Leukeamia UK has appointed its second senior job share role after publishing a strategy earlier this year with a focus on flexibility in the workplace.
It appointed two people to job share its newly created director of communications role. Anna Wilson and Lizzie Afonso are to work in a part-time capacity, 2.5 days a week with a crossover on Wednesdays. They are to be paid half the salary each for the role.
Wilson and Afonso join from Shelter where they have job-shared for five years, but had been with the charity for a decade. The pair have led a number of functions including media, strategic communications, brand and marketing.
This is the second job share in the charity team. Earlier this year, Leukaemia UK appointed Samantha Braithwaite and Birgitta Clift to the role of trust fundraising manager.
A spokesperson told Civil Society News: “We’ve seen great things come out of this so far and we’re proud to be championing flexibility as a way to support work-life balance and career aspirations, which in turn helps us to attract and retain more diverse and talented teams.”
Fiona Hazell, chief executive at Leukaemia UK, said: “We know that investing in our people and making Leukaemia UK a great place to work will help drive forward the charity’s success. The easier we make it for people to work for us, the happier and more productive they will be, so we’re delighted to be able to put this into action by enabling our director of communications role to be one that is to be job-shared between two outstanding candidates.”
‘Two brains can be even better than one’
On their appointment, Wilson and Afonso said: “We are thrilled to be joining Leukaemia UK and look forward to working with the team to deliver a communications strategy that will spread the word about the charity’s life-changing research and help improve the lives of even more people.
“The opportunity to continue with our successful job-share model means that we can take this next step in our careers whilst maintaining a flexible working pattern, and we are grateful to Fiona for seeing the advantages of this set-up. We believe that two brains can be even better than one, and hope that job-sharing will soon become much more common across the sector and beyond.”
New strategy focusing on flexibility
Leukaemia UK published a new strategy earlier this year, with a focus on flexible employment policies.
“Investing in our people means taking a whole-person approach to managing and developing the team. Leukaemia UK is a flexible and supportive employer,” Paul Abbott, director of income at Leukaemia UK, told Fundraising Magazine.
“We recognise that the easier we make it for people to work for us, the happier and more productive they will be. Mistakes happen, people have good days and bad. Pets and children get ill. Plumbing emergencies happen. This flexible, understanding approach, along with a fantastic range of additional employment benefits, allows me to attract great people who are the essential ingredient in bringing our vision and mission to life.”
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