SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CAREERS / PART-TIME CAREERS : Two Halves Add to More Than Whole

Two and a half years ago, job sharing was such a novel concept in the corporate world that Rebecca Hinkle and Karen Boda were reluctant to even broach the idea with their supervisor at Hewlett-Packard. Now they function so perfectly as a team that they share one job from 800 miles apart.

As dual managers of a team of 13 engineers who answer customers’ questions about products, Boda, who works in Atlanta, and Hinkle, based in Kansas City, Mo., share a single electronic appointment book and handle many of their tasks by computer. Hinkle even “attends” staff meetings through teleconferencing.

Boda and Hinkle--alias “Bodinkle”--shared an Atlanta office as co-managers for two years before Hinkle moved to Kansas City in December when her husband, an aerospace worker, accepted a new job. The two women are in the middle of some major reorganizing needed to accommodate their long-distance partnership, including filing personnel records in their common electronic databases.

“When she left, she took my stapler, my paper clips, my tape. She took everything,” Boda said with a laugh.

Hinkle and Boda, each the mother of two young children, find their arrangement a perfect way to blend career and family life.

Their idea started as a joke.

“Two years ago, I had my first child, and I had no idea what I was going to do about work,” said Boda, 32, now the mother of an infant and a 2 1/2-year-old. “One day Rebecca and I had lunch, and we said, joking, wouldn’t it be fun if we job-shared? It was such a new concept. We hadn’t known anyone who had done it.”

Before long they realized their idea had merit. They researched the job-sharing concept, then carefully crafted a proposal they called “bulletproof” before asking their supervisor to merge their jobs.

“It was with some trepidation, because we didn’t know what reaction we would get from management,” said Hinkle, 38, who has a 5-year-old and 2-year old. “We feel fortunate, since a lot of places would not be as flexible.”

Encouraged by management to give it a try, Boda gave up her job to share Hinkle’s.

“We knew that if this didn’t work, one of us was out of a job,” Boda said. “This is not just part-time work. We look at this as our career.”

Since they blend the skills, ideas and energy of two experienced managers, both called the situation ideal for them as well as the corporation. If an opening for a promotion occurs, they are confident they can get it--as a team.

“It’s like there’s a big bucket and we each fill up half of it, and the sum is bigger than if I was doing it myself,” Hinkle said.

A secret to their success is that they are equally compulsive about their work--fastidious and well-organized. Another major rule of thumb is that each must abide by the decisions of the other.

“I’m sure there are pairs that could make job sharing successful if they are wildly different personalities, but we feel it works in our favor to have similar work styles and work ethics,” Hinkle said. “We’ve become synonymous. We sort of act as each other’s shadow.”

One drawback of a long-distance relationship is Hinkle’s loss of face-to-face communication with her engineers. Even before she moved to Kansas City, some workers tried to pit one manager against the other, or asked both for advice, “like playing Mom and Dad against each other,” Hinkle said. To resolve that, Hinkle and Boda participate in employee evaluations and make it clear they are equally in charge.

To avoid jealousy between themselves, they both participate in desirable aspects of the job, such as retreats or high-profile assignments. The same holds true for less desirable tasks, such as disciplining employees.

“I think we make better decisions as a pair and, to be honest, it is fun,” Boda said. “You’re not out there on your own.”