In February 2024, DFK Benjamin King Money (DFKBKM) became the first DFK member firm in Australia to pilot the DFK International Global Secondment Program, an initiative designed to give accounting professionals the opportunity to work within another DFK member firm, experience a different business environment and build connections across the global alliance.
Since launching the program, DFKBKM has embraced the opportunity wholeheartedly, with three team members travelling to Canada to undertake secondments with DFK member firm Taylor Leibow.
What began as a pilot has developed into a valuable professional development opportunity for our people and a practical example of what can happen when a global association is connected through its people.
Bringing the World into Professional Development
A secondment is about much more than working in another country.
It gives employees the opportunity to step into a different environment, work alongside new colleagues and experience different approaches to client work. At the same time, they bring their own knowledge, experience, and perspective to the host firm, and apply what they learn overseas in their work back in Australia.
This exchange of knowledge is one of the most valuable aspects of the program. Our people return with new perspectives that can be shared with colleagues, while also developing greater confidence in working across different teams, cultures and business environments.
An Experience That Benefits People and Firms
For DFKBKM, the program is also about providing our people with opportunities to grow.
International experiences can add another dimension to professional development, giving team members the chance to challenge themselves, build new relationships and experience life and work in another country.
It is also a fantastic way to strengthen relationships between DFK member firms.
Creating Opportunities for the Future
At DFKBKM, we recognise that today’s accounting professionals are looking for more than technical career development. They value opportunities to learn, experience new environments, build relationships and broaden their horizons.
Programs such as the Global Secondment Program give firms another way to provide those experiences.
For our people, it can create opportunities to explore where their careers might take them. For the firm, it helps us develop people with broader perspectives, stronger international relationships and experience that can be brought back into our Australian practice.
Our experience over the past three years has reinforced the value of creating these opportunities and giving our team the chance to experience the DFK community first-hand.
For DFKBKM, that is what the Global Secondment Program is about: giving our people opportunities to grow while strengthening the connections that make our global association work.
