What was previously seen as an emergency solution to cover licenses or reinforce an overloaded team today is assumed by many companies as part of permanent resource allocation strategy
The growing pressure for results, combined with the need to maintain increasingly lean legal structures, has forced the legal departments to review their operational logic. Instead of new permanent hiring, the corporate legal market has been adopting smarter and more adaptable solutions, and among them Secondment emerges as one of the most effective.
What was previously seen as an emergency solution to cover licenses or reinforce a overloaded team, today is assumed by many as part of its permanent entity of legal resources. But beyond the appearance of a flexible model, Secondment, when well -structured and hired in a specialized way, offers benefits that go far beyond headcount reduction.
HR is in a hurry, but the business has
One of the points often neglected by companies when considering alternatives for legal reinforcement is the impact of the internal process of hiring via. Although indispensable for the organizational structure, HR naturally operates on multiple fronts and with various priorities, from selection to commercial areas to technical recruitment, through diversity programs, organizational climate and labor compliance.
In this scenario, legal vacancies end up facing a slower funnel, with additional difficulties, such as technical specificity, need for a rapid adaptation curve, regulatory mastery and familiarity with the business. These elements make the legal selection process not only more complex but often longer.
On the contrary, offices specializing in Secondment operate with teams prepared for this type of allocation, with ready -made talent banks, agile internal processes, and practical experience in identifying profiles compatible with business dynamics. The time between the request and the effective allocation of a professional is drastically reduced, allowing the internal legal to maintain the fluidity of their deliveries without depending on long hierarchical approvals.
Efficiency that goes beyond the cost
Cutting fixed expenses with personnel remains an undeniable advantage. But it is not, nor should it be, the main driver for the adoption of Secondment. What is observed in companies that have already internalized this model as a strategic practice is a redesign of legal function, with intelligence, integration and response to the business. Among the less visible but highly relevant benefits, stand out:
- Contextualized specialization. Secondment lawyers bring repertoire from different sectors, jurisprudence and management models, delivering technical solutions adapted to the company’s sector and culture.
- Reduced adaptation curve. Because they have prior experience in corporate structures and consolidated legal knowledge, dries operate with autonomy from the early days, reducing learning time and increasing productivity.
- Contractual and labor governance. Specialized offices ensure that the model is legally structured, avoiding risks of improper subordination, recognition of bonds or labor liabilities, a risk that many companies ignore in hiring allocated professionals without formal intermediation or well -written contract.
Integration with external view
Another frequently underestimated point is the positive impact of Secondment’s performance as a bridge between the internal legal and the partner office. Instead of operating in watertight structures, the allocated professional strengthens the communication channel and accelerates the technical response, shortening the analysis time and increasing assertiveness in decision making. This is an important advantage, especially in companies with complex demands, short deadlines and high exposure to reputational or regulatory risks.
More than providing a pair of extra hands, Secondment allows the legal to act with enlarged vision, enjoying the practical experience accumulated in different business realities and with real -time technical support, something that is hardly achieved through conventional hiring or generic allocations.
Structural transformation, not improvisation
To ignore the strategic potential of Secondment is to miss the opportunity to reformulate the role of the legal within the organization. In times of cost rationalization, increased litigation and regulatory overload, adapting is imperative. And adapting with intelligence is what separates legal structures that survive from those that really support the growth of the company.
By choosing certain partners, with clear governance and specific focus on legal solutions on demand, the company transforms Secondment into a performance, safety and predictability lever. And when this movement is made with criteria, it is no longer an emergency solution to becoming part of the DNA of corporate efficiency.
It is worth, at this moment, to carefully observe the current map of its legal department. Where are the bottlenecks? What areas of legal operation could benefit from expert reinforcement without generating budgetary rigidity? What strategic demands are being postponed for lack of time, focus or internal absorption capacity? It may not be more people to hire more people, but to better allocate the resources available.
Secondment is not a patch. It is a mature, strategic and aligned choice of business logic that requires less improvisation and more intelligence in human capital allocation.
*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the young Pan.
