Social:Secondment
Secondment is the temporary assignment of a member of one organization to another organization, or, in the case of an internal secondment, within an organisation.
Terminology
The term "secondment" is widely used in Great Britain[1] and Commonwealth countries.[2] In some areas (e.g. India), a temporary transfer of employees is called "on deputation".[3]
In the Soviet Union, such reassignment was called Commadirovki and denoted a career-related trip outside of work. For example, the 1967 comedy Kidnapping, Caucasian Style takes place while its protagonist Shurik is on secondment to the Caucasus in order to record indigenous folklore.[4]
Job rotation
The employee typically retains their salary and other employment rights from their primary organization but they work closely within the other organization to provide training, a liaison between the two companies and the sharing of experience.[5] Secondment is a more formal type of job rotation.[6][7] This is not to be confused with temporary work.
Secondment, sometimes referred to as employer of record (EoR) or professional employer organization (PEO), can also be used to help organizations hire during a headcount freeze. In the current day, some businesses use it as a solution to enter into new markets, bypassing the cost of opening their own business entity.[8]
Use
For example, statisticians from the British Government Statistical Service may be assigned to the Full Fact charity, to check statistics presented in political campaigns and the mass media.[9] In the military, an exchange officer is a commissioned officer in a country's armed forces who is temporarily seconded either to a unit of the armed forces of another country or to another branch of the armed forces of their own country.[10][11] A Guardian report in 2017 observed that "half of the employees seconded to the Department for International Development" (as it was then) were seconded from organisations in the defence industry.[12]
Internal secondments also enable staff with one speciality to obtain a broader view of their organisation's operations, markets and strategies.[13]
See also
- Student exchange program
- Temporary duty assignment
References
- ↑ "International secondments for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office" (in en). 2016-12-12. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/international-secondments-for-the-foreign-and-commonwealth-office.
- ↑ "Secondment arrangements and procedures for Commonwealth employees (RMG 121)". https://www.finance.gov.au/secondment-arrangements-and-procedures-commonwealth-employees-rmg-121.
- ↑ "Deputation guidelines for group C employees". https://dopt.gov.in/sites/default/files/Deputation%20guidelines%20%20for%20group%20C%20employees.pdf.
- ↑ Mosfilm (1967). Kidnapping, Caucasian Style. 6:34 minutes in. Retrieved 2026-01-03 – via YouTube.
- ↑ Cunningham, Ian; Dawes, Graham; Bennett, Ben (2004), "Secondments and Related Approaches", The Handbook of Work Based Learning, Gower Publishing, p. 137, ISBN 9780566085413
- ↑ Thomson, Rosemary; Thomson, Andrew (2012-05-04) (in en). Managing People. Routledge. ISBN 9781136382826. https://books.google.com/books?id=y4IABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA149.
- ↑ Rishipal (2011) (in en). Training and Development Methods. S. Chand Publishing. ISBN 9788121936569. https://books.google.com/books?id=OjJlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA286.
- ↑ "The employer of record model can benefit employers and employees alike" (in en). https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/08/what-is-employer-of-record-global-remote-working/.
- ↑ About Full Fact, Government Statistical Service, 2017, https://gss.civilservice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2017-01-Secondment-job-pack.pdf, retrieved May 28, 2017
- ↑ (in en) Short-Term Interchanges of Staff: First Report. Australian Government Pub. Service. 1978. ISBN 9780642036957. https://books.google.com/books?id=SfYHAAAAMAAJ.
- ↑ "Reflections on an Air Force/Navy Exchange Tour". Air University Review (United States Air Force). March–April 1971. http://www.au.af.mil/au/afri/aspj/airchronicles/aureview/1971/mar-apr/Breckner.html.
- ↑ Evans, R., UK trade department draws half its secondees from arms industry, The Guardian, published on 8 October 2017, accessed on 2 October 2026
- ↑ Holmes, L., "Attract people with different skills" in Supply Management, April-June 2023, page 21
Further reading
- Centre for Employment Initiatives (Great Britain) (1988). Seconds Out: Business Secondment in Theory and Practice. Centre for Employment Initiatives. ISBN 978-0-9513288-0-4.
- Ntata, Pierson R. T. (February 2017). "Capacity Building through Secondment of Staff: A Possible Model in Emergencies?". Development in Practice 17 (1): 104–113. doi:10.1080/09614520601092725.
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