Several large financial institutions claim that as much as 10% of their employee base are boomerang employees. Although almost unheard of in the past, rehiring former employees is now a common practice, and with very good reason. It offers significant benefits, including huge financial savings.
Rehiring corporate alumni is almost always a win-win for businesses. In this article, we examine this growing trend of rehiring former employees. Read on and learn about the proven financial benefits of rehiring alumni.
The growing trend of boomerang hiring
One of the top alumni benefits is the potential for boomerang hiring, and research has shown that hiring boomerang employees is becoming common.
There are several reasons for this. Boomerang employees are typically happier, perform better, and stay longer than ordinary new hires. They need less training and thus are productive right away. But even more importantly, they save employers thousands in recruiting and headhunting fees.
But if you want to entice your best ex-employees back, try to do so before the one-year mark. It seems that the majority of boomerang hires return to their ex-employers within 13 months of their departure.
So, if rehiring ex-employees is one of the benefits of alumni networks, what are the benefits of rehiring?
Boomerang hiring offers both soft and hard benefits: returning employees are often happier, perform better, and stay longer than typical new hires. But there is also a substantial financial benefit for the former employers. Let’s take a closer look at these soft and hard benefits now.
Soft benefits of rehiring alumni
Corporate alumni who return to their former employer boost cultural continuity and employee engagement.
Cultural fit
Rehired corporate alumni are already familiar with the company culture. They probably already know, and have positive relationships with, many of your employees. They’ll fit right in. No acclimation period is necessary.
This means that boomerang hires may enjoy greater workplace satisfaction than other new hires.
Employee engagement
When alumni are fully engaged, they are the best brand ambassadors, bringing in more business for their former employers through referrals. But rehiring alumni adds to the engagement of your current employees, too.
It shows them that the company continues to value ex-employees and that there is always a way back.
Hard (financial) benefits of rehiring ex-employees
There are also significant financial benefits of rehiring alumni through your alumni program.
Reduced recruitment time
Do you have a top position that you need to fill, fast? Recruiting one of your corporate alumni is the answer. If you have kept in touch with them through an efficient alumni program, you can easily reach out to your best former employees and inform them about the vacant position.
Significant cost savings
Recruiting top talent, especially for higher leadership positions, can be costly. Headhunting fees, along with other recruitment costs, can really soar. But businesses can save as much as $50,000 and sometimes even more, when rehiring candidates from their alumni programs.
Accelerated performance with immediate productivity gains
Rehired corporate alumni are ready to hit the road running. They don’t need the extensive onboarding and training that new employees typically need. This saves your company time and money and ensures the optimal performance crucial for business development.
Rehiring alumni strengthens your business operations
Several boomerang employee benefits help to strengthen your business:
- Improved employee retention and engagement
- New skillsets gained elsewhere, that benefit your business
- Knowledge and experience transfer to current employees
- Positive employer branding and company culture
Business case study: Financial institutions leading the way
So, have any businesses successfully implemented alumni programs for rehiring ex-employees? Yes, many have done so. And a notable example is Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY.
This British multinational professional services company provides assurance, tax, and information technology services. Ernst & Young is considered one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC.
Like many other financial and accounting institutions, EY has leveraged corporate alumni to great effect, including with recruitment.
Trent Henry, EY Global Vice Chair of Talent, has said “Our alumni understand our business, our clients, and company values”. Mr Henry has also said that around 15% of our external hires are from our alumni community.”
But you don’t have to be a big firm like Ernst & Young to appreciate the benefits of a corporate alumni program.
Many companies, big and small, are seeing amazing results.
Quantifying the impact: Benefits of corporate alumni program for hiring
As we mentioned before, some companies claim savings of $50K or more for each boomerang hire. But how are they saving so much money by rehiring alumni?
About half of this saving is attributed to no longer needing to pay a headhunter fee. As recruiting professionals know all too well, these fees can range from 15 to 40% of the annual salary. The rest of the savings stem from the boomerang hire’s productivity.
Returning employees become effective on day one. They don’t need the induction and training most new hires need. They are already familiar with your internal systems and the job requirements. What’s more, they bring additional skill sets to the table that they acquired after they left your employ.
That’s why rehiring ex-employees is a real win-win!
Best practices for rehiring alumni
- Conduct exit interviews when your top employees leave. Knowing why an employee left will help you to retain more employees in the future. It will also give you clues as to how to encourage ex-employees to return.
- Stay connected with your former employees and colleagues via an alumni network. Staying connected ensures they retain emotional ties to the organization and will make them more likely to consider returning at a later date.
- If they decide to return, they may not need much onboarding. But you should still conduct an interview. Ask why they left (if you didn’t do an exit interview), and most importantly, why they want to return. This will give you an idea of how committed they are to staying this time around.
For more advice on rehiring alumni, read our tips for rehiring a boomerang candidate.
How Aluminati makes rehiring former employees easy
You need the right tools to enjoy the financial benefits of rehiring alumni. Aluminati makes rehiring former employees easy, with Aluminate for Enterprise, a dynamic and highly customizable online community platform.
You can use Aluminate to create an alumni database and build a thriving alumni network. When you’re looking for top talent, advertise the job openings on the digital dashboard.
Our social data sync feature ensures you keep your alumni data accurate and up-to-date. So you can also easily get in touch with any alumnus when you’re looking to fill a post.
And because Aluminate for Enterprise is easily adapted to your needs, it can be used for various other needs. It’s the ultimate tool for talent management, HR services, or even as an enterprise social media platform.
Aluminate for Enterprise makes rehiring alumni a breeze
Boomerang hiring saves you on recruitment and training costs and contributes to your business’s productivity sooner than any new hire would.
But to enjoy these benefits, you need a user-friendly and customizable platform from which to source your most qualified and talented former employees. The financial benefits of rehiring alumni are clear, as is your choice of alumni rehiring platform.
Leading organizations choose Aluminate for Enterprise. And you, too, can start enjoying the financial benefits of rehiring alumni today.
Request a free demo and see how Aluminate makes rehiring alumni a breeze.
