Whether you let them go in a wide-scale layoff or they left of their own accord, losing top performers or high potential employees is never easy. However, if talks of rehiring a former employee should ever arise, it’s vital to understand that bringing back a former hand has advantages and disadvantages.
Though the question of whether to call back a former employee may seem straightforward, bear in mind that when it comes to people management, nothing is ever simple. Therefore, the pros and cons of re-hiring a former employee must always be weighed appropriately before making the decision.
This guide explores the case for and against re-hiring former employees in a business environment as peculiar as Nigeria’s. It also provides guidelines on how to effectively re-hire former employees.
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Pros of Rehiring Former Employees
Although the problem of skills shortage is global in its reach, the Nigerian talent landscape is further tainted by an extra crisis: it is heavily saturated with “professional job seekers”— individuals who are only competent at excelling in interviews and getting the job.
And so, when confronted with urgent hiring decisions, the dread of professional job seekers, coupled with the pressures created by the scarcity of top talents, account for why most HR & business leaders seriously consider re-hiring former top employees.
If you and your team are looking to re-hire one or more former employees, here are six pros that should energise your decision:
1. You know what you’re getting. You are familiar with the personality, capabilities, and work ethic of the individual.
2. They bring back valuable knowledge with them. Top performing employees hardly ever disappear into obscurity. Since you last saw them, they’ve likely gotten better because, in most cases, they either got a job somewhere else or went back to school.
Either way, these former employees often have new skills, experience, or perspectives to benefit your organisation.
3. They understand your organisation. They are already familiar with your company’s mission, values, culture, and structure and are familiar with their former colleagues.
4. Compared to new hires, they’d require minimal training. Unless, of course, positions and responsibilities have changed.
5. Their return often helps to improve staff morale. Boomerang employees that return may improve retention efforts by attesting to the axiom that the ‘grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
Their return also allows you to demonstrate to the rest of your staff that you’re loyal to current and past team members alike and will do what you can to help them in challenging situations, which can boost trust and morale across the board.
6. You get to save costs on recruitment and training. You have an opportunity to save time and money on recruiting and training and get high-performing employees to work faster with minimal integration issues.
Cons of Rehiring Former Employees
When it’s true that returning employees are familiar with company culture and operational procedures, however, there’s still some amount of baggage that a former employee brings with them.
Therefore, it’s also imperative to consider this option’s potential drawbacks to make a well-informed choice. Here are some potential cons of rehiring former employees:
1. Underlying distrust
Depending on why the employee and organisation separated, there could still be lingering distrust on both sides. If an employee quit the first time, hiring managers and co-workers might worry about being left high and dry again.
On the other hand, in the case of a layoff, the employee might harbour hard feelings and be worried about it happening again.
Either way, if left unresolved, these negatives could impact the rehire’s level of engagement and impact the entire workplace. Therefore, HR must accurately assess why the employee left in the first place and why they wish to return.
2. Are they indeed the best fit for the role?
They may be the sure thing, but are they the best thing? Not always. It is prudent to understand that despite their past achievements and understanding of the organisation, a former employee might not be the best candidate for the job.
The fact is, in the long run, the choice to re-hire a former employee is a choice to overlook potentially better performers in the marketplace.
There’s always the chance that if you search well enough, there’ll be someone better with newer ideas and a more robust network base (in the case of salespeople). Therefore, before making the call to re-hire, be sure that there’s no one better.
3. An unhealthy fixation with the old ways
Suppose your company has changed its business model and structure, as well as job titles and responsibilities. In that case, former employees may be fixated on the previous ways of doing things and have difficulty adjusting.
Therefore, bringing in new talent may prove more beneficial in the long term.
4. Old tensions
When people decide to leave an organisation, there are almost always solid reasons for doing so. One of those might be if they had a conflict with a co-worker or manager.
If the co-worker with whom they had issues is still there, re-hiring a former worker can reignite friction, damaging morale and productivity.
5. False sense of entitlement
It is not uncommon to see boomerang employees having a misplaced sense of entitlement.
Even though a re-hired employee is primarily considered a new hire (especially if they’ve been outside the organisation for a long time), some ex-employees may disagree and expect perks, seniority or increased compensation from their original tenure.
Giving in to this may cause current employees to feel threatened, especially if the re-hired employee comes back to a high-level job or position of authority.
6 Guidelines for Recruiting and Rehiring Former Employees
If you decide to go ahead with rehiring a former employee after weighing the pros and cons, you should already have guidelines in place covering the re-hiring of this category of employees.
If there isn’t, here’s a quick guideline to build upon:
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Factor in the opinion of the rest of the team.
The decision to re-hire a former employee should never be made in isolation—that is, without input from the rest of the team. Remember that they, too, will be regaining an old colleague.
Study the verbal and non-verbal cues of your team. Does the decision elicit excitement or trepidation?
Be sure to listen to their hesitations or why they feel it’d be a good decision. Then, explain why you want to bring that particular employee back and keep communication open.
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Do a thorough background check.
Although you may have done a check on their background when you first hired them, it is still imperative that you screen for a possible criminal record and reference-check with other employers your candidate may have worked for during their time away.
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Maximise the return interview.
When it comes to re-hiring a former employee, there’s always a temptation to bypass a detailed interview; after all, you already know that they’re capable of getting the job done and that they mesh well with the company culture.
However, don’t yield to this temptation. While the interview may not follow the traditional process, a comprehensive interview is required for a re-hire as it is for a new hire.
Think of the interview as a two-way conversation. First, evaluate what you’d need out of the employee to make them the best fit. The interview is also the best time to understand the deeper needs of the employee and what they might need to feel happy and productive with the company.
Then, come to a mutual agreement about the re-hire to ensure you’re both happy with the decision to work together again.
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Be sure to communicate your expectations.
If you’re expecting them to take on new responsibilities and roles to close gaps, it might set the former employee on a different path. Please make sure these changes are clear and understood before they begin working.
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Don’t overlook necessary paperwork.
No matter how much time has passed between when your employee left the company and when you’re looking to re-hire, you want to make sure you’re completing all the proper paperwork and legal documents to make the hiring official.
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Create a customised reboarding program
No matter how much time has passed since they worked with your company, your re-hired employee will need some time to adjust to their role. They’ll need to familiarise themselves with new technology and learn new processes.
It’s not wise to trust that they’ll get where they need to be by themselves. Instead, you should create a customised reboarding program that (re)introduces them to all the processes and procedures they need to know.
This helps get them up to speed quickly and ensures they’re working productively from day one.
In Summary
When it comes down to it, re-hiring former employees should be taken on a case-by-case basis. If HR professionals have kept accurate records of the employee’s tenure, it should be easier to assess if they have demonstrated enough value in the past to warrant being re-hired.
In any case, an effective process of interviews, reviews, and communication will provide sufficient information.
While there are challenges with recruiting former employees, the potential benefits make it worth the try. At the same time, if an employee quit in the past, they did so for a good reason.
If there’s a failure to understand and correct any existing organisational problems before the boomerang worker returns, then there’s nothing to keep history from repeating itself.
