Co-Leadership as a Pathway to New Work?
Co-Leadership is the new buzzword echoing through office corridors. But what exactly does it mean? Is it just a temporary fad, or does it represent the dawn of a new work era as part of the New Work movement? It's clear to all of us that the labor market has undergone significant changes in recent years. Due to a shortage of skilled labor, which complicates the recruitment of new talent, companies are being forced to rethink their strategies. Factors such as employer branding and diversity are increasingly coming to the fore. At the same time, the needs of employees have also changed.
Remote working is becoming increasingly important for many employees - whether it's to achieve a better work-life balance through sufficient free time, or to better reconcile work and family life. Women, who often shoulder the main responsibility for unpaid care work and consequently work part-time, are often deprived of the opportunity to take on higher and managerial roles. This is where the current trend of co-leadership comes in - a form of job-sharing that opens up new opportunities.
Co-leadership is being implemented by a number of renowned companies, including the online fashion retailer Zalando, Bosch.IO - a subsidiary of Bosch, the building management service provider Apleona, as well as local institutions such as Canon Switzerland and the ZΓΌrcher Kantonalbank. As of 2023, SAP Switzerland has also been led by Sabrina Storck and Thomas SchreitmΓΌller as Co-Managing Directors.
"Co-leadership is just for part-time working women...?!"
Let's start by busting a widely held myth: Co-leadership is suitable for everyone, regardless of work-time model and gender. There are numerous good reasons why co-leadership could be the right way. A leadership tandem sharing a part-time management position can offer double creative power and well-thought-out decisions to the company. Because leadership roles are shared, there are no gaps - as one person is always present.
Tandems that both work full-time have the opportunity to flexibly divide their working time: they can spend 50% of their time as co-leads and the remaining 50% in a specialist position. This offers a unique opportunity to combine two career paths and reconcile different interests.
Co-leadership can also support a planned, strategic generational change. Experienced employees considering retirement can pass on their knowledge during the transition period and prepare the team for the imminent changes. This shared responsibility promotes diversity, facilitates excellent knowledge transfer and also lowers the entry hurdles for managerial positions. However, co-leadership does require a certain 'tandem capability' to be successful.
Sharing the sorrow halves the sorrow, sharing the joy doubles the joy?
Since 2018, SAP has become a role model for the co-leadership concept. Our company now advertises all management positions as co-leaderships and has already managed to create about 50 of these tandems. In the coming weeks, we will introduce some of our tandems and provide an insight into how these leaders became co-leads, what challenges they faced at the beginning and how they handle the division of tasks and responsibilities.
Keep watching for our upcoming blog post series where we'll be revealing a lot more. The series will kick off next week with our first tandem, Melanie Gomell and Mathias Braje, introducing themselves. So, stay tuned to discover more and bring out your best!
