INTHEBLACK December - January 2022 - Magazine - Page 48
AT A GLANCE
A secondment is an arrangement
for an employee to work
temporarily in a different role,
department or organisation.
While some secondments
are local, others may be in
a new city, state or even
country.
Remote secondment has
also become popular with
businesses since the
pandemic.
Secondment
STORY AMANDA WOODARD
SECONDED
ELEVATE BUSINESS AS USUAL
For individuals, a secondment to a new role can be life-changing, with
employees reporting greater confidence, adaptability and resilience.
Businesses can also reap the rewards of a secondment program.
48
DEC 2022
JAN 2023
INTHEBLACK CAREER, ELEVATED SPECIAL EDITION
During the pandemic, with
international borders closed and no
prospect of securing talent from abroad,
secondments emerged as one solution to
a multi-faceted problem. Businesses could
build the skills of their existing staff to
fill gaps while also keeping those valuable
employees in the business.
Australia, for instance, has long been a
popular choice for overseas workers. PwC
has been a beneficiary of that over the years,
says Catherine Walsh, partner and head of
people and culture at PwC Australia.
The pandemic “created a whole range
of challenges for our resourcing levels and
how many people we [had] available to do
the work”, she says.
Secondments provided a solution for
PwC Australia, while conferring numerous
benefits to staff members, acting as “great
stepping stones” at critical points on their
career journeys.
“When we have an experience that takes
us out of our comfort zone, that is when
we grow and develop and learn. We find
people come back with greater insight
and perspective, and often with greater
technical skills,” Walsh says.
One example is Maria Wozny, associate
director of infrastructure advisory at PwC
Australia, who was seconded to the team
working on South Australia’s flagship
contract with Tesla to build the world’s
largest lithium-ion battery system.
Wozny says being seconded to another
team led her to discover a passion for
infrastructure projects she didn’t know she
had. It was the difference between “fitting
in” and “belonging” in terms of how she felt
about her career.
“Across my career, I’ve worked with
many different teams, did short-term
rotations and long-term secondments. I can
definitely see how this helped me figure out
what I want to do and how, step by step, it
led me closer to this place, where I enjoy
my work on a daily basis,” Wozny says.
REMOTE SECONDMENTS
Like all other aspects of business,
secondments have been affected by
physical distancing and limitations
imposed by the pandemic.
However, secondments have proven valuable
even when they are conducted remotely.
Westpac’s long-running Jawun
Indigenous secondment program
transitioned to a virtual model in 2020.
Cristina Carter, a senior manager in
partnerships who has been with Westpac
for more than six years, was the first
candidate to do the secondment virtually.
