Jobshare Allies - Tiger De Souza MBE
Tiger de Souza, Executive Director of People and Culture at Samaritans, recently joined us on the “Jobshare Stories” podcast, to share his unique perspective on the power of job sharing in leadership and how it’s reshaping the workplace.
Who is Tiger de Souza?
Tiger de Souza has built a career focused on driving inclusion, people development, and leadership. His work has touched a wide range of industries, including the National Trust and now Samaritans, which has given him an understanding of the challenges and opportunities that modern organisations face. As a passionate advocate for job sharing, Tiger has witnessed firsthand how this model can create better work-life balance, improve team dynamics, and enhance organisational efficiency.
The Power of Job Sharing
During the podcast, Tiger was very clear that job sharing is more than just splitting responsibilities between two people. It’s a strategy that fosters collaboration and innovation. The key benefits he called out were:
Enhanced Decision-Making
One of the most profound advantages Tiger noted was the improved decision-making process. When two people share a role, they bring diverse perspectives to the table. This leads to more thorough discussions, the questioning of assumptions, and ultimately, better decisions.
Greater Work-Life Balance
For many, traditional full-time executive roles can feel overwhelming, making it hard to balance professional responsibilities with personal commitments but he’s seen first hand can allow people to prevent burnout, stay fresh, and remain highly engaged in their roles. Jobsharing solves for this, enabling ambitious individuals to work part-time in big impact roles.
Leadership Development
Tiger pulled out an often overlooked element of jobsharing - that is can be an opportunity for leadership growth. According to Tiger, it requires partners to develop high levels of communication and trust, because sharing a leadership role means constantly aligning on vision, strategy, and execution, which fosters a culture of openness and accountability. These are invaluable skills that can enhance leadership capabilities.
Key Challenges and How to Overcome Them
While the benefits of job sharing are compelling, Tiger acknowledged that it’s not without its challenges. One potential drawback is the need for seamless communication between job-sharing partners. Without proper alignment, tasks can fall through the cracks or key decisions might be delayed. To counter this, Tiger stressed the importance of setting clear boundaries, creating consistent check-ins, and developing a strong understanding of each other’s working styles.
He also pointed out that organisations need to be supportive of job-sharing structures. Leaders and HR departments must create the right conditions, including the tools and systems that enable job-sharing teams to succeed.
The Future of Work
Tiger really believes that job sharing represents a significant step towards a more inclusive and flexible workplace. As organisations adapt to the demands of modern talent, offering flexible roles like job shares can help attract and retain top talent, particularly those who value a more balanced and collaborative work environment.
He concluded the podcast with an optimistic outlook on the future of job sharing. By adopting this model, organizations can build stronger, more dynamic teams that are well-equipped to tackle the challenges of today’s fast-paced world.
The “Hackathon”
Tiger is so passionate about jobsharing, in 2023 he brought together a group of jobsharers and advocates to try and tackle the key challenges in adopting jobsharing on a wide scale. He continues to champion this cause and amplify the message of jobsharing.
Key Takeaways from our conversation with Tiger
Job sharing isn’t just splitting work; it’s a collaborative, strategic partnership.
Improved decision-making and leadership development are among the key benefits.
Organizations must support job-sharing arrangements with the right tools and structures but don’t need to overthink it - it’s more important to just get it done and embrace jobsharing
Job sharing promotes work-life balance, making it an attractive option for top talent.
