Jobshare Connect - changing the system, not the players
Changing the system, not the players – how Jobshare Connect accelerated jobsharing at Ford Credit Europe
In our latest episode of Jobshare Stories, Laura spoke to Sian Hodgson-Wood, Director of Engineering at Ford Credit Europe, about her own jobshare journey and her role in bringing Job Share Connect – a unique jobshare matching app - to Ford across Europe. Sian’s story is a powerful example of how job sharing can support progression, strengthen leadership and change organisational thinking about flexible work.
A serendipitous start to job sharing
Sian’s first experience of job sharing came at a pivotal moment. Having recently returned from maternity leave after her second child, she was invited to attend a promotional interview. She was successful — and then, in an unusual twist, she was informed that the role would be offered as a jobshare.
At the time, jobsharing was new territory to her – she hadn’t done it before and didn’t’ know what to expect! But, in a serendipitous further twist, her job share partner turned out to be someone she already knew well: a colleague who had joined the organisation on the same graduate intake years earlier, and with whom she had even shared a house early in their careers.
Although they had taken different professional paths, there was already a foundation of trust and mutual respect. That familiarity made it easier to lean into the partnership and to approach job sharing not as two individuals splitting a role, but as one shared leadership.
From the outset, they agreed on a simple but critical principle: they would only be successful if they were successful together.
Sian Hodgson-Wood
Director, Engineering - Ford Credit Europe
Contracting early and building the partnership
One of the things that helped Sian and her partner get off to a strong start was access to best-practice guidance from Ford colleagues in North America, where job sharing was already more established.
They worked through structured “contracting” conversations early on — exploring motivations, career ambitions, personal constraints, communication preferences and working styles. These conversations helped them understand where their strengths overlapped, where they differed, and how they could best support one another.
Rather than discovering misalignments gradually (and painfully), they surfaced them early. This allowed them to design a way of working that played to both of their strengths and set clear expectations from the start.
As Sian reflects, these conversations are inevitable in a jobshare — the question is whether you have them intentionally at the beginning, or reactively later on.
Why job sharing delivers value to organisations
While job sharing is often understood as a flexible working solution for individuals, Sian is clear that this is only part of the story.
From Ford’s perspective, the organisational benefits were significant:
Depth of experience: Together, Sian and her partner brought 40 years of combined organisational knowledge into a single role.
Broader networks: Their combined internal networks meant faster problem-solving and stronger connectivity.
Operational continuity: Cover during holidays, sickness and transitions was built in.
Efficiency gains: One partner often had momentum on new work, reducing start-up time.
Leadership resilience: Having a peer partner provided constant challenge, support and coaching.
Importantly, they were also intentional about minimising perceived downsides. Communication overhead, stakeholder management and coordination were treated as the jobsharers’ responsibility, not an added burden for managers or teams. For example, they held joint one-to-ones with their manager, agreed clear ownership of tasks, and ensured stakeholders only needed to communicate once.
Bringing Job Share Connect to Europe
Sian’s positive experience of job sharing made her keenly aware of how much luck had been involved in finding the “right” partner. Many others weren’t so fortunate — either struggling to find someone to job share with, or being placed into partnerships that weren’t a good fit.
Through her involvement in Ford’s Women@Ford network, Sian learned about Jobshare Connect, an internal application already in use elsewhere in the business.
The platform allows employees to actively search for and connect with potential job share partners — shifting choice and agency back to individuals.
Sian worked with IT teams, social partners and stakeholders to adapt and implement the tool across Europe, making it available not just within Ford Credit, but across the wider Ford organisation.
The result was a scalable, employee-led solution to one of the biggest barriers to job sharing: how do you find the right partner
Jobsharing and career progression
For Sian personally, job sharing came at exactly the right time.
Returning to work with two young children, she had previously struggled with the guilt and anxiety that can come with part-time leadership roles — particularly feeling that her team lacked support when she wasn’t there.
Job sharing changed that experience entirely. Knowing that a trusted partner was present, aligned and acting in her best interests allowed her to fully switch off when she wasn’t working — and to fully commit when she was.
Progressing into a senior role alongside a partner also created a unique form of leadership development. Feedback was frequent, honest and sometimes uncomfortable — but always rooted in shared success. Over time, what began as formal review conversations evolved into continuous learning and mutual growth.
Role modelling matters
One of Sian’s strongest messages is the importance of visible role models.
At Ford, some of the most senior job share partnerships operated internationally, including a long-standing arrangement spanning the UK and Germany. Seeing job sharing work at that level helped normalise it across the organisation and encouraged wider adoption.
“If you can’t see it, you can’t be it. Policies matter, but lived examples matter more”
What organisations can learn
Reflecting on her journey, Sian highlights three things that make the biggest difference for organisations wanting to support job sharing:
Educate leaders on the value — not just for individuals, but for the organisation.
Support strong matching and best practice — successful partnerships don’t happen by accident.
Role model job sharing at senior levels — visibility drives confidence and uptake.
She also emphasises that job sharing isn’t one-size-fits-all. There’s a spectrum, from tightly shared roles to more clearly split responsibilities. What matters most is the quality of the relationship, clarity of expectations and willingness to collaborate.
When asked to sum up job sharing, Sian chose four words rather than a sentence:
Continuity. Balance. Elevated value.
Together, they capture what job sharing can offer — to individuals, teams and organisations alike. We couldn’t have put it better ourselves!
Want to hear more?
To hear all about Jobshare Connect – and Sian’s inspiring personal story – search for Jobshare Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Ford have also shared this brilliant video showing how the app worked and the power of jobsharing.
To find out more about how jobsharing could transform your organisation, get in touch hello@TheJobshareRevolution.co.uk
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