of us is on a rostered two day week and has to spend one day out
of the office at meetings, this leaves just one day to complete tasks in the office – with telephone and
other interruptions impacting this time. Hard evidence of outcome or work completed will be
negligible and we both understand this.

Thoughtfulness
Rosemary has taught me a lot about being thoughtful and thinking of your partner. When Rosemary
finishes her shift, she puts the mouse on the right side of the computer and adjusts the keyboard tray to
my preferred level. At the end of my shift, I put the mouse on the left side of the computer and
readjust the tray to suit her preference. We both leave the desk neat, clean and tidy. There is
something very nice about arriving to work in an ordered and organised work space. If one of us has a
meeting to attend during our shift, the other will print off the agenda and papers and have them ready
and waiting on the desk. Our written briefings always start with “welcome back to our office” or
“hope you had a great weekend” and end with things like “have a good 2 days” or “hope the meeting
goes well”.
You will have seen the little drawings similar to this, occasionally showing on the screen throughout
our presentation. Not long after Rosemary started I arrived at work to find a colourful and happy
picture waiting on the desk calendar. It was a busy period and gave me such a lift to come in to this
tidy, neat office and find a colourful picture in the middle of the desk. So at the end of my shift, I left
one for Rosemary – and it has now become common practice. I think we now look for that picture to
begin the first day of our shift.
Not that we would see this practice appealing to partners in all jobshare arrangements.
7
Department of Education and Training, Victoria. Flexible Work Guidelines, p.16-17
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
Loyalty
Loyalty is also an important element in our partnership. Public support for each other and each other’s
actions and decisions has been a strong factor. We disagree on issues rarely (it’s hard to pinpoint if we
ever have), and never publicly. In our discussions, we may express different points of view and this
serves to cover additional aspects for consideration.
There is another issue with loyalty which was alluded to earlier. What happens if one job partner
makes a mistake and the other one is somewhat publicly ‘blamed’? Do you say “it wasn’t my fault!!?”
Of course it depends on the situation but generally we feel that the one accused would tend to deal
with it diplomatically without pointing the finger at her partner but would also pass on the advice of
the mistake (in a non accusing manner), to the partner. On the other hand, if one partner received
credit for actions or work taken by the other partner, we have no doubt that each of us would openly
respond that the credit should go to the deserving partner.

Courtesy, respect and confidentiality
Courtesy and respect for each other is important. If we advise on a matter which needs attention by
our partner, we say “would you mind responding to this” as opposed to “this needs a response during
your shift”!! If one of us completes a project which has taken considerable time and effort on our
part, the other says “thankyou for doing all that work”. Confidentiality is also important when
sensitive issues arise from time to time.

Impact on personal time
In a jobshare arrangement particularly, there is an impact on each partner’s personal time. Telephone
calls and emails between us, always impact on the personal time of the partner who is not rostered on.
Further, on occasions, each of us has taken work home to complete – not because the other partner
expected it – but because we wanted to personally complete a task that we knew our partner would not
have time to finish due to other work demands.
Both of us agree that such impact on our personal time is a small price to pay to allow us to each enjoy
a successful jobshare situation.

Some loss of individuality
In a sense, we have lost some personal identity by jobsharing the position. I will make a telephone
call and because the digital information has Rosemary’s name showing, the person receiving the call
answers “yes Rosemary” or “yes Rosemaryeve” “It’s Eve” I say many times each day Emails are
addressed to Eve slash Rosemary. Or Rosemary will send an email to someone signed by herself and
the response comes back addressed “Hi Eve…”. At meetings if tasks are allocated, it will be
“Rosemary – can you or Eve do this?”
While sad to lose some identity, it can also be a testament to the success of the jobshare – in that we
aimed to operate as one School Administration Officer – and now everybody thinks we are one
person.
8.
THE MANAGER’S VIEWPOINT
We are now nearly two years into our jobshare partnership and for this paper, our supervisor has given
us her perspective of the partnership. She writes:
“When Eve first approached me with the notion of the School Administration Officer position as a
job-share arrangement, I confess that I thought to myself it would never work. I'd filled that sort of
role myself years ago and there was no way a job share could have worked. But given how much
work she had put into researching the concept - and fully sympathising with her rationale for wanting
to ease out of the workforce rather than make a sudden break from working to not working - I thought
it only fair to give the proposal a trial. I agreed to six months, thinking that by the end of that time
she'd be begging to come back full-time and the rest of the staff would be begging me to ensure such a
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fiasco never happened again. How wrong can you be! After the six month trial all seemed to be
working well, but, well, we hadn't been through a full cycle of the academic year so small wonder...
We extended the trial for a further six months, during which time the Head of School, the staff, and I
all agreed that it was working so well that we should continue the arrangement on an ongoing basis.
I admit I still have some concerns about the job-share, but now they are more along the lines of
whether Eve and Rosemary are putting in more hours than they are paid to work. In challenging them
with this individually during PPr, they each said virtually the same thing - that the small amount of
time (and they stress it is only a small amount) they spend outside of their normal hours
communicating with each other to ensure the job is done in the most effective way is worth it for the
life benefits that working a job-share provides for them. In the close on two years the job-share has
operated there has only been one thing (that I know about) that I have said to one of the partners that
has not been communicated fully to the other, which I find quite amazing. Small wonder I treat them
as if they are two people who share a brain!
Yes, I need to do two PPrs not one (with some common elements and some thing individually for each
of them), and yes, there are two sets of training that have to be undertaken, and that involves some
additional expense. But to have two people with complementary skills and networks is worth it. I am
so very pleased that we took a punt on Eve's wild idea and gave the job-share arrangement a chance. I
think this is a really good example of the sort of innovation we are supposed to encourage our staff to
show - and how better to show the contribution is valued than to try out the innovative idea.”
9.
CONCLUSION
Flexible working hours incorporating jobshare arrangements are becoming more common in our
workforce. Significant changes have occurred during the last 40 years in the ways in which
Australians work, with a dramatic increase in the number of women joining the labour force. This has
generated large increases in the number of families where the parents need to juggle responsibilities
for child care. Further rising incomes and an ageing population will result in more people wanting to
work flexible hours. It is important that our employment policies and practices are flexible enough to
address the diverse needs and generate jobs for all who want them. The issues are important and
require both attitudinal and real changes to the way in which we work.8
This is one example of the establishment and implementation of a jobshare arrangement which has,
and continues to work. It has accommodated both partners’ personal needs and, to our knowledge, the
needs of our employer. We would urge any of you thinking about a flexible work option for any
number of reasons, to investigate with your supervisor the possibility of a jobshare arrangement even
though at first glance, the position you are considering for jobshare may not seem suitable. If your
position is definitely not suitable for a jobshare arrangement, consider acquiring a potential jobshare
partner and applying together for full-time positions which you can operate in a jobshare arrangement.
Jobsharing can result in a rewarding and fulfilling employment experience in which new professional
and personal skills can be achieved. And let’s face it, if it works, your employer gets a great bargain –
two for the price of one!!.
8
Social Policy Division, The Treasury, Australia’s Demographic Challenges, p. 1
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REFERENCES
Department of Education and Training, Victoria, Flexible Work Guidelines.
Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment, Flexible Work Practices Brochure No. 3, Flexible
Work Practices in the Northern Territory Public Sector.
Office of Industrial Relations, NSW Department of Commerce, Work and Family, Flexible Work
Practices.
Social Policy Division, The Treasury, Australia’s Demographic Challenges.
Southern Cross University Equity Services, Flexible work practices at Southern Cross University, A
framework for change.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Janet Dyke, Executive Officer, QUT Carseldine, Queensland University of Technology – for
contributions to and comments on the paper.
Gary Larsen, Far Side Collection – Last Chapter and Worse, Far Works, Inc. Cartoons, 1996, pp. 14,
70. – for use of cartoons in the presentation.
Lionel Graham – cartoon artist for the presentation.
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