27 November 2023

It's a match! Why the future belongs to Co-Leadership

If you want to take on a management position today, you no longer have to decide against family planning, a second job or a time-consuming hobby. Tandem models, also known as co-leadership or job sharing, make it possible. However, for shared leadership to go from being an exception to the norm, pioneers are needed – both on the part of companies and employees. Meike Groters and Ann-Kristin Montino have taken this first step at the Haniel holding company and have been leading the talent team as a duo since the beginning of 2023. In the meantime, Stefanie Junghans, a long-standing advocate of co-leadership, has joined them to substitute for parental leave. But the leadership model won't run on its own.

Head of Talent times two: Ann-Kristin Montino (left) and Meike Groters (right) started their new career chapter of co-leadership in spring 2023. Bringing in two perspectives or being able to support each other is a great benefit for both of them.

Full-time, constant availability, sole responsibility. The list of partly justified, partly outdated ideas about the reality of life as a team lead could go on and on. This image could increasingly become a problem for employers. According to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, only 9% of employees in Western companies would like to take on a management position in the next five to ten years. In Germany, the figure is as low as 7 percent. This development is affecting companies at a time when there is a shortage of skilled workers and the need to retain talent in the long term and increase the proportion of women at senior management levels. So do we need to rethink leadership? And what models could be part of the solution?

"I never wanted to have to choose between a child and a career," says Ann-Kristin Montino, who worked for TAKKT AG for more than five years and was most recently Head of HR Development at the omnichannel retailer for business equipment between 2020 and 2023. "Despite having children and a family, I wanted to continue to take on responsible tasks with a strategic focus. After all, I just enjoy working too much." 340 kilometers further northwest, at the Haniel Campus, Meike Groters was at a similar point in her career – and soon faced with a decision: To what extent should she return from parental leave? Because when Haniel created the role of "Head of Talent," the holding company for the first time offered the opportunity to fill a management position in tandem. Meike opted for the novelty of part-time co-leadership and the "perfect match with Ann-Kristin", in the words of the HR developer. The two already knew each other from their talent work within the Haniel Group. Big advantage: "We therefore skipped the introductory phase and were able to get started straight away."

Meike Groters is part of the Haniel Holding's first leadership tandem.

Leading together despite reduced hours, complementing and coordinating each other so efficiently that two colleagues become a single function. This can significantly improve the compatibility of family and professional ambitions. "However, we still too often reduce co-leadership to parents – and especially to women," says Stefanie Junghans. The Munich resident left the SAP software group in August to join Haniel's "HOW Team" (= Haniel Operating Way) and is currently standing in for Ann-Kristin Montino during her parental leave. Stefanie has had experience with shared leadership since 2019. "I prefer to call co-leadership a life-phase model, because sometimes you have to juggle a lot of non-work activities and needs alongside your job." Be it caring for relatives, childcare, an intense hobby – or part-time self-employment, which prompted Stefanie herself to become part of a leadership tandem for the first time four years ago. "For a colleague and me, it was unattractive at the time to take on a management role alone and work at 140%. Each within a different phase, we then decided: 'let's give co-leadership a try'."

Stefanie Junghans already led a team in co-leadership in 2019. She now also advises companies and managers on this topic.

Every job-sharing position starts with a company that is willing to experiment. "The cultural basis is essential to avoid blocking interested tandems from the outset," says Stefanie. In addition, there are budgetary requirements, in particular the willingness to increase the headcount in favor of co-leadership. But who actually works well together? And how should leadership duos get started? For Ann-Kristin, mutual trust is paramount. "No political games, be as transparent as possible." Certain values should also match, adds Meike, as well as career ambitions and the understanding of leadership. Onboarding by the Frankfurt HR consultancy TWISE helped enormously. Nina Gillmann and her team for example use their TWISE matching algorithm to determine where there are similarities – and where differences could also be valuable. "Joint coaching or tandem support should be an integral part of the process," recommends Stefanie. "The challenge is to go to a meta-level, as in couples counseling, so that we don't talk about the day-to-day, but really work on the core issues."

Stefanie Junghans and co-author Janina Schönitz (Deutsche Bahn) have published a 222-page book for anyone who wants to delve deeper into the topic of co-leadership. What answers can job sharing provide to the demands of a changing business world? The result is a book (in German) that is both a guidebook and a practical report. Published by Vahlen Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8006-7176-2

In practice, no two management duos are the same, but there are standardized models of collaboration. In a job split, both partners work independently on a topic, while in a relay race, for example, urgent topics are handed over again. And in a double pack, the tandem is involved together in order to utilize double creativity. "The ability to combine complementary skills leads to better solutions in the end," Meike is convinced. It also helps to have each other's backs or to take on short-term issues when priorities shift – both in the office and at home. In any case, a second perspective is also an added value for the team because employees are not dependent on one pair of eyes, says Stefanie. "This improves performance evaluation and at the same time offers the team more points of contact or areas of friction."

In July 2023, the Haniel Group gained another tandem. Amelie Fischer and Larissa Bocks are behind the catchy name "FischerBocks", with a shared e-mail address and shared Teams channel. Both work as Head of HR Business Partner I&P International at kaiserkraft, a subsidiary of TAKKT AG. After deciding on the co-leadership model, the tandem first got to know each other privately and then took part in a workshop organized by the HR consultancy TWISE. The new constellation is already having a positive impact: "Because we can combine our individual talents and expertise in a targeted manner, not only has the quality of our work improved, but we are also seeing greater satisfaction and increased commitment from our team."

Self-attribution with a wink: Amelie Fischer (left) and Larissa Bocks (right) see themselves as "partners in crime."

Working in tandem also means coordinating to a high degree, sometimes giving up power or supporting decisions made by the co-lead. "This requires strict prioritization and, of course, the courage not to be involved in everything," says Ann-Kristin. Stefanie knows from her coaching work that this can be a big challenge for some people: "If someone doesn't like sharing – whether knowledge or the stage – and doesn't enjoy involving others and letting them get close to them, then co-leadership isn't necessarily for them." For Meike, Ann-Kristin and Stefanie, however, the advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages so far. Incidentally, many of those who have experienced working in tandem would never want to work alone again.