HIRE FROM AN EXCELLENT NEW NICHE: BOOMERANG EMPLOYEES
In this unprecedented tight labor market where unemployment is at record lows and skilled candidates are few and far between and in high demand, Boomerang employees represent a niche category worth considering from my point of view.
I’ll give this category another name…” the one that got away”. Nearly every hiring authority I speak with will have a story about that rising star that got away…a former employee that had to leave the nest early.
According to the SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Boomerangs—employees who return after leaving a company—are on the rise. According to LinkedIn, this source accounted for 4.5 percent of all new hires among companies in 2021, up from 3.9 percent in 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported.
EVALUATE THEIR REASON FOR LEAVING
Oftentimes I hear that there were valid reasons for the departure and some of the reasons include; not enough career pathing being available, and the pay and benefits plans were not mature. Often when an upstart company is growing some of its best employees just get recruited away by a bigger competitor or the so-called big dog at the time. Young executives in the early stages of their careers are sometimes just driven to gain more experience. They have not had the chance to truly evaluate what it is that they are looking for in their career.
RE-RECRUIT THEM BACK
There are many benefits to these former employees coming back. Often they have established relationships already in place with current team members, they have familiarity with processes and procedures making onboarding a breeze.
Getting them back is easier than you think. Sometimes having a 3rd party makes the first inquiry and approach is highly beneficial and will provide a bridge and a new perspective on their former company.
At our firm, we now include in our needs assessment before beginning a search whether or not a company has a rehire policy. We also ask about former potential employees to approach. BTW these candidates typically have knowledge of the market you are in and know people. The plus benefit is that typically if they are not interested in coming back to your company they can be an excellent and valuable referral resource.
AVOID THE PITFALLS
To avoid some of the pitfalls of rehiring former employees include this quick check:
How did they leave your company? Did they give proper notice, what does the file say and did they leave on very good terms? Track down their former supervisors if applicable and if unknown to you the exact circumstances.
What have they done with their career since leaving you? In other words, what has their track record been after leaving the company? Have they improved their skill sets and had a continued strong employment history?
Follow your process…we recommend you interview them using the same process to evaluate them for hire. Try to avoid the halo effect (glossing over or skipping steps just because they are once known entities.
REVIEW YOUR CURRENT REHIRE POLICY
We recommend looking at your rehire policy to see if it’s been updated. You may unknowingly have an HR team that is knocking these candidates out of consideration based on rules that are outdated. We usually hear about a no rehire policy that was put in place because of a bad apple or experience. Usually, there is a story about a rehire that did not work out and or who caused an issue in the company. Instead of writing a uniform policy with guidelines for exceptions, an overcorrection took place, and rehires were strictly forbidden. When you look at the circumstances it was usually because rehires when not carefully evaluated. An open rehire policy without guardrails is generally a bad idea.
Reconsider putting in a guideline to allow for rehires under certain established criteria and conditions including having everyone approved and signed off by the President of the company. Having a clearly defined policy will help you maintain consistency and be fair and equitable throughout the organization.
Boomerang Employees who return to your company have an excellent chance of appreciating where they are and rapidly becoming committed long-term employees. In most cases, they are much wiser and less susceptible to leaving abruptly in the future.
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Bill O’Malley is President of Connector Team Recruiting a firm headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia specializing in the Furniture | Appliance and Sleep verticals. Connector Team is a full-service Search Firm offering permanent placement recruiting and interim staffing solutions.
Feel free to contact Bill at bill@connectorteamrecruiting.com.
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