A recent study published by Kronos and Workplace Trends surveyed more than 1,800 human resources professionals, managers, and employees. They found that 76% of those surveyed said they are now more accepting of hiring former employees than they were just five years ago. The same was true of 62% of the managers and 40% of employees indicated they would rehire a “boomerang employee.”
What’s changed?
Historically, employers were seen as being in control of the employer-employee relationship. Employers (and many employees) felt like their employees were lucky to have a job. This type of old thinking has been turned on its head given the demographics of the workforce.
As of Q1, 2015, Millennials became the largest generation in the workforce. Today they represent about 35% of the workforce. By 2020 they will represent 49% of the workforce. Older generations stay at a place of work about 4.5 years; Gen Ys stay less than two years.
Because of these facts, multiple human resource surveys have put employee retention as the number one issue for organizations. Employee turnover is a very well documented cost for organizations large and small.
There are actually advantages to allow an employee to boomerang. First and foremost, they are already familiar with your organizational culture. This makes integrating them back into your culture more efficient and effective. It simply costs less to recruit, hire, and train someone who is already familiar with your organization and its culture. Often, when a former employee has been gone for some time, they also bring institutional knowledge from other organizations as well as (usually) some experience of what it is like to work in an inferior culture. Most boomerang employees do not return to a culture that was worse than the job they were previously in. This concept of returning to a better culture can often be leveraged to boost morale and employee retention of other employees.
There are many reasons why and employee might have left an organization. Some of those reasons might include: Change of life circumstances (marriage, divorce, child birth, etc.), a desire to spend more time with family, to gain skills that could not be learned at your organization – these employees will often return in a higher position than the one they left – or simply a need to experience another organizations.
There are several issues that should be considered before you allow an employee to return. Among them:
- Why did they leave?
- Has that reason changed?
- Did the person contribute to or undermine your organizational culture?
- What did they learn while they were working for another organization?
- Were they a high performer previously?
- Did they work well in a team setting?
- Will they be able to adapt to the changes that have occurred since they left?
These are just a few of the questions to be considered when considering a boomerang employee.
Keep cultivating your culture!