Does your company have a corporate alumni program yet? If not, you may want to start building one and maintaining relationships with your alumni right away.
The business world is waking up to the benefits of establishing functional corporate alumni programs with platforms like Aluminate for Enterprise. These are innovative online communities specifically designed for maintaining connections with top former employees.
A thriving corporate alumni program can be an asset to any organization. But who are the specific teams that benefit the most from an alumni program? And how do they work with corporate alumni associations to achieve their strategic goals? This guide reveals it all.
6 teams that benefit from a thriving corporate alumni program
When you establish a robust community that includes your corporate alumni, the entire company benefits. But these are the six teams that benefit from an alumni program the most.
1. Human Resources (HR)
In any discussion about the teams that benefit from a corporate alumni network, HR is usually first on the list. And with good reason. Let’s take a closer look at the corporate alumni program benefits that HR teams enjoy.
Recruitment and talent acquisition among former employees
Your recruiting team and those responsible for talent management will notice the benefits of an alumni association right away. Former employees add to the talent pool, for one, but they are also a wealth of referrals that can lead to the right candidates for open positions.
Boomerang employees are the obvious solution when your recruiting budget is tight. Your corporate alumni are already familiar with the organization’s values and operations. Hiring from this talent pipeline will therefore streamline the hiring and onboarding process and reduce recruitment costs.
Employee engagement with a corporate alumni network
What are your employee attrition metrics saying? These are the numbers of employees your business is losing over time, including retirement, terminations, and resignations. Your HR teams will have a better understanding of attrition by analyzing reasons given by exiting employees for leaving.
An example is a lack of engagement, or not feeling connected to the company culture. These insights allow HR to implement anti-attrition programs that boost employee engagement and increase employee retention rates.
Current employees will feel reassured being a part of a supportive alumni network made up of their former colleagues. It shows that the company is dedicated to building a community with its staff. This can be a major attraction to candidates considering joining the company.
Corporate alumni networks for employee development
Maximize your current employees’ potential with an effective alumni network. During the offboarding process, take note of employees who would make good mentors. This leads to new opportunities down the line, where they continue to add value to the company.
Our mentor-matching feature is a good example of this. But your former employees can contribute to learning and development in other ways, too. They can offer training sessions and valuable industry insights that benefit your current employees.
2. Sales
Your sales team will also benefit from a corporate alumni program. Your corporate alumni are natural brand ambassadors. They can boost brand advocacy and sales through promoting your products and services through word-of-mouth at their social networking events or via social media.
Deal execution
The foundation can be laid for new sales anytime and anywhere, including at networking events attended by your corporate alumni. By maintaining relationships with them, you will score networking opportunities that lead to new business ventures and groundbreaking deals.
3. Business development
Looking for new business opportunities? Your corporate alumni community is a springboard to business development by expanding your market reach, as well as building new partnerships with their business referrals.
Partnership and collaboration
Former employees who moved on to different roles or even different industries can offer unique perspectives and insights. As your corporate alumni, their involvement in collaborative projects or knowledge-sharing initiatives will boost business development.
4. Marketing
Your corporate alumni network is not only a talent marketplace but a treasure trove of business contacts. They also aid marketing teams with their market research.
Innovation and research
Corporate alumni programs can boost your marketing research and strategies, too. Many organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to stay ahead of their competitors and maintain their share of the market. Alumni can give valuable feedback in polls and surveys, or test new products in development.
They already know, from their time with the company, who the target audience is and what your goals are. But their time away from the organization has given them fresh perspectives. This makes it easier for them to give insights that will take your marketing to the next level.
5. Leadership
A thriving corporate alumni program offers management teams constant access to lifelong relationships with knowledgeable alumni members. This opens the door to strategic advice, industry insights, and personal introductions or referrals that lead to new partnership opportunities.
Leadership succession
Another one of the teams that benefit from an alumni program is the team responsible for leadership succession. Sometimes, the best potential hires for the job are your former employees.
So while you are scouring the ranks of your current employees for the ideal candidate, don’t forget your previous employees. It isn’t that difficult to entice them into becoming boomerang employees when you stay connected to your corporate alumni through your enterprise social network.
You will be saving time and money by focusing on hiring the top talent instead of focusing on finding new talent.
6. Client service
Relationships with former employees offer significant benefits for client service teams, too. An alumni community can guide junior colleagues based on their years of industry expertise. This shared knowledge can make a dramatic impact on the level of client service your teams achieve.
CRM and data management
Your company alumni are a top source for business contacts, but their importance doesn’t end there. The teams responsible for CRM and data management will find their jobs much easier when you incorporate your alumni network with a platform like Aluminate.
Our platform can be used not only as a foundation for your corporate alumni program but also as a digital repository for other data. It can include CRM data, alongside corporate alumni data, all kept up to date with our social data sync.
This makes it easier for teams to leverage the resources and connections alumni offer and apply them to current CRM tasks.
Cultivate your corporate alumni program with Aluminate for Enterprise
Regardless of your company type and size, you’ll find that a thriving corporate alumni program helps everyone—from HR to marketing, sales, and leadership—realize their goals.
A corporate alumni program enables all employees, both current and former, to contribute their unique skill sets. It is one of the few strategies that companies can start benefiting from immediately. And with Aluminate for Enterprise, it is quick and simple to set up, too.
Get ready to engage alumni and reap the benefits for your entire company. Request a demo today.
