Development Secondments for Professional Services Staff

Development Secondments for Professional Services staff

Short-term development secondments provide an opportunity for members of staff to experience work in a different environment and develop new skills, expand knowledge and develop expertise. They also allow the University to draw on specialist skills both internally and externally to meet short-term demand. A secondment may therefore address both individual staff development needs, and the needs of the University, by utilising particular skills that are available.

A short-term secondment is less than 2 weeks duration.

A secondment is the loan of an employee to another department or organisation on a temporary basis.

Pilot Aims

·  Four development secondments of five days.

·  Applications will be invited from an existing pool of staff who meet the application criteria

·  Two of our staff will go to the other organisation and two of the receiving departments will second their staff to the department of our secondee.

·  After the pilot, the process and outcomes will be reviewed to finalise a way forward for late 2015/start of 2016.

Eligibility - Prior Experience and Compulsory Development Required

At Edinburgh Napier, prior completion of:

-  The APPLE Toolkit

-  Business Administrators Essentials

-  The SVQ Award in Business Administration – Level 3

-  Being a mentor on the SVQ Award

At your PDR, discuss with your line manager the possibility of undertaking a secondment. Specifically discuss:

-  what your objectives might be (See Appendix A)

-  which area/ department within the other organisation you might want to go to

-  ideas of projects that you might be able to undertake

-  ideas for projects that someone could do if they came in to your department

-  what time of year this might be suitable to do

In the Beginning (Planning)

(see Appendix A)

If it is agreed that secondment is a development opportunity for you, it is helpful if you do the following preparatory work:

·  Prepare an up to date CV and covering letter with a secondment in mind.

·  Finalise your objectives for a development secondment with your line manager.

·  Contact Corporate Learning and Development to arrange a meeting and forward your CV and objectives

·  Corporate Learning and development will contact the other organisation and discuss a development secondment placement.

·  A department and point of contact will be identified.

·  The receiving department will be sent your CV and a meeting arranged with you to discuss the possible objectives.

·  You will then need to finalise the secondment objectives and brief your line manager and the point of contact in the other organisation.

·  Dates will then be agreed over a short period (dates all to be within 6 weeks of each other).

·  Working with the contact in the other organisation, you should ensure that the following are in place for when you arrive:

-  Desk

-  Access to computer systems (no external e-mail or dongle access)

-  Someone to meet and greet

-  Insurance, health and safety, data protection, finance and information security covered as part of induction

-  Visitors pass

In the Flow - a diary of your experiences and feelings

Before starting the secondment, discuss with your line manager how you will capture the learning after each day and how often you will meet or catch up to discuss the secondment.

Each day

·  Prepare what you are aiming to learn.

·  Identify key people you need to meet; arrange this; identify others you might need to meet

·  Meet your team

·  Get your bearings

·  Have a local induction

·  Arrange to meet your secondee contact at some time on each day that you are in to;

-  discuss your experience;

-  share your findings;

-  ask any questions;

-  plan what you want to get out of the next day that you are in;

-  identify any learning/ development you need to enable you to complete your project

·  Start a SWOT and keep this going for; your project; the department (this will help with your reflection and writing your final report)

·  Enjoy your experience as you are going through it

·  Reflect at the end of each day by completing the reflection log.

Last day

·  Head down and do day; analyse any results or information you have gathered, start/ continue writing your report

·  Reflect on ley learning points; your main learning; highlights, feelings; 1 thing that you should have done more of

·  Agree next steps with your secondment contact:

-  How, when and who you will need to get back in touch with

-  What you will be preparing and when this will be delivered

-  What format the final handover, delivery of project will be in.

·  Ask for feedback and any learning that your secondment contact has experienced:

-  From the process

-  What you have done

-  How you have worked

-  Remember to build this in to your case study and report

·  Good byes, see you laters and chocolates.

At the end (reflection and review)

Gather all of your reflection notes and any other notes together

Write your final report

Next steps

Having completed the secondment we ask that each person completes the following after the secondment:

To be reviewed and agreed with / To be shared with
Project report and presentation / Line manager
Secondment contact / Line manager
Secondment contact
Secondment team
Own team (if appropriate)
Self reflection log / Line manager
Secondment contact / Line manager
Secondment contact
Case study / Line manager
Secondment contact / Line manager
Secondment contact
CL&D (for all staff)
Own team
Secondment team
Standard Life learning team
Secondment review questionnaire / Line manager (possibly) / Standard Life learning team
CL&D

This information will help us review the secondment process, in particular the benefits and possible improvements as well as promoting the opportunity and sharing experiences with all staff through a short case study.

If you are interesetd in finding out more, please contact me:

Jessica Dall, Development Partner, Human Resources and Development

Ext 5036

e-mail:

Appendix A- Secondment Objectives and working arrangements

Objectives

Work/ secondment specific objectives

·  33% - project based

·  33% - investigative work

·  33% - involvement/ contribution to development initiatives taking place during secondment

·  To participate in development which is mutually beneficial to both organisations and the development partners involved.

Projectbased objectives

·  To review the current first contact customer service process, procedure and content.

·  To provide a summary analysis of the review with recommendations for the first contact customer service process.

·  To establish contacts and a possible starting point for a cross organisation work shadowing scheme.

·  To write a paper with recommendations on how to capture the history and cultural agendas, to enhance sense of identity and what it means to be a part of Standard Life.

Investigative objectives

·  To experience development and consultation approaches in a different organisation

·  To identify alternative development practices that I can learn from and apply back in the workplace.

·  To review the structure and position of development in a different organisation.

·  To experience a range of customer service approaches in a different organisation.

Involvement/ contribution objectives relating to development initiatives

To partner/ contribute where possible to development initiatives such as:

·  Reviewing the customer development site

·  IT

·  Process review

·  Customer service advice session

Personal/ professional objectives for the secondment

·  To gain an external to the Higher Education sector experience in customer service.

·  To take an active role in daily development activities and a project so that learning and experiences can be shared and ideas and practice brought back to Edinburgh Napier University.

·  To challenge my existing ways of thinking and doing things so that they become as robust and as effective as possible.

·  To understand another sectors challenges/ opportunities and approaches applied to these in the strategy, management and application of customer service.

Timescales and dates

Full day – 8:45am-16:30pm

Half day – 08:45am-12:30pm

·  Wed 17th July – full day

·  Wed 24th July – full day

·  Tues 30th July – half-day

·  Wed 31st July – full day – there’s a half-day customer service session planned

·  Tues 6th Aug – half-day

·  Wed 7th Aug – full day

Working hours

Flexible to work in with the seconding organisation.

Reporting Lines and Points of Contact

·  Department manager

o  Contact and supervisor Me

·  Name (project specific contact)

Insurance and security

·  Checks completed and follow the same health and safety admin as temporary staff and contractors.

Appendix B- Secondment Reflection note

When you have taken part in a learning activity it is essential to reflect on the experience you have had and what you will do next. A learning activity or experience can be anything - for example, reading a book; working through an on-line package, attending a course; trying a new approach to a task. Please complete the following & discuss with your coach/ manager if appropriate.

Name:
Date:
What have you highlighted that you aim to learn?
What happened & why?
How did you behave, feel & think as it was happening?
What do you think were your main learning points?
What are you planning to do differently now?
How will you carry forward the learning?