Kate Neilson reporting for HRM Online offers a case study about CEO Aron Ain’s organisation welcoming back a past employee, who had left after a 25-year tenure.

“Ain had a decision to make. He could have smugly sent this employee (or Kronite, as they like to call themselves) packing. The employee had stepped away from an opportunity to work for an organisation consistently gracing prestigious lists such as ‘Great Places to Work’ and Fortune Magazine’s ‘100 Best Companies To Work For’. But Ain didn’t do that. Instead, this employee was welcomed back with open arms, and he’s not the only one.”

According to Ain, approximately 250 of his employees are boomerang candidates. Not only this, but they were actively recruiting them through their website.

The stats: rising trend of boomerang candidates

“The boomerang employee has been a rising phenomenon in the recruitment space for some time now. A Kronos study from 2015  surveyed 1,800 HR professionals, people managers, and employees in the US. The findings showed that half of the HR managers surveyed said their organisations used to have policies against re-hiring former employees, but 76 per cent are now more accepting of this.

“Eighty-five per cent of the HR professionals said they received job applications from previous employees from 2010-2015, and 40 per cent proceeded to re-hire these candidates. It also seems the old saying ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ might ring true, with managers (51 per cent) and HR professionals (56 per cent) saying they’d give “high or very high priority” to a former employee who left the organisation on good terms.

“Taking a look at the employee perspective, only 15 per cent reported being a boomerang themselves, but 40 per cent admitted they’d consider trying to go back to a previous employer. This statistic differs for various ages. For Millennials, 46 per cent would consider returning to an old employer, whereas only 33 per cent of Gen Xers and 29 per cent of Baby Boomers would do the same.”

Why rehire a boomerang candidate?

As an employer, an employee’s career journey is not something that belongs to you. Encouraging employees choices and opportunities to leave, gain new skills and return, is a mutually beneficial arrangement.

According to Ain, boomerang candidates are “unbelievably loyal” and he’s seen many examples of this.

Brendan Browne, vice president of global talent acquisition at LinkedIn relayed the benefits of re-hiring former staff in his article for the Business Insider, stating that they’re valuable to an organiation’s growth because they’re familiar with its culture.

Established relationships only work to create another layer to employee loyalty, which results in increased retention. They also bring new experience, skills, knowledge and ideas. Even potential customers!

Organisations such as Microsoft, Deloitte and JP Morgan are all working to retain relationships with their past employees in the hope they might one day return.

Risks and challenges

Every talent attraction strategy comes with certain challenges. One of the major challenges is reducing the diversity in your organisation.

“If an employee has been with an organisation for 25+ years, maybe it’s time for them to move on and pave the way for someone new who can bring fresh ideas to the company.

There is such a thing as healthy turnover.”

According to Patty McCord, Netflix HR chief, organisations who want to foster a high-performance culture need to get rid of the notion of retention and let people go with dignity.

On another note, some organisation leaders are averse to rehiring boomerang candidates because promoting this strategy might make it too easy for people to leave and return with the belief that returning to their previous position is a sure thing. The best way to work around this is by communicating to your talent that it is an invitation and opportunity, not a guarantee.

What process should you use to rehire boomerang candidates?

Should you make candidates apply for the role in the same way other candidates do through applications and interviews?

Ultimately, the decision really depends on your recruitment process and hiring needs, as well as the person themselves; make these decisions on a case-by-case basis.

For some CEOs like Ain, the benefits far outweigh the risks. Change is healthy and good for organisations, employers and employees. Ensure your current talent feels engaged and appreciated at work, and communicate that opportunities to return are an invitation.

Source

Should you embrace boomerang employees?

Kate Neilson

HRM Online

The post Why you should embrace boomerang candidates appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.

It’s a trend that can be seen across workers of all ages and wage brackets, including those who earn six-figures: Australians are quitting their jobs to advance their careers and chase pay rises, promotions, and progression. A recent study demonstrates 60 per cent of employees resigned from their position because of limited career progression within the organisation, and a further 46 per cent because of insufficient financial rewards.

In fact, according to a new report from Ladders, most workers making more than $100,000 are planning to quit their jobs within a year. A new survey from Deloitte – The 2018 Millennial Survey – says that 43% of Millennials plan to quit their current job within two years.

Many of you may be wondering why I recommend to my clients that they help their best employees consider outside offers, when finding and keeping talent is so challenging these days. Here’s why: you won’t be blindsided when a key employee departs.

Everyone eventually leaves their employer. That’s a fact. At some point, people will be poached, others will pursue more meaningful work, some will be fired, and others will retire. When and how they exit is influenced by their relationship with their leader.

Those who feel a strong connection to their leader, are less likely to jump ship for a small bump in pay than those working for bad bosses. A good boss puts their people’s best interest in front of their own, which is what great leaders do when they encourage team members to pursue opportunities that are better than what they can offer them.

Knowing an employee is actively looking at other opportunities gives you time to plan for his or her departure and provides you with time to train a backup. That’s a heck of a lot better position to be in than walking into the office on Monday and finding out your best employee will soon be departing.

Your employment brand will organically expand. Nothing builds an employment brand (the market’s perception of what it’s like to work for an organisation) faster than former employees touting how great it is to work for a past employer. These employees encourage friends and members of their social network to consider working for their former boss and an organisation that really has the best interest of their employees in mind.

Employees who feel they’ve been treated well by their employers are powerful brand ambassadors. They won’t hesitate to tell everyone they know why your organisation is the place to work.

Employees may return. Sometimes an employee has to go elsewhere to realise how good they really had it. Leaders, who have open lines of communication with their people, are frequently contacted by former employees wishing to return. I tell my clients to welcome them back with open arms. Here’s why.

You get the benefit of having an employee who is trained and can be fully productive on day one. These people will be sure to let others in the organisation know that the grass is not really greener on the other side, which will help to prevent additional unwanted employee turnover.

Open communication gives you time to fix what may be wrong. How many times have you said, “If I had only known, I could have fixed things?” My guess is a lot! If an employee comes to you and feels comfortable telling you what you need to hear and not just what you want to hear, you’ll be in a much stronger position to make the necessary changes to keep that person in your employ.

Now compare this to the more common scenario where you find out after it’s too late, that an employee, whom you thought was happy, really isn’t. Which situation would you rather be in? If it were me, I’d choose the first.

It’s also an opportunity to let fresh air in. We’ve become so obsessed with hanging onto talent at all cost that we forget that there is a price to pay when no one leaves. If no one ever departs, then you are breathing your own exhaust. Attrition can be healthy for an organisation. When you bring new people into your organisation, you allow fresh air in. Fresh ideas begin to percolate, and your people are re-energised.

Think about this the next time you are tempted to convince an employee that leaving is not in their best interest—especially when you know deep down inside that you are telling them this because their departure is not in your best interest. Then do the right thing. Encourage them to consider all their options.

Source

Why you should encourage your best employees to consider outside offers

Roberta Chinsky Matuson

© Matuson Consulting, 2018.

This is the second article in my new weekly series, The Talent Maximizer®. If you like what you’re reading, please consider sharing and subscribing to the series. As always, feel free to share your opinion in the comments. Want to take this conversation further? Reach out to me at Roberta@matusonconsulting.com to arrange for a complimentary call to discuss if working together is right for us.

© 2018, Matuson Consulting. All Rights Reserved.

Roberta Matuson, The Talent Maximizer® and President of Matuson Consulting, helps organizations [sic] achieve dramatic growth and market leadership through the maximization [sic] of talent. She’s the author of four books including the newly released, The Magnetic Leader. Sign up to receive her free newsletter, The Talent Maximizer®. Follow her on Twitter.

The post Why you should encourage your best employees to consider outside offers appeared first on Recruitment Marketing.