Give the secondment a way home

Career · Little Light original

A colleague is offered six months with another team. The assignment is useful and demanding. It is called a good opportunity, yet nobody can explain what happens to her role when the project ends. Exposure is offered; she carries the uncertainty. Before the move, agree on the purpose, duration and person responsible for her development. Name what success will demonstrate and how the home team will stay connected. Discuss the likely return role, even if the organisation cannot promise that every detail will remain unchanged. When plans shift, revisit the agreement openly rather than allowing a temporary move to become a quiet disappearance. A secondment can widen a career because it lets someone practise in a new context without discarding everything already built. That bridge needs support at both ends. Do not ask a person to accept avoidable career ambiguity as the price of growth. Give the opportunity a clear beginning, meaningful work and a way home that is worthy of the courage it required.

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