You're never alone with a partner — Job Sharing at Uniper: Part 2

"I often have the feeling that many do not yet understand the added value of job sharing," says Dr. Lars Wiese, Head of Power Plant Group West at Uniper, a position he shares with his colleague Thomas Preußler. The pair have previously run power plants independently of each other, Thomas in Datteln and Lars in Scholven. Due to the relative proximity of both sites, they came to the conclusion that there were many synergies that could be exploited if both power plants were combined into one group. In the meantime, they met Jenny and Nikola, saw what both of them were doing and were excited by the prospect of close collaboration. 

They then realized that the job sharing model would also be suitable for them. Officially, Lars and Thomas have been working in their job share since April 2023. However, they signed the employment contract at the end of 2021 and have already worked together on a variety of topics since then. Together with a trainer, they also held a discussion on values, worked out how the collaboration would work best and created a set of rules. Since the beginning of April 2022, the two have shared a common email address. While Thomas appreciates Lars' spontaneity and plentiful ideas, Lars describes Thomas as much more experienced and level-headed — this provides peace of mind in their collaboration and means that the pair complement one another.

During the current initial phase, Lars and Thomas are each working 80% of the time. They will move to 60% at a later date. However, they stress that job sharing is also viable in other formats — for example, if both job-share partners work full-time. Of course, the position and scope of the work must grant permission for this to be done, although two positions can be combined and thereafter held jointly by two people. 

This, too, offers many advantages over the regular work model, in which each full-time employee takes up one position, because job-share partners have a person by their side with whom they can discuss important topics. This also lightens the load in stressful situations — together, they can reflect on whether something has been overlooked or whether there may be different perspectives. "You've got a sparring partner at eye level who goes through the whole thing with you, and that's why I often feel much more confident in what I'm doing," says Lars.

"And often new ideas or perspectives can emerge that you might not have considered before. That may make the final decisions different, but all the better for it," adds Thomas. This not only gives employees a better feeling about their work, but also ensures that managers receive answers and decisions of a higher quality. What's more, the work is carried out more efficiently because it is split up: While important topics are thought through by two people, for other topics the two employees can decide who is more interested in the topic or has more experience in an area. "This is also a win for the company: Tasks don't stop—even if someone is on holiday and there is no cover—because there is a second person who can carry out the work in part, if not completely," says Stefan Bockamp, Director Operations Steam & Biomass at Uniper, who has supported Lars and Thomas in their project. 

In the next part of the series, we'll discuss the prerequisites for job sharing and how such a collaboration works best.