Have an appraisal interview in the morning, then fetch the children from daycare in the afternoon: The compatibility of family and work is also playing an increasingly important role in management positions. Job tandems, stand-in models or part-time solutions now have a firm place in the personnel planning of large companies. And they attack an age-old cliché, namely: Anyone who wants to have a career must subordinate their job to their private life, always be available and work overtime. But there is still a long way to go before this cliché is completely disproved.
The fact that shared leadership can really work is perhaps shown by this name: “Insa”. That’s what Ina Skultety and Isabell Kormos are called in internal meetings, as the two managers of the Bosch Power Tools division explain. “For the others, we are one and the same person on the outside. We have not divided topics, but everyone is able to speak about everything.” That also means: an email address, a calendar – and responsibility.
Common in many places
Such models are not only widespread at Bosch, where according to the company 1500 executives now work part-time, but also in many other large companies. In the majority of DAX companies, people now share management positions, according to a survey by the German Press Agency. At Mercedes-Benz there are 420 executives who fill positions from team management to divisional management in tandem, at Daimler Truck there are 100 tandems. At Porsche, 20 tandems work up to the second management level.
In other companies, working hours tend to be reduced in practice. Where surveyed, the proportion of part-time management positions was limited and was more in the single-digit percentage range.
“We see that the number of part-time positions in management is increasing. But that’s definitely still the exception,” says HR expert Petra Kneip from Reutlingen University. “Only when there is a structural change, and not just individual solutions for, for example, two women who have just returned from parental leave, can one speak of normality.” In addition, the topic has to get out of the women’s and mothers’ corner.
With part-time option
At Deutsche Bank, for example, tandem-capable jobs are already marked as such in the advertisements. Siemens or Eon advertise management positions with a part-time option. Other companies are still dealing with individually knitted solutions.
Ina Skultety and Isabell Kormos also wanted to return to management responsibility after their parental leave. Both say that after the break they initially found themselves in project roles. “And the job sharing was the step back into direct management,” says Skultety. Because it was clear to both of them: Full-time work with the family is currently not an option for personal life planning.
So they applied for a job together and are now responsible for the logistics processes for the more than 20 Bosch Power Tools production plants worldwide and a team of around 40 people. Both work 65 percent each.
Clear rules are essential for this. “We made it very clear: one person makes the decisions when there are minor issues, and the other goes straight on,” says Kormos. The other could then turn off the cell phone while on vacation. Ultimately, that also means that both are responsible – even if something doesn’t go smoothly. So far, however, that has not happened.
Satisfied employees
But are such models also worthwhile for companies? In general, it is difficult to prove whether productivity gains could not also have other reasons, explains expert Kneip. There is still little empirical research on this. “But people are often happier and can continue their careers. That’s definitely a big loyalty and attractiveness factor. It’s extremely difficult to value it in euros.” In addition, investors are increasingly looking for “soft” key figures. For example, information on working conditions and diversity is increasingly being included in companies’ sustainability reports, even without a legal obligation.
In general, part-time management is not a question of size, but a question of culture and specific job requirements. “I even believe that it is probably easier to establish such solutions in small companies with flat structures than in large ones,” says Kneip.
And: the higher you get, the more difficult it becomes to share responsibility. “You don’t become a CEO because you want a work-life balance.” In such positions, for example, you cannot skip the shareholders’ meeting because you have to take care of the children. Some of the Dax companies surveyed also report that the demand for part-time work decreases the higher up the hierarchy.
But in general, according to Kneip, the following applies: “We want managers who can lead themselves well, who look after their own health. Only then do they have the energy to inspire people and set a direction. And that is the core of leadership .”
