Articles - Training, Development and Retention

Hiring a boomerang employee has one of the highest returns on recruiting investment an employer can ask for. The cost to re-hire a boomerang employee has been reported to be 1/3 to 2/3 the cost of hiring a “virgin” employee. 

Just a few years ago, using the axiom “time heals all wounds” and boomerang worker in the same sentence would seem so… contradictory. 

But today, many employees who have left a company to pursue opportunity elsewhere have shed the label “traitor” and have been ordained “alumni.”

This shift in attitude has thrown a wrench into the recruiting mindset of many older managers.  For Veterans (born before 1946) and Baby Boomers (1946 – 1964) the very notion of re-hiring an employee who quit their job for greener pastures was at best considered disloyal.  Voluntarily leaving a good-paying steady job placed a permanent blemish on a resume and tattooed the employee as a job-hopper, a fate worse than death in the minds of a hiring manager. Even women who left the workforce to give birth to or raise a child were deemed unfit to rehire. “What would stop them from doing it again,” asked managers.

But that was then and this is now. It is way past the time when the Machiavellian temptation to prove a point is a rational approach to hiring and management talent. The world has changed.  The number of employees who remain loyal to a single organization throughout their lifetimes and vice verse is shrinking. Job hopping has been transformed from a character flaw to a career plan.

Life-long employment died with Generation X. The free-agent generation changed everything.  Building a portable career became more important than getting a gold watch at retirement.  And Generation Y took job hopping one step further. If job hopping became a norm for Gen X, then career hopping will be the vehicle for Generation Y to build what they are defining as parallel careers.

But hiring a boomerang worker isn’t only about managing a multi-generation workforce. Hiring a boomerang employee has one of the highest returns on recruiting investment an employer can ask for. The cost to re-hire a boomerang employee has been reported to be 1/3 to 2/3 the cost of hiring a “virgin” employee. Little time or effort must be invested in getting to know the candidate. Boomerangs can be valuable to an organization because they understand the culture. They have a history with the business, but bring a fresh perspective from the outside.

During their absence, there is a good chance that boomerangs have learned new skills and strategies, achieving success in a different setting. (If they haven’t been successful, why bring them back?) They likely have made new connections and expanded their network.

But hiring boomerang employees shouldn’t be the strategy of choice because it’s cheap and easy.  The decision to re-hire an employee should be based on good job fit – that the employee has the right skills for the right job. Not every employee who voluntarily quit or was “dislocated” is a good candidate for re-hire. If anyone was fired or forced out, they should not be on the priority list, unless of course the person or persons who forced them out turned out to be the cause of the problem and not the solution.

For some employees, you should just count your blessings they’re gone.  In addition, managers should not assume that just because someone doesn’t leave an organization that they are loyal. It could simply mean they don’t have any place to go!|

It is illogical to assume in an era where specific skills are increasingly scarce that separation from an organization has anything to do with loyalty. Individuals with the most valuable skills are constantly offered opportunities, and should a valued employee accept one, it is as much the manager’s fault for failing to retain the employee as it is the employee’s fault for taking advantage of market conditions. Besides, the shift from long-term employment to project work fits the lifestyle of highly skilled Generation X and Generation Y who demand flexible work arrangements and growth opportunities.

The successful re-hiring of a boomerang employee also doesn’t stop with the extension and acceptance of a job offer.  Hiring boomerangs can be a bit political. The re-integration of a boomerang is a path fraught with landmines. The players might have changed between the time that the employee left and returned.  Interpersonal relationships might have changed too.  And dynamics might be tense if the boomerang leapfrogged over an incumbent employee, who might have felt he or she deserved a crack at the job.

Without question, managers need to get over their heartbreak and pride when it comes to re-hiring employees.  Rehiring former employees who have the skills you need is not only the right thing to do, it’s good for business.

How to Spot A Boomerang

• Top performers who voluntarily left.

• Top performers who were in key positions.

• Top performers with key skills, contacts, or experience.

• Retirees who may not have found retirement to be all it was cracked up to be.

• Top finalists who accepted another job. These people can be called in the first week of their new jobs and after three months in order to see if they made a mistake (buyer’s remorse). This might seem silly, but if you think about it, how many jobs have you taken where you realize the first day that it was a mistake?

• Long-term consultants or contractors. Although they technically were not employees, if you had individuals who performed well for a long period time, you might consider bringing them back as contractors again or even as employees.

• Promising interns who failed to return.

BIOGRAPHY

Ira S Wolfe is president of Success Performance Solutions (SPS), a pre-employment and leadership testing firm he founded in 1996. His clients, primarily based in the United States and Canada, include small and mid-sized businesses in over a dozen industries. He is widely recognized as an expert in pre-employment personality tests, workforce trends, and social media.

A prolific author, columnist, business blogger and sought-after-expect on hiring and workplace trends, Ira S. Wolfe has been aptly described as both a  “Gen Y masquerading in a Baby Boomer body” and “renaissance man.”

Ira is the author of the new book Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization: How to Manage the Unprecedented Convergence of the Wired, the Tired, and Technology in the Workplace.  His other books include The Perfect Labor Storm 2.0, The Perfect Labor Storm Fact Book, Understanding Business Values and Motivators, and Coming Job Boom.  He is a columnist for Business2Business Magazine and blogger for Bizmore.com, Vistage Buzz, and Toolbox for HR.

While speaking at conferences, workshops, and client meetings, he recognized that his audiences were puzzled, confused, and excited - all at the same time - by the communication revolution called social media. Having grown his business Success Performance Solutions on internet marketing, helping clients integrate social media into their marketing and recruiting strategies was a natural fit. His success led to forming a new business unit Link Me, Tweet Me, Friend Me to help small and medium sized businesses use social media in their recruiting and marketing strategies.

An engaging and entertaining speaker, Ira captures his audience’s attention with a common-sense approach, dry sense of humor, and compelling command of workforce and demographic trends.  He speaks regularly to Vistage/Canada TEC CEO groups, association conferences and leadership events.

To schedule Ira:  717-291-4640 or 717-333-8286    Email: iwolfe@super-solutions.com /

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