Boomerang Recruiting — Bring Back the Stars Who You Let Get Away

You could reduce the pain from today’s record turnover by getting some of your very best to return. And that’s often possible because 72 percent of past employees would return to the company if the opportunity arose and almost one quarter regret their decision to leave. And because the top reason for their regret is that “they miss their boss and their coworkers.” A simple call from a former manager or colleague urging them to consider coming back may be enough to stimulate a boomerang rehire.

If you’re not familiar with the term, a potential boomerang is a desirable former employee who is proactively courted to return by a former manager or employee. This recruiting source has become even more viable today (it is currently the No. 2 trending topic on ERE.net). Because there are so many more former employees to target, now that the median employee tenure is now down to only 4.2 years. 

The Many Advantages of Boomerang Recruiting

All organizations should have a systematic boomerang re-hire program. First, my research has found that they’re often the N0. 2 quality hire from all sources. These former employees result in quality hires because you only target the best performers to return. As former employees, they are known quantities. You know what to expect in terms of their on-the-job performance and cultural fit.

They also now have more experience and they bring with them best practices from their previous company. And, their experience with your firm means that once on board, they will get up to speed much faster than any other hire. Since they already know and like your firm, they usually can be rehired quickly without a lot of recruiting effort. They’ve already learned that working outside your firm is no panacea. Once they return, it is unlikely that they will leave again anytime soon. Known as “corporate alumni,” maintaining a relationship with former employees may provide the added bonus of having them provide a significant number of customer referrals on the business side.

Why Is Boomerang Recruiting So Hot?

Today’s leaders have an increasing interest in boomerang rehires for a variety of reasons. The first is as that more firms now measure their quality of hire; they quickly realize the impact of the source. Next, because of the current record-low unemployment rate, the number of available passive prospects from other sources has plummeted. And because of the increasing popularity of LinkedIn profiles, it’s now extremely easy to learn where each of your ex-employees ended up by using the LinkedIn group tool. If you get their permission during “offboarding,” it’s now inexpensive and easy to create a “boomerang prospect pipeline.” Maintain a “someday you might want to return” relationship with your most-desirable former employees.

Incidentally, boomerangs work especially well with diverse ex-employees. Numerous companies like Deloitte, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, EY, SAP, Booz Allen, McKinsey, Bain, and especially DaVita have successfully used some variation of the program. There are even vendors (e.g. Conenza) that can help your company build and manage their alumni networks.