Boomerang your former employees back to your organization

The other day I spoke to one HR Manager who had recently changed her job. At her last working day in the company her manager sent her off with following words: „Go, get new experiences, see other companies work, and when the time is right you can always return!“ I am pretty convinced that such farewell speech is not prevalent in all organizations. Many companies often see leavers as traitors who are in search of greener grass. This attitude has been there for long time; but times are changing. Our labor market is changing and it is getting harder and harder to recruit high performers or talents, as we today call them. Most of the companies can’t afford to close the door behind next leaving talent. This fact is also confirmed by the Corporate Culture and Boomerang Employee Study conducted by Workforce Institute at Kronos. In the survey of more than 1800 HR professionals, nearly half of respondents claim that their organization previously had a policy against rehiring former employees. 76 percent of the respondents say they are more accepting of hiring boomerang employees today than in the past.

Those, who were formerly seen as traitors are now seen as desired boomerang employees. There are of course different weaknesses on re-hiring former employees (you know saying, once a cheater always a cheater), but current hiring climate makes us to look past that and concentrates on pros related to boomerang employees, such as:

- Hiring process is faster (especially when you are using headhunting);

- Cost of hiring is smaller (boomerang employee is just a phone call away);

- Speed of induction is faster (they know the procedures, people, culture, etc.);

- Succession rate is higher (we already know the person’s strengths and weaknesses).

So how do boomerang your former employees back to your organization?

Conduct Exit Interviews. Ask them why they have decided to leave and is there anything that you could do to make them stay (in case you’d of course like to see them stay).

I would recommend concentrating on three areas when conducting the interview: why they leave, would they return, and under what circumstances would they return. In some countries it is not allowed by law to call former employees and ask them to return to work. So make sure that you know local legislation before you crab your phone to make a call to potential boomerang.

Dilemmas that you might be facing when conducting the interviews (but it is really up to you and your organization procedures and culture):

- How: face to face interview or questionnaire, structured or unstructured interviews?

- Who: direct manager or 3rd party (HR, grandfather principle, etc.)

- When: right after receiving note of leaving or during last working day?

However you decide to conduct the interview make sure to listen to them and act on based on their feedback. This way you also show to your current workforce that you actually care and that their views matter.

But exit interview has other purpose: to make former employees your employer brand ambassadors! Today’s leavers might be your tomorrow’s employees, partners or customers! Do you know what they are thinking or talking about your organization? Before you send your employees off you might think about throwing them little farewell party: say some kind words, wish them well, give small company gifts, and so on. Make them feel special and send them off with good memories about your organization.

Use headhunting! Next time, before publishing your job advert, give a call to your former employees. Even if they might decline your offer today they might contact you tomorrow when they are thinking about changing their job.

Please leave your comments and opinions about exit interviews and boomerang employees.