One team lead, two part-time employees = twice the woman power

If you have children at home yourself and are working, you will likely find yourself nodding in agreement to the following statement: It takes a lot of organization and effort to juggle the needs of a family and a career. Things become even more challenging when, as a parent, your full-time job involves a management role. In order to better reconcile the two worlds and make it easier to meet the tough demands of both jobs, Krones launched a pilot project for tandem leadership in 2023. The basic framework is straightforward: One full-time leadership role is shared across two part-time positions.

But as simple as it may sound, it is actually quite complex. Manuela Ebenthal and Franziska Niederhofer, along with Alexandra Keilhammer and Karola Lippert, share insights into their day-to-day experience and explain why solid organization, flexibility and trust are the most essential elements of a successful tandem.

Franziska and Manuela, Heads of Key Account Management Suntory

Our first duo consists of Manuela Ebenthal and Franziska Niederhofer. Both are long-time Krones sales specialists. Manuela has been in Sales for nearly 20 years and was Area Sales Manager for Korea and Taiwan before taking parental leave. Franziska completed her vocational training in 2008, during which time she worked in various Sales departments. Most recently, she established Suntory as a key account within the Krones Group and has been responsible for it since 2016.

Both women had every intention of returning to Sales when their parental leave time was up, but full time was not an option for either of them. The pilot project offered Manuela and Franziska the perfect opportunity to combine their old working life with their new family situation. “I had already gone back to work in October 2022. Franzi joined me in January,” explains Manuela. “Then we set to work right away on building the tandem alongside our day-to-day operations. We knew we needed a well-organized structure as a basis, to work together effectively.” Whether it’s unrestricted access to each other’s Outlook inbox, documentation of every task and meeting through OneNote or defining a suitable filing system – organization is absolutely essential for them to stay up-to-date on every issue in their daily work. In each individual customer project, it’s up to Manuela and Franziska to coordinate an interdisciplinary team comprising project management, sales specialists and colleagues from the engineering departments.

Solid organization is also important when it comes to working times and in-office availability. “We’re sharing a full-time job, which means that each of us formally works 20 hours per week. To ensure that our customers have access to one of us every workday, we’ve essentially split the week in half: I’m here Monday through Wednesday, and Manu works Wednesday through Friday,” explains Franziska. On their shared day, both are in the office so they can discuss projects in person. That’s also the day they meet with their own managers to coordinate, hold strategic meetings with Suntory or discuss other major decisions on projects. “But this strict schedule is more of a guide. In reality, flexibility is incredibly important,” laughs Manu. “Because of course there will be that time when a crucial meeting happens on a Monday, or you’ve got a business trip scheduled, or you suddenly have to change plans because one of your kids – or you – are sick.” Franziska adds, “That makes it all the more important that we built a good structure from the start, so we can step in for each other on a moment’s notice if need be.”

For their day-to-day routines, the two have divided up their work by projects and regions. That’s because, as Manuela puts it, “It’s not possible for everyone to know everything about everything – if we tried, we’d have to have so many meetings, it just wouldn’t be practical. Of course, if a client is coming to visit, we’ll make sure that we’re both here to consult with them.” Customers also benefit from the two-woman team when it comes to vacation time. “There are no ‘vacation gaps’ – our internal organization allows us to cover for each other completely when one of us goes on holiday. Of course, fundamental strategic matters will have to wait during that time, but whoever is on duty is able to take care of important ongoing queries, and the project can continue,” explains Franziska. Manuela adds, “That makes your vacation all the more restorative, because you know you’re not going to have a mountain of emails waiting for you when you get back.”

All in all, it was a successful first year of shared leadership for both women. “It was a year of challenges, but we make a great team and were able to overcome them,” says Franziska. 

Read more about the second tandem and the Diversity Board at Krones on page 2.

Alexandra and Karola, Heads of Finance Billing

The two women who make up our second leadership tandem have also been with Krones for many years. Alexandra Keilhammer has been working in Finance for over 20 years, and Karola Lippert has been in Sales for the past 16, most recently in Contract Management. Last year, both women were looking for a new professional challenge. They agree that “Leading a team in tandem was the perfect solution since it allows us to reconcile family life with our work.” Since June 2023, the two women have been sharing responsibility for heading up the Billing department, which consists of Alexandra and Karola plus a 13-strong team that handles all of the invoicing – whether for new machinery projects, spare parts or retrofits.

“We already knew each other from earlier roles and always worked well together. So, it was clear to us even before we applied that we’d like to take on a tandem assignment together,” explains Karola. “Compatibility is incredibly important in this working model. You don’t have to be close friends, but you really do have to trust each other and appreciate each other’s professional skills and specialist knowledge.”

Openness is a top priority for Alexandra, too. “At the start, we had an honest conversation about our own motivations for and expectations of the new job and of each other. In fact, we’ve continued that conversation, taking time to reflect and sharing feedback on a regular basis. We have to be forthright in voicing our thoughts and opinions if we’re to build the mutual trust we need.” To establish this level of trust from the beginning, Alexandra and Karola spent a day together working with a coach. Over the course of the day, they got to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and determined how they would handle decisions going forward, who would take on which tasks and how they would communicate.

Although Alexandra and Karola are still technically in the early stages of their tandem, their initial assessment is overwhelmingly positive as they approach their six-month anniversary: “In general, a tandem model nowadays is a great option and a win-win-win situation – for Krones, for our team and for us,” says Alexandra. “The tasks that fall to a manager have become increasingly complex – and so it’s really helpful to have a partner. Two heads are more creative and two different perspectives might just show you a middle path that is truly ideal.” Karola adds, “Someone once said: ‘Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end’. We’re finding that fits perfectly. Of course, it’s not always easy. And when you have a child at home, you sometimes have to improvise and change course from your original plans for the day. But that’s the beauty of job sharing – the tandem allows us to reconcile our professional responsibilities and family time.” 

“We are on the right track.”

Accomplishing this balancing act is precisely the aim of the program, explains Rudolf Erndl, Head of HR Business Partners: “For a leadership tandem to work, you need two things: First, the job and the tasks it entails have to be suitable for sharing by two part-time employees. Second, the potential tandem partners have to believe in their ability to handle a leadership role despite working only part time.”

The HR development team stands by the tandems, helping to banish any doubts and giving them the support they need to be successful, as Corinna Walter explains: “Many colleagues are still reluctant to embrace the notion that they can take on a leadership role while only working part time. We hope that will gradually change as they see successful tandems sharing responsibility. In order to break down these mindset barriers and build a strong, effective tandem team from two part-time employees, we offer coaching during and after the initial launch and are available to advise tandems as they go along.”

“Of course, it’s too early yet to draw a final conclusion – it’s still a work in progress. That’s why we continue to support the two tandems and evaluate their experiences and feedback,” says Rudolf Erndl. “But I think the response we’ve had so far from the participants and from the departments shows that we are on the right track with this concept.”

In 2021, the Diversity Board at Krones was established. One of its objectives is to increase the proportion of women in senior management, that is the two hierarchical levels below the Executive Board, to 15 percent by 2024. To this end, the team defined various measures and goals – and the tandem pilot project fits perfectly into this strategy. “With the concept of tandem leadership, we are making it easier to reconcile career and family. And although our two first leadership tandems consist entirely of women, we can certainly imagine other combinations as well,” says Uta Anders, Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Diversity Board. 

At the same time, of course, the other facets of diversity should not be ignored. Proactively examining the subject of women’s advancement should thus be seen as a first step toward further discussion. “In the end, the goal of the Diversity Board is to promote diversity within the company, to look at it from multiple perspectives and to put it into practice. Because that ultimately benefits all employees,” concludes Uta Anders.