More than three-quarters of employers are struggling to replace departing employees in the UK. And more and more businesses are focusing their efforts on ‘boomerang employees’.
🪃 Boomerang employee: an employee who leaves a company, and then later returns to work for it. 🪃
This isn’t new but it is often forgotten about in talent and recruitment strategies. And if we take a step back, it can only be a successful strategy if you’ve got a solid off-boarding process. One which instills a sense of pride, recognition and appreciation in the leaving employee. One which leaves them singing your praises as they ‘walk out the door’
I recently read an interesting article that talked through the pros and cons on this subject. In a nutshell:
🔦 Boomerang employees can shed light on why people leave and what brings them back. <<< This is absolute gold dust ✨ for any talent, employer brand or employee experience team.
🦉 They already know the ins and outs of the business and its culture. <<< This is key for retention when one of the leading causes for new employees leaving in their first 90 days comes back to company culture and unclear expectations. In theory, with boomerang employees, there should be no major surprises for either party.
📈 The learning curve is less steep and typically, boomerang employees can ramp up faster. <<< With a quarter of businesses reporting that they regularly have a period of one month or more between an employee leaving and their replacement starting, this one is important in helping to relieve the pressure from the existing team.
So back to off-boarding.
How employees leave the business is part of their overall experience and may even form their lasting memory of you. How is your Employee Experience strategy leveraging the opportunities wrapped up in off-boarding?
The majority of people will leave you through choice (not through termination or redundancy). How are you making sure the moments when people leave your business are nothing but positive?
If employees leave your business feeling good, you have a potential network of advocates who can sing your praises. How can you use this good-feeling as proof points for your employer brand?
These are all questions that I work on with my clients, everyday. I’d love to know your thoughts. Do you have plans to refresh your off-boarding experience and find your boomerang gang?
Comments