• Organisations face a paradox: they want novel ideas but tend to reject them
• Seconded employees choose more novel ideas than permanent staff
• Interaction with seconded employees also encourages permanent staff to select more novel ideas

Whether you’re a Marvel fan or not, you’re likely familiar with the concept of the Avengers: A diverse group of superheroes assembling to protect Planet Earth including a spy, expert bowman, defrosted 90-year-old super soldier, and Norse god amongst others. Similar to a diverse team of work colleagues, except they’re fighting supervillains instead of deadlines.

Despite the impressive membership of the team, they still often require external help. Other than the fact this allows Kevin Feige to continue making money-making superhero blockbusters year after year, it also demonstrates that external input is sometimes vital to solving a challenge. Whether that’s deciding where to allocate funds or fighting space aliens.

Does this mean some of the collaborators more temporarily affiliated with the Avengers – Spider-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange – are like seconded employees?

Seconded employees are individuals temporarily assigned or transferred from their original organisation to work on a different department in the same company, a subsidiary, or a partner organisation. Exemplifying the Simmelian stranger, a concept introduced by sociologist Georg Simmel, they enter a group or community from the outside and bring new attributes, perspectives, or qualities the group doesn’t inherently possess.

But what benefits does secondment actually bring to a group or organisation?

Everyday heroes

Linus Dahlander, Professor of strategy and Lufthansa Group Chair in Innovation at ESMT Berlin, alongside researchers from Aarhus University, Warwick Business School, and Bocconi University, investigated the impact of seconded employees on the selection of novel ideas.

Creativity and innovation are two of the most valuable assets for growth in business and society. However, despite the motivation to select new and innovative ideas, individuals and organisations often reject or overlook them. These ideas can be difficult to understand, risky, and challenging as their inherent uncertainty makes it harder to predict reception and usage.

The researchers used information on seconded employees serving at the National Science Foundation (NSF) between 2000 and 2012 and retrieved information on grants awarded between 1998 and 2012. The NSF allocates research funds; programme directors send proposals for external review and then assemble and lead expert panels before making funding recommendations or decisions. The NSF also runs a secondment scheme in which permanent and seconded employees act as programme directors.

Measurement of novelty was based on how similar a grant was to previous grants of the same NSF programme. They also conducted 37 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with former seconded employees, permanent employees, as well as former panel members.

The researchers found that seconded employees not only choose more novel ideas than permanent staff, but also influence permanent staff to do the same.

Fresh blood and fresh perspectives

As seconded employees become fully-fledged members of the hosting organisation, they work alongside permanent employees, which helps them share their knowledge and networks. Also, as seconded employees are seen as both near and remote, permanent employees often perceive them as objective and seek them for advice.

“We have uncovered that these employees do not just bring fresh ideas to the table; they promote learning spillovers within an organisation, influencing permanent employees to select more novel ideas,” explains Dahlander. “Cultivating an environment that encourages these learning spillovers can thus result in lasting effects after the seconded employee leaves.”

This suggests a simple intervention of leveraging seconded employees more often can significantly boost the acceptance of innovative ideas, offering valuable insights for those in science and innovation. Understanding this can empower managers to strategically engage with seconded employees, fostering a more innovative and adaptive organisational culture.

However, the usefulness of seconded employees in selecting novel ideas can vary greatly based on their understanding of cutting-edge knowledge and the breadth of their external networks, making these important factors for managers to consider.

Much like the Avengers assembling to combat imminent threats, often calling on affiliates with a variety of complementary skills, knowledge, and abilities, organisations can harness the power of secondment to foster an environment where new and creative ideas thrive, ensuring they’re always ready to face challenges and difficulties in the ever-changing business world.

The impactful presence of seconded employees not only provide fresh perspectives but also spark a cultural shift toward embracing novelty and innovation. Perhaps it’s time for organisations to consider broadening their horizons by embracing the contributions of these ‘temporary heroes’ for a more resilient, creative, and adaptable future.

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