Introduction to HR and Leadership Case Study Assignment

Case Study - Job Sharing at Motorola

Background -

Motorola was founded in 1928 in the U.S., and currently employs more than 100,000 people worldwide. Today, it is harnessing the power of wireless, broadband and the Internet to deliver embedded chip system-level and end-to-end network communications solutions for the individual, work team, vehicle and home. Motorola employs 1,530 staff in its East Kilbride, Scotland operation, of which about 700 are operators. Motorola operates in a highly competitive global environment; to maintain its competitive advantage, it operates its plants 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A variety of work-life balance arrangements are offered, many of which are long established throughout the company. They include part-time work; dependency leave; an employee assistance program (EAP); job sharing; health care (adding some private health care benefits to the statefunded U.K. system); special shift arrangements (non-standard shifts); study leave (time off work to complete sections for formal qualifications); and emergency holidays (when annual leave needs to be taken for non-holiday time). Moyra Withycombe, the human resource operations manager at the East Kilbride location, explains that they are offered as part of being a premier employer and to attract high-caliber people, then recognize and reward them. This fits with Motorola's philosophy of balancing life and work, which has contributed to the company's high rating in America's 100 Best Corporate Citizen award lists for environment, community and employment practices.

Job Sharing in Manufacturing

In 2000, there was a major change in work hours at the East Kilbride plant. The change was intended to standardize shifts throughout the whole organization. Today, full-time Motorola operators work seven 12-hour shifts over a two-week period, on the basis of four days one week, and three days the next. When the work hours were changed, employees were offered job sharing, either on the day or night shifts. Job sharing means that two people share a full-time job between them, splitting equally the number of hours worked. Though not commonplace, it has been an occasional practice in the U.K. for some years, mainly in the public-service sector. Mary McDonald, a single parent with two children, applied for a job-share on the day shift. She felt the full-time shift pattern was too onerous given her family situation. In making her written application to the Human Resource department, she gave her personal and operational reasons. Her application was successful and, matched with her job partner, Heather Chalmers, she works in the wafer fabrication production area. McDonald says this system "has worked very well" for her. "I'm full of energy for the days I work-Motorola gets 100 percent from me." She is extremely positive about job sharing, "especially for people with families...it is very good for family life." Alistair Reid, a manufacturing section manager, concurs. He also highlights that Motorola East Kilbride hosts 120 job sharers and explains that they are all included in feedback sessions and the annual reviews conducted to assess the effectiveness of partnerships. He stresses that "the transition to new shift patterns, including job share, allowed us to retain key skills and avoid external recruitment."

Outcomes

Neil McKinven, a senior line manager, believes that job share plays a high-profile role for the East Kilbride Motorola plant to remain competitive and to meet their performance metrics in the face of stiff global competition. In particular, he notes that "job share allowed us to retain our pool of highly qualified and well-trained talent." Most job share employees are women who are unable to or prefer not to work full-time due to family commitments. Job share, McKinven explains, "created a different management dimension in developing supporting procedures, such as procedures for holiday and absence cover." These procedures have been refined over time and now function smoothly. Reid believes there are important benefits for individuals in job share, and highlights that many women returning after maternity leave value this arrangement. He considers that the most challenging issue is when job share partnerships are fractured during the year when, for example, changes in partnerships necessary for holiday cover arrangements can disrupt the workflow. This means a change in one of the job share partners when holidays are taken. Most job sharers work very closely together to meet their combined job requirements without manager involvement; this can easily change during their holiday leave periods because the temporary holiday employee is unlikely to be very familiar with the regular sharing system between the two main job sharers. Managers may then need to be involved in work scheduling in job share posts during job sharers' holidays. McKinven stresses the need for standardization and open discussion when developing policies on how people are treated at work with respect to work-life balance arrangements and manager involvement in these. Withycombe highlights the importance of matching business needs and individual requests, and summarizes that overall, "any negatives of worklife balance arrangements are outweighed by the positives."

Way Forward

Motorola plans to have ongoing reviews of job-sharing practices, together with evaluation of the business effects.

Maxwell G., 2008, Student Workbook Employee and Labor Relations, Society for Human Resource Management. VA, USA

Questions:

1. How does Motorola's job sharing system fit with their business needs?

2. What particular needs do female employees face in work-life balance arrangements such as job sharing?

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of job sharing to job sharers and their managers?

4. What cultural factors come into play in introducing job sharing into other organisations in an Australian context?