It often happens that a person who quit the company asks to return after some time. Is it worth listening to the desires of the “prodigal sons”, and is it possible to turn the temporarily departed into the most loyal employees?
For large and medium-sized companies in the United States and Western Europe, re-hiring has become commonplace. So much so that the returning ones are now named by a special term – “boomerangs” (boomerang employees). According to a 2005 study by the Gartner Group and Recruiting Trends, 60% of organizations welcome the return of old employees, and the number of such employers is growing by 3% every year.
When we transfer let’s say
If a departed employee has the knowledge, skills, or experience that is useful to the company, why not hire him again? Indeed, in this case, we can say that the organization returns not so much a specific specialist as a set of professional and personal competencies that allow it to work effectively. Whether such a step is justified depends on the reasons for the employee’s departure and the circumstances under which he returns. Let’s consider the most common situations when boomerangs are good for your business.
We will hit old employees with new projects
Often people leave for other companies with the aim of professional and career growth, and after returning back, they successfully apply the acquired knowledge and skills in new projects at their old place of work.
Martin Cox retired from Lotus Development Corp., a software development company, with a dream to create his own software, which he could not fulfill here. Individual Inc. he was given the opportunity and set about building the first customized newsletter on the Lotus platform. After its successful launch, Cox did not stop there, but decided to improve his professional level, first of all, to expand his knowledge in the field of using software by companies to achieve business goals. And I thought it would be nice to consult on the issues he has accumulated in companies that have already implemented or are introducing software products. After a year of unsuccessful searches, he turned to Lotus, where he was received with open arms.
Sometimes a good reason for the adoption of a “boomerang” can serve as favorable changes in the company, say – entering a new stage of development. Ivo Han, head of Xecutive Group, a head-hunting company, says: “The ideal boomerang employee looks like this: he started working for you as a student or immediately after graduation. However, after a while he realized that he was too cramped here, there were no opportunities to reveal his potential, and decided to move on. When a company expands its scope of activity, it invites this person again – already with a sufficiently large store of knowledge and skills – back. “
Sometimes it is even useful to let an employee go to some other organization to work on a particular project, and then take him back to him, offering favorable conditions. For example, the consulting company Merger & Acquisition Services, LLC widely uses this practice: from time to time, managers are given the opportunity to try themselves in other firms. This helps them expand their experience, learn to solve new problems and challenges. Surprisingly, managers see such a move as a bonus and often prefer it even to a pay raise.
Close the gaps with a professional
You can’t get away from the fact that hot vacancies are often filled with “boomerangs”. But is it worth looking for the negative here? It is sometimes especially beneficial to contact a former employee with an offer. Alexander Ermakov, director of the consulting company “Personnel-technologies”, believes: “If a person moved to another job and gained new knowledge, experience there, improved his classification, then this can play a positive role in hiring. In addition, the old employee already knows the company: its business processes, culture, business style. Therefore, the adaptation stage will be much easier. “
Home is best
It happens that even a loyal employee leaves the company, seduced by a lucrative offer from a competitor. This is especially true for areas where professionals are worth their weight in gold. Brand Development Manager at JTI Lidia Nadych-Petrenko shares her experience: “The level of our employees is often higher than in Ukrainian companies, therefore, for example, JTI sales representatives are often offered leadership positions in the sales departments of domestic companies. At first glance, this seems like a very promising career step, but there are situations when, having worked for some time in another organization, a person realizes that he is closer in spirit to work at JTI, that he is much more comfortable working with us. If he has proven himself well in our company, then why not give him the opportunity to return? Over the past two years, we have had three cases.
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