Job Swapping: A New Approach to Career Flexibility

For some people, the term job swap is a strange concept, but the process is not as unusual as you might think and is quickly gaining momentum, especially in larger organisations.

In fact, it is also an opportunity that smaller companies should consider. It is usually the case that the benefits for smaller companies are proportionally much greater than for larger companies, especially in terms of the immediate impact of more experienced and active employees.

The possibility may sound a little disconcerting, especially for employers. However, the benefits for employers and employees are many, such as increased employee retention, faster upskilling and improvements to company structure and processes and much more, which I will cover in this blog.

Still not convinced? Then let me see if I can change your mind about job swapping through the rest of this blog.

What is Job Swapping?

Essentially, it's the opportunity to work in a similar position to your own, but with a new workplace, new colleagues and a new environment. Put simply, you swap roles with another person in a different business function or location for a period of time.

This gives your employees the unique opportunity to gain an overview of the company and better understand how the various departments or divisions function.
Such agreements can easily be made between two managers or two department heads. In most cases, these are employees who come from the same departments or similar niches. This allows them to exchange jobs, gain and contribute new ideas, insights and valuable experience, from procedures to processes and much more.

There are undoubtedly many other surprises that come with a job swap. Even the little things can be a refreshing change when you decide to swap jobs. This may even include being introduced to an espresso machine that produces a much tastier macchiato than the one you had at your old place of business.

But apart from the coffee-flavoured guinea pig option, job swap schemes (or 'job swap' schemes), if well thought out and carefully agreed between the two responsible parties, ‘can save money, time and effort for all involved.

What are the main benefits of Job Swapping?

The benefits of changing jobs may be much more than just enjoying a better cup of coffee in a new workplace.

If you're a manager or employer considering a job swap, it's a great opportunity to think about how you can organise your office and processes differently and often more effectively.

There are undoubtedly many other surprises that come with a job swap. Even the little things can be a refreshing change when you decide to swap jobs. This may even include being introduced to an espresso machine that produces a much tastier macchiato than the one you had at your old place of business.

Skill and Knowledge Transfer

If an employee can take part in a job swap, the most obvious benefit for the company is the acquisition of new knowledge and skills that the employee can bring to the relevant department or location.

You can certainly enrol your employees in training courses and further training opportunities, but this often does not correspond to everyday working life.

For example, when a marketing employee in your organisation takes advantage of a job swap opportunity, they gain insight into how other parts of your organisation perform key tasks in the value creation process and have the opportunity to identify potential improvements.

This can lead to the discovery of efficiencies, time-saving opportunities and more effective marketing methods that are transferable.

Wider Employee Experiences

It goes without saying that a job swap is a fantastic opportunity for your employees to gain more experience faster than usual.

Often employees feel the need to move to another company permanently to pursue their own career ambitions and enhance their CV.

By giving your employees the opportunity to broaden their horizons by changing jobs, you invest in the value they can bring to your company with their expanded knowledge and at the same time minimise their urge to change companies.

Let’s face it, if you can retain great employees and offer them great growth opportunities, it’s an absolute win-win scenario.

Improve Employee Retention

Given the high cost of recruitment, the time lost in training new employees and the investment employers make in their staff, it has never been more important for employers to act consciously to retain talented employees.

Job swapping supports employee retention by giving your employees more flexibility and opportunities. They can expand their own skills, learn new skills, test new departments and try out new locations - among a number of other benefits.

This investment in your employees’ ambition fosters a progressive and forward-thinking culture, which is more important than ever for today’s workforce.

Networking

Another opportunity comes from building networks.

Love it or hate it, networking is still a hugely important business strategy. It helps companies strengthen their ecosystem of potential partners, customers and other stakeholders or simply recognise internal opportunities, which is essential for business success.

Job swapping is a fantastic platform to share information and build deeper connections with other regional locations or business units, utilising a wider network can potentially add value to every part of your business.

In the long term, this connection can lead to more orders for you, better support for your work or simply to you gaining a larger customer base.

A job swap is another great way to get this going faster and make even closer contacts.

Upskilling your workforce faster

Another fantastic benefit of role reversal is the practical training of your employees.

Quite simply, the more your employees can use the job swap to learn new skills, discover new ways of thinking and find alternative approaches to challenges, the more practical their training will be.

Whilst there is no certificate or diploma for this, the practical impact on your employees' day-to-day work can be significantly improved.

Role Progression

From the employee's point of view, the opportunity to try out new tasks and job profiles offers a taste of the wider labour market without having to give up their position.

It’s a bit like having the opportunity to gamble, with the risk completely mitigated.

And while this is not traditionally seen as role development, it does increase the value of any employee who participates in the programme.

To quote the famous Uncle Ben from Spider-Man: "With more knowledge comes more responsibility".

As an employer, you can then also start to recognise the added value of your employees, which could open the door for further internal promotion discussions – another win-win situation.

How does Job Swapping work?

In general, job swapping can be done in two ways, which usually requires the involvement of a professional company to set up the job swap and define the process of how it should be done.
First, it can involve the swapping of employees between companies situated in one country. This is usually the simplest form of job swapping to set up due to the lessened impact of international relocation requirements, which can vary greatly on the territory.

Secondly, such an exchange can take place on an international level. For example, an Icelandic company may agree to exchange employees with a company in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark or elsewhere.

There are already some internal platforms for job swapping that can efficiently simplify the process for in-house companies – especially those with multiple locations.

For example, if you send a sales employee to another branch to familiarise themselves with the local market, you can train and develop each other and break down departmental silos at the same time.

If the same person joins the marketing team because they are interested in this career path, it can help you retain a top-notch employee instead of potentially losing them to another company with a similar position.

Interested parties can open company profiles on such platforms, enter their requirements and find a suitable position.

Job swapping is currently also trending in Iceland where several agencies can facilitate the process, which is helping to support business growth in Iceland.

A job swap can be a way to spice up the life of an employee who may need a little boost or to re-engage with their work. If you negotiate this, the employee will be more productive and feel more valued in the organisation.

How Job Swaps can support temporary projects

When companies hire staff for temporary projects, they do not usually agree a contract with the person for one year, five years, ten years or more.

However, when a company hires a new employee, it means that it is also prepared to invest in that person.

The time and resources spent on hiring and training an employee are high and the time in between can often result in missing a project or deadline and even the business itself stalling while staffing is brought back up to normal levels.

In some cases, circumstances may allow a job swap as an alternative to traditional recruitment. This is especially true if the project is one that requires temporary labour.

Of course, hiring temporary labour can be frustrating because recruitment takes a lot of time, while time itself is of the essence for this type of assignment.

However, when it comes to recruitment, it can be difficult to find cost-effective resources for short-term projects, as most workers are looking for longer-term employment opportunities.

One solution is to agree a staff swap when a particular project needs to be handled with the utmost skill and attention – especially if the work is incredibly time-critical.

Once the project is complete, the employee returns to their original job. This is another big win, as it can also help companies redeploy their existing, unutilised staff, especially in the off-season.

It also provides a new platform for your existing employees to learn new skills, which they can in turn use in their original workplace.

In contrast, in cases where your projects require specialised expertise that you do not currently have, it is often more beneficial to hire a contractor to do the work.

A new employee, who may have advanced expertise in a particular area where your department is weak, can also bring knowledge that you can share with others.

Job swapping is like an exchange programme for those who are already employed. This means that human relationships are an essential element in creating, structuring and setting up these opportunities that are beneficial to the organisation.

Negotiating a job swap may sound a little strange to some people, but it is actually a completely normal and essential practise. It is crucial to the success of these measures that you communicate the goals and benefits to your employees and draw up a fully planned list of defined objectives.

You should treat every job swap as a new role, just as it will be in the eyes of your employees. As with any new hire, the basic requirements of a role description, the employer's set expectations and the job responsibilities are equally important to the success of any job swap.

This can particularly work well for those who feel that they have been stagnant in a role or are just looking for a change. A job swap can notably simulate a new working life, from which a person can collect authentic work experiences whilst remaining with an employer.

How can Job Swapping positively affect your business? 

As outlined above, there really are many facets to workplace change, as it can re-energise stagnant and less productive employees, unlock wider business opportunities and stimulate and retain a proactive workforce, among many other benefits.

The relationship between employer and employee is based on a combination of trust, appreciation and opportunity. Without a sufficient level of each of these elements, a working relationship can struggle to develop and mature.

Under the right conditions, a job swap is the perfect way to get the best out of your workforce from an employee satisfaction perspective, as well as from an economic view from employers.

Whether you’re a large organisation looking to invest in setting up a job swap or a smaller company trying to leverage the mix of talent you have, the benefits of a role swap far outweigh your fears.

This is not to say that you should go back to the office at your next Monday meeting and plan a complete role swap. Instead, it’s worth thinking about the opportunities that exist for your organisation, the challenges you currently face and how a job swap could support your ambitions.

After all, a stimulated, invested and fulfilled workforce regularly and demonstrably leads to higher productivity, higher employee retention and better organisational performance.

Conclusion

We hope that this blog has helped you to gain a deeper insight into the possibilities of job swapping and has given you the courage to try it out in your own organisation soon. If you need any advice or support in designing the perfect programme for your company, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our team.

Whether you are considering introducing a job swap programme in your company, trying it out for the first time or have used this practise regularly in the past, we would love to hear how you get on with it and what positive results you have achieved together with your employees.