Job-Sharing

One of the reasons you probably started a business was to enjoythe benefits of balancing your family and business lives. Andchances are, once you’ve achieved that, you’ll want your employeesto enjoy the same benefit. On the plus side, the less formalenvironment of a small company is the ideal setting for a flexibleemployee policy. On the other hand, small businesses are morelikely than large companies to depend on a core of “indispensable”employees. So how do you balance your company’s needs with those ofyour employees? One flexible schedule option that helps you do bothis job-sharing.

Job-sharing is basically a form of part-time work that providesyou with the equivalent of one full-time employee while giving thejob-sharing employees the ability to keep their careers on trackwhile allowing more time for family responsibilities or otheractivities.

The key to making the strategy work is a willingness tounderstand the needs of your staff. And the employees participatingneed to be organized. Work patterns need to be plotted, andcommunication–between the employees sharing the job and otherstaff members–needs to be better than average.

In establishing your company’s personnel policies, whetherthey’re set out in a formal employee manual or created on acase-by-case basis, it’s important not to be arbitrary inaccommodating your employees. Doing so will lead to poor moraleover perceived unfairness; worse, it could open your company tolawsuits.