You’ve heard of placements, apprenticeships, internships, but what about secondments?
Secondments give an employee the chance to temporarily work in another role for a set period. They are a fantastic means of career development as employees can move role internally or even to a role in another organisation.
With skills gaps prevalent across the UK, secondments play a key role in bridging those gaps. A Reed survey, conducted at the end of last year with 5,000 adult UK workers to inform our annual salary guides, highlighted that nearly one-in-five respondents believe better professional development opportunities would make them feel more valued by their employer. Therefore, offering secondments to your employees could be a business masterstroke – helping to attract and retain employees and enhance you overall brand and employee value proposition.
In 2024, Government Digital and Data won the 2024 Commissioners’ Mark of Excellence for its innovative regional tech partnerships to secure senior digital talent on secondment to contribute to the work of government. We interviewed Garry Hulme, Resourcing Delivery Manager at Government Digital and Data, to learn more about secondments and their benefits to employers and employees…
Q: Can you provide an overview of your secondment programme?
A: Our Digital Secondments Programme is an inward talent attraction scheme. We partner with technology companies and offer secondments for members of their team within the civil service across a multitude of different departments. We offer long-term secondments of between six-and-12 months that are usually full time, so that person is fully embedded as a civil servant.
Q: What are the main objectives behind the programme?
A: The programme is about helping to redefine the way that the government delivers its digital services to the public and helping new businesses partner with the public sector. We want to introduce secondees to new ways of working, while bridging the skills gaps within senior digital and data that exists within the public sector. Secondments like ours are there to offer employees a fantastic experience to work at scale and to allow them to grow as individuals.
Q: What benefits does your organisation gain from offering secondments? Why are they important?
A: It's a really important point. We gain access to some fantastic skill sets from people who perhaps are happy in the private sector, but wouldn't mind working in the public sector and helping it to expand. Our secondments allow our departments the ability to tap into talent that can help serve the government's digital and data agenda. Secondees often benefit from being upskilled, which then leads to better career development for them, but also better employee satisfaction and better results for the companies involved.
Q: What are the benefits of doing as secondment as an employee?
A: On our programmes, secondees are given the opportunity to help design and deliver the government's digital and data services to members of the public – increasing both their technical and specialist skills. Secondments are a tool to help professionals grow, expand their networks and communities, and experience new ways of working. Plus, it's a fantastic addition to put on a CV. They’re able to join a larger organisation, to work at scale, and hopefully go back and provide alternative solutions to their employer. This will then hopefully bridge any skills gaps which were previously missing in their line of work.
Q: What support do those taking part receive before, during, and after a secondment?
A: Secondees receive regular check ins – usually monthly – with their ‘parent company’ (the ones that are loaning their member of staff), to check that they're happy with the arrangement. There are regular evaluation points to make sure that the department, the secondee, and the partnering company are happy with the arrangement and it's working from all sides. We also conduct a six-month and an end-of-term evaluation as well, but with regular touch points along the way to reinforce that, for us, it’s a true partnership being created. Hopefully, on the back of a secondment, a greater partnership for that business is formed with the public sector which could potentially lead to future business opportunities.
Q: What measures are in place to ensure a smooth transition for employees returning to their previous role after their secondment term comes to an end?
A: We’ve increasingly looked at offering job share agreements, which means the secondee does four days a week at the civil service and one day a week – or whatever the split might be – back at their usual employer. This helps them to keep a foot in both camps and creates an easier transition for when the secondment ends. But what we also do, for those on a full-time arrangement, is input touch points around a month before the end of their term where we talk to the employer and ensure that they are taking the individual back on a smooth transition, giving them the chance to make their employee aware of any changes or updates which really helps settle any nerves.
Q: How does this programme align with the civil service’s overall strategy for talent development and retention?
A: It's a key component of our senior talent strategy. The reality is that there are often big skills gaps within the civil service – particularly digital and data at a senior level – and secondments help us cover those gaps and bring in new ways of thinking that perhaps would not have been thought of or used previously.
Q: What advice would you give to other employers considering implementing a secondment programme?
A: The key thing is to make sure that all aspects are covered in a comprehensive secondment agreement. This includes the logistics, the finances, the duration, the type of objectives, and what the aim of the secondment is to ensure it’s got a clear purpose. Secondments are a great way to build partnerships with other companies, perhaps it's a supplier or a tech company that that you work with, as they help establish a true partnership that benefits all parties.
It’s important to remember that secondments offer employees valuable career development and the chance to experience life outside of their current role, which can give them better grounding and the ability to further enhance their career potential.
If you’re looking for your next hire, or a new job opportunity, contact your nearest Reed office today.
