Hiring a Boomerang Employee

While looking at a handful of resumes, you spot a familiar name; a former employee who left the company. Your question is, why are they interested in returning? Should I rehire them?

A boomerang employee is an employee who wants to return to a previous employer and there are several pros to hiring a boomerang employee.

1. Onboarding

Depending on the company and the position one hires for will determine the onboarding time and cost spent on a new hire. A company spends about three months training a new employee at approximately $1,200. According to BambooHR, an employer can increase the retention rate of an employee if they were to extend the onboarding time up to a year. Nonetheless, time spent during the onboarding process is time you can expect your new hire to not generate or contribute to sales, outreach…etc.; meaning you can expect to lose money rather than gain during this process. However, hiring a boomerang employee can eliminate your onboarding process entirely, saving your company time and money. A boomerang employee is more than likely to return to their former position, with the advantage of picking up where they left off. With that being said, if your concern is finding an employee who can jump into their position with little to no training, you are better off selecting the boomerang employee.

2. Retention

Hiring a boomerang employee can increase morale and retention in the workplace. When a boomerang employee returns to work, they enjoy several aspects of that job more often than not. This increases the likeability of the company and morale within the staff. It demonstrates to other employees that this is a place people are willing to go back to for work and maybe the grass isn’t always greener. With a happier attitude and perspective of the company, you are more likely to retain employees for an extended period of time.

3. Good Habits and Skills

Boomerang employees can be model employees. They are more likely to perform their best given that they are trying to assure you that rehiring them was the right decision. They will most likely serve differently and better than the last time they worked for you. They will demonstrate good habits and could possibly even bring new skillsets from their former place of work and implement them in their role with your organization. These habits and skills can be taught, adopted, and implemented into the role and in turn help other employees, advance the expectations for position, and set your company up for success when hiring in the future.

Boomerang employees are the safe option for hiring. They are known to save time and money.