Meet the job share pair that’s been together 15 years
Christiane and Angela - known as “Chan” internally - have climbed the ranks at Unilever, together.
After four children, four different jobs and two big promotions, the 15-year partnership between German pair Christiane Haasis and Angela Nelissen is still going strong. Their secret, according to Angela, has been boundaries.
“We get along really well and she knows me incredibly well, but it’s not like we are best buddies hanging out on holidays and mingling on the weekends. It’s not like she and I have a love affair,” Hamburg-based Angela told me.
Christiane and Angela have been in a job share for the past 15 years at Unilever. It’s been a way for them to have it all - the high flying career, time for family, and time for themselves, without having to compromise on ability or ambition in the way a traditional scale back to part time might result in.
The reason I’ve written about job sharing so much, as I have here, is because it allows anyone, but most often, post-parental leave returners to essentially work part time hours but in a full-time role that is shared with another person. The split varies between companies, but a common pattern is three days a week each with one crossover day. They are performance managed and even promoted as one unit, so it’s that quintessential best of both worlds. You don’t find yourself in the part-time limbo of essentially being demoted, and without the part-time hell of trying to do a full-time job in less time.
As an antidote to the “motherhood penalty” - a gap between men and women in lifetime earnings of around 20% attributed solely to having children, as calculated by the Association of British Insurers - the World Economic Forum has even recognised job sharing as an “investible pathway” towards getting more diverse representation higher up company ranks, and boosting equality. Companies like Ford, Aviva, Zurich, The Co-op and JP Morgan have all rolled out job sharing, recognising that flexibility is the key to diversity and equality, and that it can take many forms.
I loved talking to Christiane and Angela - their chemistry and the way they complement each other can’t help but give you a lift and make you feel positive about the future of work for women, no matter what life throws at you. I wish I could transport you into our video interview - it was like being in a chat show, if chat shows went corporate. I hope some of that energy comes through in this joint Q&A!
“I want to make her look good and she wants me to look good” - Angela Nelissen and Christiane Hassis, head of ice cream, Unilever DACHBNX
How did your job share partnership start?
Angela Nelissen (AN): Christiane and I were colleagues for many years, but not always working directly. We had worked on projects together and knew we could work really nicely together. But it’s not like she and I have a love affair - that is important. Because the structure works. You don't need to be friends or anything, you just need to be good colleagues.
Anyway, Christiane had recently had a daughter, and we met up at a party. And she was asking me, “How do I come back to work? I want some time for my daughter, but I also want a career” - so the typical question of a new mom. I already at that stage had three kids and I had been through this - coming back full time in a global role, feeling like a monster, working with a lot of travelling, and it really being the worst version of yourself.
Also at that time, my father wasn't too well, so I just felt awful and didn’t like myself too much. At that party with Christiane, I said, “There’s no use coming back just part time, then you won't really have a career anymore. I think you can do things differently”. We talked over a couple of glasses of wine and met up again a week later to go through our proposal of a job share. We felt there was nothing to lose. We felt very confident we could do it well together. I needed more time to become myself again, and have some free time with my dad. So then we had to convince the company to do this.
Christiane Haasis (CH): So for me, I was at home - a late mom at 40 - and I got all these calls, asking, “When are you coming back - your baby's already six months old. Are you ready? On what level do you want to play?”. So right now we are both operating at GM level, looking after five markets, and an end to end supply chain and all the rest. I had a crucial moment of, “this doesn't feel right - I need to find a new balance between my family and work”, but I also needed to find a new balance in my life in how I managed my time. It wasn’t very daring and daunting (to put the job share forward), because it was the two of us, and we knew we would make it work. We needed to create that path. As both marketing and sales girls, we really thought it through. Back then there was one couple that had been working as a job share, but not in a core business function.
So we created a whole pitch proposal, covering how we would do it, what would be the benefits for the company, what would be the benefits for the team, and also any downsides and how we would tackle them. And that worked really well.
How was your proposal received?
AN: The company was very much interested in increasing female diversity at a hierarchy level. So they certainly didn't want to lose any of us. We had a good reputation in the company so they knew we could make our vision happen. That was part of the reason we chose each other - we had a similar degree of seniority, we both had a marketing and sales background, and we felt we related to each other both on a personal and professional level. We get along really well and she knows me incredibly well, but we are not like best buddies hanging out on holidays all the time. What’s important is that you are good allies.
CH: Now in the Unilever DACHBNX business, 18 job share pairs are live at the moment. There have been 62 other job share couples since we have been doing it, mainly working moms with young children, but also a growing number of dads, working across all functions and levels. We don’t have selective matching techniques - it’s more about ensuring the commitment is there, and agreeing ways of working and clear goals, as well as having values in sync.
What are the main pros and cons?
AN: While we tend to do three days a week each - two separately and one crossover day - there have been times when we have both taken time off and the other one has covered, so you don’t need to worry about your job because you know there is somebody there. That's one of the biggest benefits is having that backup person always.
CH: You do earn less. And that also means less pension. So it is a choice. However, if you have to choose between doing a part time role, or doing a job share, the job share gives you a career, that gives you lots of job satisfaction and development. A part time role basically plateaus your way and you become like a second degree employee. Very often they get all the sh*tty stuff because they're not around when it gets dispensed. That doesn't happen in a job share.
We also spend more time on people management. We have more talent and skills to work with, but our Christmas parties get more expensive.
How do you spend your days off?
CH: We have some job sharers who use their free days to study. Obviously, you can take care of your kids or your family, or you can get politically, or you can work on some other cool projects. My daughter is a teenager now so I’m wanting to give back more.
AN: On the first day I was off, I just slept. Then on the second day, I remember jogging around Humbug and meeting a friend thinking, “This is Thursday morning - this is amazing”. You start to invest into yourself first and relax, you become a person again, then you start to invest in your personal hobbies and fitness, then you take care of your family and build more time with them. I would travel to see my father, and I took music lessons. I have also been doing charity work.
I like the idea of going from “surviving” to “thriving”.
AN: We probably wouldn't be around anymore if it wasn’t for job sharing. My experience of people in job shares is that they don’t tend to burn out or be ill as much, because you have time to recover. People stay longer with the company, because once they have found this arrangement, they don't move on easily to somewhere else. You always have somebody to coach you and be a sounding board. If there was a difficult situation, it’s unlikely the job share would not deliver, because they can pump up the volume together.
How have you stayed on the same page?
AN: We initially committed to two years and have been checking in with each other every two years. We've been in probably four different roles. And we've been promoted to VP level and have had our role expanded to include more countries.
CH: Sometimes you need to reflect and say, “Am I still in? Does this still fit my life?” And sometimes, you just need to earn some more money. That openness is needed.
We also act as though we're one person - we have one email address, and one name - “Chan”. We always say to people, “You don’t need to know if it will be Angela or me working on it. Chan will take care of it” - Angela Nellisen.
AN: If there’s a conflict, we solve it between us. It’s not about egos. It will always be about Chan. I want to make her look good and she wants me to look good. If Chan works, it works for us.
Such an inspiring example of job sharing done right, balancing ambition and life perfectly.