Returnees Seeking Their Previous Posts: The Motivation Behind Boomerang Employees Reclaiming Their Past Positions
In today's dynamic business landscape, a phenomenon known as the boomerang effect is gaining traction. This is where employees leave their companies in search of better conditions and later return. These boomerang employees can bring significant benefits to companies, but it's essential to manage the process thoughtfully to mitigate potential risks.
**How to Effectively Manage and Rehire Boomerang Employees**
1. **Maintain a Positive Offboarding Process:** Ensuring employees leave on good terms supports future rehire possibilities. Exit interviews can clarify whether their departure was for reasons that have since changed or been resolved, such as relocation or career development.
2. **Evaluate Reasons for Rehire:** Carefully assess why the employee left initially and what new skills or experiences they gained during their absence. This helps ensure they bring fresh value and are not returning for a negative environment.
3. **Communicate with the Team:** Inform the returning employee’s previous coworkers about the rehire to prepare them and manage any lingering issues from before the employee left, preserving workplace harmony.
4. **Streamline Onboarding:** Since boomerang employees already understand company culture, products, and processes, onboarding can be shortened and focused on updates or changes since their departure, enabling quicker productivity gains.
5. **Use Prior Performance Data:** Leverage known history about the employee’s strengths, weaknesses, and workplace fit to reduce hiring risk and ensure alignment with company needs.
6. **Monitor Integration and Performance:** Treat the rehire as a fresh start while monitoring their adjustment, ensuring they adapt to any changes in organizational culture or strategy during their absence.
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**Benefits of Hiring Boomerang Employees**
- **Cost Reduction:** Lower recruitment, interviewing, and onboarding costs compared to new hires. - **Faster Productivity:** Boomerang employees can become productive up to 25% faster due to familiarity with business operations and culture. - **New Skills & Ideas:** Time away can mean new qualifications or perspectives that enhance their contribution. - **Cultural Fit:** Better assimilation given prior experience, leading to smoother team integration. - **Workforce Morale:** Rehiring well-liked employees can boost overall morale and sense of camaraderie. - **Reduced Hiring Risk:** Known performance and behavior reduce uncertainty in the hiring decision. - **Enhanced Employer Brand:** Signals a supportive, employee-friendly culture, helping attract and retain talent.
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**Potential Risks and Challenges**
- **Cultural or Process Changes:** The workplace might have evolved, requiring the boomerang employee to readapt, which can cause friction if expectations clash. - **Lingering Past Issues:** Previous interpersonal conflicts or performance problems might resurface if unresolved, impacting team dynamics. - **Risk of Disruption:** Returning employees might unintentionally disrupt established workflows or relationships, especially if they expect conditions to remain as when they left. - **Employee Perceptions:** Other employees might perceive rehiring as favoritism or unfair, potentially harming morale if not managed transparently. - **Dependence on Past Performance:** Relying too heavily on historical data could overlook how the employee’s skills or motivation may have changed during their absence.
In conclusion, companies benefit from boomerang employees through cost savings, faster integration, and enriched skill sets, especially when guided by careful offboarding, clear communication, and thorough evaluation of each candidate’s updated value and fit. Nonetheless, managing potential risks surrounding culture, relationships, and team dynamics is essential to successfully leverage this increasingly popular talent strategy.
- By evaluating the reasons for rehire in terms of business, education-and-self-development, or career-development, organizations can ensure that boomerang employees bring fresh value and are not returning for a negative environment.
- As part of a strategic career-development plan, companies can consider rehiring boomerang employees to capitalize on their new skills and ideas acquired during their absence, enhancing their team's overall performance and the organization's employer brand.
