Boomerang Employees: Don't Miss Out by Joyce Gioia If you're not actively looking to create and maintain a culture where boomerang employees are a positive influence, you should be. What is a boomerang employee, you ask? Put simply, boomerang employees are those people who leave your organization, for whatever reason, and then return to work for you at some point later on. Even in the best organizations, employees will, from time to time, pull up their stakes and move to other organizations. Some leave for money, though they are not in the majority. Others move for position. Still others move because they just believe life will be better at another company. However--and we find that this is the case with a lot of the companies we see--employees, who left because they thought the grass would be greener elsewhere, are often disappointed. They're disappointed because their new employer isn't doing the same things to make employees happy that their old one was. They're disappointed because the environment isn't as supportive. The people aren't as good. The leaders aren't enlightened. They miss their old jobs. If you're working to enact the sorts of practices that will make you an Employer of ChoiceSM, you'll find that those (few) employees who leave your organization may well want the chance to return. We not only think that you should allow them to return, but we think that you should encourage and cultivate an atmosphere that encourages them to do so. Boomerang employees already understand how you do business. They've already become accustomed to your environment and culture. The costs, both monetary and time-wise, of (re)training them will be far lower than new hires. And--most importantly--they've seen what it's like to work elsewhere, and they want to come back to work for you. An employee who wants to be there is a more productive employee. Real World Examples Don't just listen to us. We talked to some of the folks on the front lines of the recruiting wars about boomerang employees, and here's what they had to say: "We find that boomerang employees often 'stick' longer the second time around," said Sarah Gutek, VP for human resources at Foremost Insurance. "To keep them longer the second time around, we also offer continuation of service incentives. Basically, if they stay with us for two years after being rehired, we'll give them credit for all of their previous years of service, as well." These incentives count towards Foremost's vacation pay, incentive plans, and service awards programs. Boomeranging actually became a reward system at an international problem-solving firm that Dr. Jeff Stewart of Merger & Acquisition Services, LLC, worked with. The firm actually arranged boomerang assignments for its top executives. "We would source out 'top guns for hire,'" Stewart said. "Working elsewhere for short assignments--getting a change of scenery, a change of pace, a change of problems to solve--became a real reward for our people." It worked so well that employees began to take boomerang assignments as benefits rather than financial enhancements. Sometimes just keeping an ear out for your former people can be beneficial. "A client of mine told me recently that she accepted a job, and on the same day realized that it was not the right fit. She knew it before she'd even closed the door of her new office," said Barbara Greene, a Master Certified Coach at Greene & Associates. "She e-mailed her former boss at 11:00 at night and asked him to call her if he was still awake. He did, she asked to come back and he accepted right on the spot. She learned a lot about herself from the experience." Keep the Door Open Sometimes employees have to leave in order to realize how much your company means to them. Fight as hard as you can to keep them from leaving, but if they do leave, keep that door open for them to return. After all, you thought enough of that person to hire him or her in the first place. Boomerang employees can really be a shot in the arm for morale, as well. Current employees will see that old people come back to the firm, and that will make them want to stick around even more. Think of your people as long-term investments--and don't just give up on them because they're not with you right now. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. . . and, if you're working to make your company the best that it can be, the grass won't be greener anywhere else. Don't miss out on a great opportunity to help your company grow. Catch those boomerang employees when you have the chance!

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