A Multigenerational Job Share

This interview by Mandy Garner first appeared on WorkingWise.co.uk on 17 May 2023. WorkingWise.co.uk has been acquired by 55/Redefined.

Research shows older workers often want to reduce their hours in their 50s and 60s and would in fact stay in work longer if they could do so. But for too many that means demotion. What if your employee and you could keep drawing on all that experience, but in a way that meant they would stay for longer? Lloyds Banking Group’s job share initiative enables just that, and they have also put people into multigenerational partnerships that bring additional benefits and learning.

Here one partnership talks about the difference their job share has made to their lives and to the way they work.

Theresa Clark was in her 60s and thinking of retiring, but couldn’t afford to. She wanted to slow down, but didn’t relish the cliff edge of retirement. She took part in a pilot run by Lloyds Banking Group which aimed to help people think about their later working years.

The pilot introduced the possibility of phased retirement and Theresa spoke to a financial adviser about her personal situation. She started looking at the possibility of drawing down part of her pension and going part time in her job in the Learning – People & Places team. She spoke to her line manager who suggested a job share. Theresa’s initial response was that it wouldn’t work. She thought she would want to be in charge of her own portfolio, but she decided to test the waters.

Ryan O’Shea had been Theresa’s line manager for a couple of years. Theresa knew him well and she was aware that they had very different styles of working that could complement each other. Ryan had moved to Wales and was looking to spend more time with his husband who was older than him and had recently retired. The death of Ryan’s mum at a relatively early age had also prompted a rethink about his life.

He was originally asked by Theresa’s line manager to recruit a job share partner for her. But then he thought the solution might lie closer to home. He spoke to his husband and considered his finances. Reducing his hours meant taking a lower ranked position. He decided to take the plunge after talking to Theresa about how a job share partnership would work.

Logistics

Logistics wise, Theresa and Ryan decided on a crossover day – Wednesday – when they could both attend key meetings and do a handover and they discussed other practical issues, such as a shared mailbox. If there was anything urgent they were happy to take the occasional call outside their working days. Both Theresa and Ryan had been working remotely before the pandemic so they were used to being in different locations.

The transition went much more smoothly than they had anticipated. Ryan says he was worried about the move away from management towards a focus on greater detail, but, because he knew Theresa, it was much easier than he had thought.

The benefits have been huge for both Theresa and Ryan – and for Lloyds. Both say they realised how much they loved their jobs as they were not so rushed and had time out to do other things, like gardening and going for walks for Ryan and getting involved with the local parish council for Theresa - she became the council’s clerk.

Benefits

When it comes to the benefits for Lloyds, Theresa says the bank didn’t lose her experience and skills and that together she and Ryan have been better than they were on an individual basis. “We bounced ideas off each other and have different skillsets and strengths which makes for better outcomes,” she says. Ryan has benefited from Theresa’s 45 years of experience. Also, because she is very different to him, it has forced him to think in a different way. He says: “I had to anticipate how she might think before I made a decision. As a result there is more wisdom in some of the decisions we make.”

He adds that having a sounding board for his ideas means there is less need for line management. “We have been fairly self sufficient,” says Ryan. Theresa agrees that the decisions they have made have been more thought through. “There is always something that Ryan suggests that I have not thought about so our decisions are more robust,” she states.

They have also been able to play to each other’s strengths by distributing work in a way that suits their different skillsets.

Ryan took a big cut in his earnings, unlike Theresa, but he says the benefits have been so great that he doesn’t regret it.

Theresa has been able to relax more and to give back to her community. She states: “I have had more time to fit things in and if I want to switch off and sit in the garden I can.”