What is Secondment? Definition & Benefits

What is Secondment?

Secondment is when an employee temporarily transfers to another position or role. The new position or role is usually within the same organisation but it can also be an external secondment with another company.

The crucial point of a secondment arrangement is that it is a temporary transfer, usually for a fixed period. Secondments are often for project work or to fill a specific time-bound skills gap or opportunity.

Usually, an employee on secondment stays on their original contract of employment although there may be amendments made to it.

When and Why Do Companies Implement Secondment?

Companies implement secondments for a variety of reasons:

• To complete a specific project
• To allow for the transfer of skills between departments
• To manage staff levels
• To improve employee engagement

Companies with regular secondment opportunities may have specific timeframes and processes with which they work.

When a company decides to implement a secondment depends on why the secondment is being considered in the first place. Secondments are usually created in response to a business need so timings are often fluid.

Benefits of Secondment

Secondment can benefit both employees and companies in several ways:

• Gain experience: an employee can gain skills and expertise in a new area, which they can then return to their original role. Their expanded knowledge benefits their original team.
• Career development: The experience gained by the employee allows them to grow their skills, which can be part of a customised career development plan. New skills open up opportunities to apply for different roles.
• Prevents burnout: a temporary change of roles can help employees who feel overworked and exhausted by providing a new perspective and a chance to work differently. These experiences can help employees manage their workload when they return to their original role.
• Share skills: secondment helps to share experience and knowledge across the company, which leads to improvements in productivity and higher-quality work
• Improved collaboration: encouraging employees to move to different departments helps with integration between teams and increases the chance of people reaching out to work with each other. Collaboration ultimately benefits the company by increasing productivity
• Benefits morale: when companies use secondments, they signal how much they value the employee’s work and that the company wants to invest in an individual’s career development. Feeling valued is essential to boosting morale, leading to increased productivity.
• Creates opportunities for inclusion: secondments are a great way to introduce employees to different areas of the business and can be an important tool in promoting diversity, equality and inclusion within the business.

Secondment Process Step-By-Step

The process for secondment varies from company to company. Some have a formal secondment program that regularly assigns employees to temporary positions. Others work more organically, allocating individuals to secondments as opportunities arise. Whatever way a company approaches secondment, ideally, there will be a policy to follow and formal documentation to agree. If it is an external secondment, a written contract is essential.

The process for a secondment involves the following:

1. The company identifies the opportunity for secondment
2. The company and employees discuss the opportunity.
3. The terms for the secondment are negotiated and agreed upon.
4. The individual and representative of the company sign the agreement.
5. The secondment starts.

What Does The Written Agreement Cover?

A secondment agreement should cover:

• The employee-employer relationship: who controls the employment relationship, the original company or department or the temporary one?
• Compensation: is there a change to the compensation arrangement? This is especially relevant if the new role impacts responsibilities, location, training needs, and amount of overtime.
• Job description: clarity on the new role and expectations, including any obligations carried over from their main role.
• Absences and leave: who does the employee report absence to, who authorises leave and so on.

The Local Government Association has published a guide to the law on secondments, which provides useful advice for creating a secondment agreement.

Examples of Secondment

Companies are often very creative in terms of how they use secondments. Examples include:

• Project work: creating a temporary new team to work on a specific issue.
• Client work: allocating a team member to work with a particular client to help the team understand the client’s needs.
• Filling a skills gap: temporarily assigning an employee with a specific skill or experience from which another team will benefit.

FAQs

What Does it Mean When Someone is on Secondment?

When someone is on secondment, they are temporarily assigned to work in a role, department or company that is not their normal employment position. The secondment period can be a fixed term or flexible.

What Does Seconded Mean in a Job?

When someone is ‘seconded’ in their job, they move to a different role from their original job for some time. They are officially still employed in their original role and salary but are fulfilling the duties and obligations of a new temporary role.

How does a secondment work?

Secondments work differently in different companies and can also vary within a company depending on the reason for the secondment in the first place and the parties involved. If you are considering a secondment, you must get as much information as possible on what is expected from you in the new temporary role (your duties, responsibilities, key performance indicators and so on) and what you can expect from your original employer (whether your pay changes, who manages your leave and performance, how long the secondment will last and so on).

What are the disadvantages of a secondment?

For the individual employee, secondment can involve significant personal upheaval. Transitioning from a usual role to a different department or company can be challenging, especially if the individual does not feel optimistic about the secondment or the host employer. There may also be uncertainty around how the secondment works and how long it is, which can be unsettling for individuals. Returning to the original role can also be challenging, as it involves fitting back into an old team and determining how an individual feels about returning to a role they have not been doing for a while.

For companies, secondment can create confusion and inefficiencies when reporting lines are not clear. There can also be issues around liability and confidentiality when transferring employees to different departments, especially when it is an external secondment. Also, where a company is dealing with an unfair dismissal claim, secondments can add a layer of complexity to the case. Lastly, secondments can carry the risk of the employee being offered and accepting a new job, which impacts staffing.