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I’m a big believer that personal growth
will always translate into professional
growth. Your personality, the way
you interact with people, and the way
you respond to situations—those
things inevitably translate into your
professional life.
RACHEL YANG,
KPMG, NORTH EAST ARNHEM LAND
2014 AND 2015
For the majority of secondees, the growth they
experienced on secondment has transferred to
their working life. Increased motivation, enhanced
personal leadership style, and improved problem-
solving, stakeholder management and intercultural
competency were just some of the areas of
professional growth identified by secondees.
Not only do individuals find the skills they learned
on secondment applicable and valuable in their
professional roles, but they also find their rate of
growth is accelerated due to the immersive nature
of the experience.
For some, the development they experienced
on secondment led to career progression and
professional opportunities such as board
positions, as we explore later in this section
(see pages 23–27).
Soft skill growth is recognised
and demonstrated
Patience and tolerance
Interpersonal skills
Listening skills
Stakeholder management
Personal leadership brand
Lateral thinking
Self-confidence
Problem-solving
Whether the secondment was recent or over a
decade ago, the majority of individuals attested
that the soft skill growth they experienced
underpinned the way they work today. In particular,
patience, tolerance
and
listening skills
were
attributes that transferred into the workplace.
Nathan Krieger was working for Westpac when
he was seconded to Cape York. He said that
the lessons he learned about listening have not
only stayed with him but changed his entire
approach to the way he works:
If someone had asked me what my job was
before the secondment, I’d have said, ‘I tell
businesses what products and solutions they
need to do business.’ Now I say, ‘I listen to
businesses talk about their challenges and
aspirations, to see if there are opportunities
for us to work together to achieve their goals.’
Tom Hughes noticed that once he returned to his
job at Qantas ‘my tolerance levels went through the
roof. I just didn’t sweat the small stuff as much and
didn’t try to be as pedantic. I realised, “Well, there’s
another way to go about this rather than being so
specific and jumping on every little point.”’
Tanya Kaye found that ‘the patience I learnt on
secondment helps me in my professional life
when I’m coaching and mentoring other staff’.
Tracey Benson discovered she was more patient
with herself when she returned to her role at the
Department of Industry and Science: ‘In the past,
I’d be pushing myself very hard and would beat
myself up if things didn’t happen the way I wanted
them to happen. Through the secondment process,
I learnt to accept that sometimes it’s actually better
to just yield and let things evolve.’
Many secondees found their
increased self-
confidence
and
interpersonal skills
transferred
into their professional roles. Secondees discovered
they were more adept at relating to others and
more likely to embrace new opportunities. Tien
Do from KPMG reflected: ‘I can see a change in
myself after the secondment—it’s opened me
up to talk to more people and grab opportunities
within KPMG. I take a more active role now.’ Tanya
Kaye explained, ‘I realised that humans are humans,
we are all the same, everyone appreciates the same
things: family, nature, stories. I’ve really used that
to be able to build relationships in my professional
life with other staff and with clients.’ These changes
were often noticed by colleagues and managers.
Beau Beckman from the Department of Defence
was Bonnie Carter’s manager before and after
her secondment. He observed:
When Bonnie got back, she carried herself with
a different type of confidence when relating
to people—there was a genuineness in her
relationships with people that was obvious from
the outside. You saw that she was listening,
she was hearing, and she was able to work with
the other person in a different kind of way.
20 JAWUN
2015 LEARNINGS AND INSIGHTS