In today’s society, it’s not uncommon for people to work for numerous employers through their careers. So, when an employee leaves your company, only to try and come back a short time later, should you hire them back? This is a popular question, so today we’ll discuss if rehiring an employee who left is a good idea?
What are Your Company’s Priorities?
One of the first things to consider is what your company’s priorities are regarding long-term and short-term goals.
If you’re looking to fill a position and need to cut costs where you can, a “boomerang employee” can be a good option. They save on costs because they are already trained, and their job performance will be better from the start than someone who’s a new hire.
Alternatively, if your company wants to reduce turnover and prioritizes long-term job performance numbers, then it may be a better choice to hire externally or promote internally.
A Closer Look at Boomerang Employees
At one time, companies didn’t see value in hiring employees who left the company and then tried to come back months or years later. However, this is beginning to change as there are some benefits.
We mentioned that they are already trained, which is a major bonus. Yet they also know what they’re getting into, so some find that boomerang employees are more loyal the second time around. In fact, some even show performance and skill improvement when they come back, thanks to experiences they endured while away.
The Harvard Business Review recently published an article discussing a study that set out to answer two questions:
- Does a boomerang employee’s job performance decline, improve, or remain the same the second time?
- How do a boomerang employee’s job performance and turnover rates compare to other traditional hiring methods such as new hires?
Here’s a brief overview of what they found:
Performance seemed to remain the same after rehiring.
- Performance seemed to remain the same after rehiring.
- External and internal hires showed more improvement overtime than a rehire
- External and Internal hires had lower turnover rates than rehires.
The bottom line is, this is a situation you will need to assess. If the person was a rock star before they left, and you’d like to take advantage of that for as long as possible, then go for it.
However, if you are looking for employees who are loyal and more likely to improve over time, then go for someone new!
