Employees on secondments found to support the selection of more innovative ideas

This suggests a simple intervention of leveraging seconded employees more often can significantly boost the acceptance of innovative ideas.

Employees on secondments, i.e. those who are temporarily assigned to a different role, organisation, or department - tend to choose more innovative ideas and influence other permanent staff to do the same, found research from ESMT Berlin, published in Strategic Management Journal.

For the purpose for this research, the team 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 of the ideas 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.

Results of the research

The researchers found that seconded employees choose more novel ideas and influence permanent staff to do the same.

For organisations, this suggests a simple intervention of leveraging seconded employees more often can significantly boost the acceptance of innovative ideas, especially in fields that rely on science and innovation.

For managers, this understanding empower them to strategically engage with seconded employees.

Linus Dahlander, professor of strategy and Lufthansa Group Chair in Innovation, ESMT Berlin, alongside researchers from Aarhus University, Warwick Business School, and Bocconi University, looked into this research

Dahlander explained regarding seconded employees: "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.

"Cultivating an environment that encourages these learning spillovers can thus result in lasting effects after the seconded employee leaves."

The one note of caution they raised was that the efficacy of seconded employees in selecting novel ideas can vary greatly based on their understanding of innovative knowledge and the breadth of their external networks.

For managers, these would be key factors for managers to consider when deciding whom to bring in for a secondment.

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