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Pros and cons of hiring a boomerang employee
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Pros and cons of hiring a boomerang employee
How to interview a boomerang employee
A few years ago, when I was in a new hire orientation at a previous company, one new colleague introduced himself as a boomerang employee.
“Yeah, I’m a boomerang," he said with a knowing smile at all the fresh-faced new employees. "I worked here when it was a startup. I left to get some industry experience, and now I’m excited to be back.”
While that employee onboarding was the first time I had heard the term “boomerang employee,” the phenomena is more common than you may realize. In a recent US and UK survey, 75% of respondents said they’d be interested in maintaining contact with their previous employer.
We often think of leaving an employer, or especially a specific manager, as something final. Sometimes, it's even fraught with conflict or emotion. The reality is that modern careers have a lot of twists and turns.
Sometimes, the grass isn’t greener on the other side. Amid the Great Resignation (or Reshuffling, take your pick), a talent trend is emerging: hiring boomerang employees. The rationale? It’s a warm connection. They’re a known quantity. They already know the organization.
In a tight market for talent, a pendulum swing is coming back toward employers — and companies need to be prepared.
Find out how you can encourage the boomerang effect — and how boomerang workers can be beneficial for your business.
Let’s understand what it means to boomerang.
A boomerang employee is someone who previously worked for the organization. This person left for a period of time to work elsewhere, take on family responsibilities, or pursue other interests or education. But they've returned and have been rehired.
Boomerang employees return to an employer after some time, whether that’s six months or six years. They often don’t return to the same team or function or role type they were in previously. Boomerang employees are becoming more and more common. And truthfully, there’s still data and research to be done on this topic.
However, a survey by the Workforce Institute and Workplace Trends reported interesting findings. Here’s what survey respondents reported:
Like any decision to leave or come back to a job, it varies. Employees have unique circumstances that could cause them to boomerang. No one situation is the same.
Here are ten reasons why employees may boomerang:
Amid the Great Resignation (or, the Great Reshuffle), employees are quitting their jobs in record numbers. As business psychologist Anthony Klotz said, boomerang employees will be one of the biggest trends to come out of the Great Resignation.
Companies are on hiring frenzies. There are millions of open positions and stiff competition for talent. And while the Great Resignation left many employees searching for purpose, meaning, and clarity, it also led some back to where they were before.
For some employees, perhaps they caught a case of turnover contagion. They might’ve started in their new company and realized the grass isn’t always greener.
I have one friend who recently boomeranged back to a former company after quitting in early 2020. When she left originally, this particular friend was looking for a new challenge, something to push her outside of her comfort zone.
At the time, her company didn’t have any roles she was interested in. But she believed strongly in the company’s mission. She felt a purpose in her work — she just needed to find a role that allowed her to grow.
While she found another role elsewhere, she soon realized she missed her former company’s leadership and culture. She waited until there was an open position that more closely matched where she wanted to take her career. And eventually, she found her way back and was rehired.
Talent is complicated. And we know that where you source your talent matters. Hiring boomerang employees comes with its own set of pros and cons. Explore some of these benefits and drawbacks. And learn what to look out for (both positive and negative) in a rehire.
There are benefits to rehiring a previous worker. Here are three reasons your organization can benefit from boomerang hires.
It can save your company money and time. Well, time is money, right? If your organization already knows the employee well, you can likely cut back on those rounds of interviews.
Think about all of the surprises that can come up through the sourcing, recruiting, and interviewing processes. With a boomerang, you kind of know what you’re getting, right? You may be able to streamline other aspects of your hiring process. In the end, it’ll save your organization time and money.
Of course, there are also cons to hiring a boomerang employee. Here are four things hiring managers should consider:
The most important thing to look for in a boomerang employee is a pleasant and amicable first departure. The best boomerang employees always start with the folks who have left the organization on good terms.
Beyond that, it’s pretty subjective. And while that’s not the easiest answer, it’s important to recognize. You have to get to know the whole person to truly understand their desires and goals.
Your organization needs to examine the motives behind why they’d like to be rehired. For example, if an employee left for personal or family reasons. Or, some might like to return after having gained new experiences elsewhere.
There are many different reasons for wanting to return. Whether it makes sense for the company depends on factors including how and why they left, but also how and why they want to return.
If you’re interviewing a potential boomerang employee, learn more about these three things:
Try some of these example interview questions for a boomerang employee.
The boomerang effect is already growing. Here are some ways you can encourage the boomerang effect in your organization.
Just as much as an employee would like to leave a company on good terms, so should the company leave the employee. Good leavers make good returners and referrals. First, take a good look at your employee offboarding process and exit interview strategy.
The exit interview is a candid and intentional moment to capture feedback from employees. It’s the opportunity to listen to and understand feedback. It’s also an opportunity to plant the seed forever returning in the future. Make sure employees know they’re welcome to return, especially in these final stages prior to their departure. Encourage that sense of belonging through to the end of their employment.
You also want to consider the employee experience. Of course, every organization wants its employees to have a remarkable employee experience. Invest in ways to create an employee experience that lends itself to growth, discovery, and learning. If you’re unable to leave a good taste in your employees’ mouths about their experience, it’s unlikely they’ll want to return.
There’s a difference between waiting for boomerangs to come back and actively recruiting boomerangs.
We know that social networks wield incredible power when it comes to filling open positions. If your team is opening a new position, consider previous employees. Don’t be afraid to keep in touch with previous employees on platforms like LinkedIn.
Arm your recruiting teams with the resources they need to expand their candidate reach. Make sure your recruiters are reaching out to all qualified candidates, including previous employees. And most importantly, keep an open mind and challenge yourself to adopt a growth mindset.
Especially for your frontline managers, it might feel like a breakup when an employee moves on to their next role. It’s important you and your leaders understand employees’ needs. Without that keen understanding, there’s a risk of taking their career decisions personally. Just because an employee quit their job doesn’t mean they won’t succeed at your company again.
Boomerang employees are already probably familiar with the company and its onboarding process. While there are some perks to re-onboarding rehires, here are some things to keep in mind in the hiring process. Spoiler alert: they should all still participate in new hire onboarding.
Returning employees can bring incredible value to your employees. When an employee returns, it’s an opportunity to get an edge on the tight labor market. It’s an opportunity for a fresh perspective. And it’s an opportunity to bring new skill sets to the team.
New opportunities are plentiful. If you’re rehiring boomerang employees, invest in their potential and success. When returning employees are rejoining teams, it’s important that all team members feel valued and heard.
With BetterUp, you can bring out the best in your workforce. While hiring boomerang employees may take less time, it can also cause stress for new and old team members alike.
By providing personalized support through virtual coaching, you’re investing in your people. And through coaching, you can unlock your workforce’s potential to bring success to your business.
Get your promotion. Make your career change. Build the future you dream about. And do it faster with a world-class BetterUp Coach by your side.
Get your promotion. Make your career change. Build the future you dream about. And do it faster with a world-class BetterUp Coach by your side.
Madeline is a writer, communicator, and storyteller who is passionate about using words to help drive positive change. She holds a bachelor's in English Creative Writing and Communication Studies and lives in Denver, Colorado. In her spare time, she's usually somewhere outside (preferably in the mountains) — and enjoys poetry and fiction.
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