Secondments in Council create efficiency

People & Culture: Secondments in Council

Written by Kerry Rooke, Practice Manager - Peak Services Legal & Workforce

We read constantly about the lack of qualified staff available for positions across a number of industries.  Councils in Queensland are not immune to this, with a number of Councils facing a shortage of qualified staff available in their local community for important roles in the People & Culture field.

Working in this field in the Local Government environment has its own peculiarities that make it difficult for people who have worked in the field in non-local government organisations to come in and “hit the ground running”.

This is where the experienced members of the Peak Legal and Workforce Team can assist.

We are experts in the field of industrial relations and human resources and can fit right into the department within Council to assist.

Our team has recently undertaken a number of secondments for Councils who have struggled to find qualified people.  This can happen for a variety of reasons – staff might be going on leave (including parental leave, long service leave or personal leave), there might be a project that will place additional burdens on staff, or council simply can’t find a suitable candidate to fill the role.

Having a secondment fill or back-fill a position temporarily can be a useful resource by having someone to provide services on an as-needed basis because the secondment starts and finishes when it suits Council.  It can often be better than the option of hiring a full time employee for a short period of time, especially if the position is to complete a specific project within a dedicated timeframe.  

We’ve provided secondments to numerous councils ranging from 1 – 2 days per week for a month, 4 days a week for 3 months, and even for a lengthy 26 weeks.  These secondments can be provided remotely and we are also available to be on site working directly with your people as an extension of the team.  Often, these site visits can be invaluable to the People & Culture teams and Council staff.  Your team will have an experienced operator available to discuss matters with, to perhaps identify other issues.  The external person can also be a ‘circuit breaker’ with staff as well. There is no training time required, we can literally hit the ground running. 

If you need  assistance with your secondment strategy - our experienced Peak Workforce team are here to help,