Trust, respect, understanding, flexibility – and a touch of humour – are the keys to the successful job-share of two senior leaders at Monash Health.
Tara Broderick and Amy Faulkner share the role of Manager, Specialists Clinic at Kingston Centre, after deciding to pitch ‘separately but together’ for the vacant job in April 2021.
They are among the most senior employees at Monash Health to job-share.
Tara, a social worker, and Amy, a physiotherapist, were each working three days managing separate clinics at Kingston when they individually saw the role advertised last year. They both have school-aged children, are involved in their school communities, and Tara is also completing her Masters.
“We were both interested in the role but neither of us wanted to work full-time,” Tara said.
“We lodged separate applications but were clear that we complemented each other and would appreciate being considered to job-share.”
The Director, Community Care, Dux Balendran, said he was impressed by the pair’s proactive approach.
“They had clearly thought about the logistics and presented a good template on how it could work,” he said.
“It is important that we work to retain good talent when employees, especially women. It was great that we could offer this leadership role to both Amy and Tara. As it’s turned out, two heads are definitely better than one.”
Amy and Tara manage a number of clinics at Kingston, including Pain Management, Continence, Movement Disorders, Cognitive Dementia and Memory Service, and the Young Adults Transition Service. The clinics comprise more than 120 medical, nursing, and allied health professionals, many of whom work part-time.
“We think we work really well together, and the fact that we started during the pandemic has meant we’ve had to be flexible,” Amy said.
“We each bring different qualities and skills to the role, are quite efficient at working through challenges and we like bouncing ideas off each other. Sharing the role also means that there is less chance of decision-fatigue and burn-out.”
The arrangement also meant both Amy and Tara were able to ‘flex up’ into additional roles at vaccination centres and as PPE spotters.
“Neither of us would have been able to do that if we were working full-time so that’s been a real bonus,” Tara said
Dux said that Amy and Tara had introduced excellent processes, and ensured they kept each other updated and accountable.
Dux encourages Monash Health employees interested in job-sharing to be proactive and outline how it could work in applications.
“There is a shortage of skilled workers and managers can miss out if only advertise roles as full-time – we need to overtly say that job-shares would be considered,” he says.
Tara and Amy agree and advise applicants to demonstrate in an application how a job-share arrangement could work.
“Make sure you have open communication from the start, and spend time together to learn styles and personalities,” Amy said.
