Considering rehiring former employees? This list of best practices should help simplify the process and iron out some of the discomfort that comes with a “boomerang” hiring strategy.
Employees quit for many different reasons, but many also eventually return to the organization, hoping to reconnect with their employer and rebuild the career they had at the organization. This has led to the rise of the “boomerang” hiring strategy, where employees swing back to a past employer to explore the possibility of being accepted back into the organizational folds.
There are many benefits to rehiring employees, the most significant of which is their familiarity with the organization and its internal workings. Like most things, there are downsides to this as well, including the employee no longer being aligned with the needs and goals of the business. The decision to rehire former employees is often a difficult one for HR to break down, but in cases where the separation was amicable, there is always a benefit to reuniting with an old friend.
We’re exploring the best practices around the rehiring of former employees to determine how to go about the process with ease. (Image: Pexels)
Best Practices for Rehiring Former Employees: How to Get Your Boomerang Hiring Strategy Right
What is a boomerang employee? The term typically refers to an employee who previously worked at, and subsequently quit from, an organization, but is now hoping to make a return. In most cases, the separation is likely to have occurred in recent years, making them a familiar face to the organization and not one that requires employers to scour through employee files to identify them.
Employees who had an unpleasant separation from the organization are unlikely to consider returning, whether it was a result of the employer cutting ties with them or their internal frustrations with the business that led them to quit. With such rocky separations, there are far fewer benefits of rehiring employees, as the resentment between parties often remains unchanged. When the separation occurred without negativity surrounding it, there are more benefits to rehiring the employee than reasons not to.
Some employers have a clear policy against the rehiring of former employees as they see no reason to risk evoking any negative sentiments that might be left from the past. This might be a safe strategy for some businesses, but for the most part, choosing not to rehire former employees can leave HR teams with a more limited talent pool, where the skills and capabilities of the workers are unknown and unverifiable until hired.
When Is It Okay to Rehire Former Employees?
There are no fixed guidelines on when organizations should or should not consider rehiring a former employee. It is up to the organization to determine if they are comfortable with facing a former worker once more, and where they draw the line on welcoming workers back to the workforce. In most cases, it is okay to rehire employees:
- Who left for educational or other experiential career milestones
- Who followed all the necessary procedures and exited the organization with an uncomplicated end to their employment
- Whose personal circumstances, such as family care, health, or relocation needs, caused them to quit
- Who did not leave due to underlying tensions with the employer or their colleagues
- Who chose to explore their career elsewhere, but did not cause any issues during their exit
- Who upgraded their skills and abilities and now present the organization with new strengths
As long as there is no resentment witnessed in the employer or employee relationship, it can be beneficial to rehire former employees.
Rehiring Former Employees: Best Practices to Keep in Mind
Depending on the employee and the role they are applying for, HR teams should take care to conduct their due diligence and understand if the employee is still a good fit for the business. The rehiring of a former employee may allow HR to cut down on some steps of the hiring process, but the large majority of the hiring process is still relevant to ensure the candidate has not evolved in a different direction, away from business needs. Here are some best practices to keep in mind.
1. Clarify the Company’s Stance on Rehiring
If your talent strategy includes the rehiring of former employees, then ensure that you have a set system in place for their assessment. The set of questions that are asked will differ from a regular interview, but it is important for employers and HR teams to have a clear system in place for how to approach such scenarios.
Some circumstances might elicit an immediate “no,” and clarity on which cases qualify will help recruiters better respond to former employees who reach out. Employers who are firmly against rehiring should make it clear to employees so they know what to expect.
2. Understand the Employee’s Reasons for Leaving
Yes, the past should be left in the past, but ignoring the history between employer and employee isn’t recommended. It is important to understand why the employee left as they could have similar reasons for quitting again in a few weeks. For example, if the employee did not enjoy working under a specific manager or did not like the company culture, they might not enjoy the experience the second time around either.
Changes will have to be made to the system or the employee expectations to ensure the collaboration is a successful one.
3. Explore the Employee’s Reasons for Returning and Their Expectations from the Organization
If an employee is hoping to get rehired due to having completed their education or their maternity break, there should be no reason not to rehire them. On the other hand, if employees have no clarity on why they want to rejoin the organization, their goals and intentions should be explored further in order to consider hiring them.
4. Understand the Skills and Experience They Gained During Their Absence
The benefits of rehiring employees might not be as evident if the employee isn’t up-to-date with the industry or the standard skill levels required by the organization. Assessing them for their strengths and skills is still an essential part of the hiring process to determine where they fit best.
5. Determine Where Training Might Be Necessary for a Successful Rehire
Even if employees aren’t perfectly matched to the needs of their organization, their familiarity with the business, its process, and its customers and clients, might make it worth investing in them. In some cases, a few targeted training to replace the standard onboarding process may be enough to bring them up to speed and reintroduce them into the business.
6. Explore How Rehiring Them Might Affect the Team
One of the best practices when it comes to the rehiring of former employees is to understand how their return might affect the organization. If the existing team is likely to resent their return, see an increase in conflicts due to their differences with certain members, or experience a general mismatch between them and the organization, it might be best to avoid rehiring the candidate.
7. Determine If They Are Better Suited for a Different Role at the Organization
When considering rehiring a former employee, it can be beneficial to assess whether they are better suited for a different role at the organization. Occasionally, employees are affected by mass layoffs or let go due to a reduced need for manpower in their department. This separation occurs due to no fault of the employee, however, their skillsets could be vital to another department or area of operations.
8. Establish a More Detailed Boomerang Hiring Strategy
A boomerang hiring strategy doesn’t just depend on rehiring candidates who approach the organization for a job. It can include a system of keeping in touch with former employees and reaching out to them when a role that aligns with their capabilities opens up. This allows businesses to cycle through internal talent rather than leaving matters up to the open job market.
Should Businesses Rehire Employees?
Certainly! Employees may quit for many different reasons, but that does not mean that their ties to the organization have to be severed. Employees grow and gain experience during their time away from the organization, and their updated expertise in combination with their familiarity with the business makes them great candidates to kickstart new projects, oversee a struggling team, or reshape the future direction of the business.
There are some conditions where it is best to permanently end a relationship with an employee, such as incidents of misbehavior or serious company policy violations. However, for the most part, employees make an effort to quit on good terms, and revisiting this relationship can be healthy for them and the business.
What are some other best practices when it comes to the rehiring of former employees? Share your thoughts in the comments with us. Subscribe to The HR Digest for more insights on workplace trends, layoffs, and what to expect with the advent of AI.
