By: Jenny Lang & Tracy Zeimet
Supply Chain Channel Managers
BBY Express, Secondary Markets, and Hmart
Jenny: My Best Buy career started in February of 2004. I came to the company with a background in the Real Estate and Mortgage business. I was driven to get into this company knowing how great it was to work for but also was a place to “plant some roots” for my career (especially since I was engaged and buying my first home all during this time). I started as an Merchant Analyst working in Car Audio and changed analyst roles multiple times until I was a Senior Demand Planning Analyst on the Retail Support Team (RST) between 2006-2008. While working on the RST team, I became pregnant with my first son in the Summer of 2007. I truly loved working on this team, so I only took only half the amount of time off for maternity leave so it could be manageable for my team to cover for me while I was out.
Low and behold, during my maternity leave I interviewed and got the Demand Planning Planner (for Appliances) position and came back to a whole new role! I loved my new position just as much, but found that I was working much more than I probably should have been. I was working full-time (but more than the standard 40 hours) and still trying to spend time with my son. Plus, during this time I was also struggling to find time to take care of my two elderly parents, one of which (my father) was having some major health issues and he needed a lot of help. It all was taking its toll on me but I knew that I didn’t want to stop working either. I loved my job… yet, I wanted a family too. It was the work/life tug-of-war.
So, Tracy and I have known each other for many years at Best Buy… even though we were on different teams, but when I started the Planner role, we were working on the same team together for the first time… and when Tracy was on maternity leave in Winter 2009/10, I too, was working under the same Director, Lisa Cotter. Knowing that I was the only other “Planner Mom” and seeing how much I was trying to balance my personal and work life, she approached me with the idea of doing the Job Share with Tracy. I was immediately excited… and yet cautious… because it was so new and there were SO many questions! After analyzing the facts and laying out the work plan with Lisa and Tracy, I made the change.
It has now been a full year doing the Job Share and I have to say it was the best thing I ever did! Tracy and I have even gotten promoted together (as a Job Share team) to Supply Chain Managers in New Channels. Plus, this career change allowed me time with my son but also allowed me to expand my family… a second son in Feb 2011! This time, I did only 8 weeks of leave, but knew that I was coming back to work at a reduced schedule, which made it MUCH easier to adjust and come back to work. Tracy and this job share gives me the peace-of-mind to leave work… at work, which allows me to be extremely motivated in my job, but also allows me to focus on my family and have the time to watch my kids grow up… AND best yet, keep my career moving!
Tracy:
I started at Best Buy almost 11 years ago. This was just three short months after my husband and I graduated college and got married. During that time I had the opportunity to work in various roles which included Merchant, Demand Planning, and Supply Chain in over 12 different categories. My husband and I tried to have a child for over 8 years and in 2009 we finally got our miracle. I struggled for a long time thinking about my options to either stay home with my daughter, or work full time. I couldn’t help but think there was another solution. My director (Lisa Cotter) and I had a discussion about the possibility of a “part-time” or job share position and started to explore that option. Lisa is very involved in WOLF (Best Buy's Women's Leadership Forum) and is a mother herself. She was able to relate to my situation and was willing to think creatively and that’s where my journey begins.
I came back from maternity leave and immediately started my job share with Jenny Lang. I started one month earlier which was great because I had an entire month to overlap with her and get to know a new business. I couldn’t believe how wonderful this process was. I felt and continue to feel extremely productive and re-energized. I feel like I am able to spend the much desired time at home with my daughter while also having some adult interaction. When I’m home, I’m home and am able to “disconnect” because I know everything is taken care of at work. It has truly been a blessing. With this great reward comes a few challenges. This is pretty new at Best Buy and our HR practices are not set up just yet for this structure although they have been fantastic to work with! There are challenges - since it’s new and unclear how to “connect” partners together, it has also been challenging for people to find job share partners… which has slowed down the expansion of this work environment.
Although there are some technical challenges, Best Buy is very committed to seeing the job share program succeed… and Jenny and I continue to document everything we learn along the way. There are a few other job share partnerships that we meet with on a regular basis to share best practices to continue to evolve this program. I couldn’t be more excited to see this program grow and give working mothers and fathers an opportunity to better balance their professional life with their personal life. This program allows Best Buy to retain top talent and gives a great balance of both work and family time. It’s truly the best of both worlds!
on:
The Helper: (over)Step
