Leadership Opportunities through Job Sharing

We’ve seen it before. You’ve seen it before. Maybe you’ve even experienced it before. Seemingly, the only way to continue to gain leadership opportunities is to work your way up the corporate ladder, or to wait it out until your manager leaves so you can take their spot. But, the wait-it-out method can make you stagnant and before long, you’ll realize you haven’t been sharpening any new skills as you wait.

People really are curious what the best path into management is. There are several “ask an expert” columns similar to this Forbes one: “Should I Quit, Or Wait For My Boss To Get Fired?”

Photo by Ashley Batz on Unsplash

The Harvard Business Review worked with Kelton to conduct a survey of more than 2,000 full-time American employees. They found that 89% of respondents would consider making a lateral move with no financial incentive for these most common reasons:

• To find great personal satisfaction (57%)

• To pursue an entirely new career path (41%)

• To take up a professional challenge (40%)

These workers were across multiple industries, and it’s worth noting that they’re not necessarily driven by compensation…but strongly value and are motivated by professional growth opportunities that promise purpose and fulfillment.

“Instead of racing up the corporate ladder to get the title of “Vice President” in a job they don’t find fulfilling, today’s workers are willing to sacrifice the time they’ve spent in their current position and completely start over to find something new that they hope will make them happy.”

The article, Don’t Underestimate the Power of Lateral Career Moves for Professional Growth, goes on to say that among those willing to make a lateral move, only 27% would consider doing so for a different company. We found it very interesting that employees want to remain loyal to their current employers, but as HBR states, only if they have the opportunity to grow- by either finding something that makes them happier or being given the chance to tackle a new challenge. While 66% of employees will first look to see if there is an interesting position at their current company before looking elsewhere, only 32% of respondents said that their employer encourages employees to work in different departments to gain additional experience and skills.

“This means that employers are missing an opportunity to retain talented employees who are looking for a change.”

How Job Share Connect Can Help

We get it. Even if employers want to provide these opportunities, they have other considerations like the additional gaps created as employees move into other roles. Job Share Connect solves for that by not only matching the right talent to new challenges, but by offering up a pipeline ready to fill those gaps. Job Share Connect’s unique talent platform takes the guesswork out of finding the perfect match. From the initial talent assessment to the planning, organization, and implementation of the job share, Job Share Connect makes it easy. If you’re interested in offering job sharing in your company, connect with us today!