Why Smiths Group's job share policy is a win-win-win!

Flexible working is often thought of primarily as an employee benefit. Something firms have to offer in order to attract and retain the best people. And yes, of course, it is all those things - but it is also a distinct benefit to the employer too and I am delighted to have been actively involved in demonstrating this at Smiths. 

One of the overlooked benefits of flexible working, in my view, is the chance to harness collaboration between employees to ensure the safe handover of valuable skills and create seamless successions - particularly in companies like Smiths where there is a huge amount of technical and sector specific knowledge that needs to be maintained to keep the business growing and developing. 

From the start of the current financial year, in partnership with my former manager David Birtwistle, I have taken the opportunity to utilise Smiths Group’s job-sharing policy. This is something David and I first discussed when the policy was rolled out in February 2024. We talked our plan through in detail, over many weeks and concluded that we could come up with a model that would create a win-win-win for the two of us and for the business.

Our objectives were clear: David wanted to transition into retirement over a couple of years and would do so while supporting my transition into a role I was ready to grow into, whilst also affording me precious time with my children whose ages range from ten to sixteen.  
Over the past year, I have been able to learn from his extensive technical skills and experience by sharing his workload in a more formal capacity, instead of being restricted to providing occasional cover in his absence.

As our employer, Smiths not only benefits from both of our skillsets, but also sets up a smooth succession for a business-critical role and showcases how bold and progressive flexible working policies can actively benefit the business.  

David and I are the first partnership to do such a senior job share at Smiths. Hopefully we will be the first of many. It was great to feel the trust placed in me by senior leaders in the organisation to share a senior job with responsibilities which include reporting on reward priorities to the Board. 

In my experience - and having worked at several large companies in my career - this feels relatively unique, although things are starting to change elsewhere too. I have a good friend whose job share is now so well established that she and her job share partner have even successfully applied for promotions together, so seamlessly do they deliver their combined role. 

So how does it work? 
Our way of working is to both utilise a three-day working week, with a shared day to handover where we discuss the work we are collaborating on, in an environment where we can develop solutions together. 

Initially, I was very much learning from him, but now I feel we are genuinely delivering the role together. We actively explore ways of working and discuss the approach we’d like to take to each task to make sure we are delivering the role as effectively as one person, if not more so.

The difference between this and part-time work (which I have done before), is that the latter is a challenging undertaking given that you are often expected to complete a full-time role in only a few days. Job sharing, by comparison, is a much more flexible and tailored approach where it is possible to hold a significant operational role, secure in the knowledge that when you step away from it, delivery continues at the same level – and I can return to it knowing it has been in extremely safe hands and everything is covered.  

The trust and knowledge between us, of course, has built over time, and I am lucky David’s priorities have always been his team and their progression. We have also benefited from support from senior leaders in the company in making this work, all of which has made it much easier to step into this role.

It’s our shared responsibility to keep one another informed, and the natural segmentation of our duties allows this to work effectively in a manner where I feel supported and able to keep on top of my projects.

This is a journey, so I am continuing to gain valuable skills and perspectives from David all the time, and he is supporting the gradual, but continuous, transition of the role towards me. It’s been an excellent way to pursue my professional growth while also being able to enjoy my time as a parent to three brilliant young people - and has definitely been the most fulfilling and efficient way of working that I’ve experienced.

Prior to this, I often felt I had to compromise on elements of my personal and professional life - but now I feel energised more than ever around what the future holds for me at Smiths. 

Being trusted and supported in delivering this job share role also feels consistent with Smiths Group's leadership behaviours and a great way of demonstrating them in real life. Doing this job share role encourages me to put behaviours like inclusive leadership, developing oneself and others, taking accountability and ownership, and delivering results at pace into action every day and it is really encouraging me to bring my best self to work.

I feel very fortunate to have been given this opportunity at Smiths, appreciative of being able to work so closely with a talented colleague and proud of how well we have made it work.  Developing internal talent within a healthy culture is a key priority for my role at Smiths and I am so pleased to have been able to road test these values in action. 

Liz Thompson is HR VP for Talent, Reward & Engagement at Smiths Group.