Once it has been determined that a Comeback Kid is eligible for rehire, the program revisits the employee's past performance, character, and fit in the corporate culture. The company is especially interested in any new experience the candidates have gained that might be an asset to the firm.
"You generally want a boomerang that's been working someplace, because their skills are updated," Sullivan says.
In addition to the top performers to target initially, you might also want to think about bringing back retirees who are fed up with retirement, former interns who never returned, and long-term consultants or freelancers.
Sullivan suggests periodically sifting through your list of former employees
and picking out the potential rehires.
Dig Deeper: How to Hire a Leader
Rehiring Former Employees: Forming Alumni Networks
Even if you don't have the budget or the personnel that Booz Allen Hamilton has, you can still found some type of alumni network that will help you bring back former employees.
In Berkowitch's experience, companies that have some type of online network for past employees can easily fill 15 to 20 percent of their open positions with rehires.
"You look at how many hires that is, multiply that by the average savings of $20,000 per hire, and you can get some kind of estimate of savings," she says.
Luckily, starting your own alumni network is easier than ever before. You can connect on LinkedIn or start a Facebook group for alumni, keeping them updated on company news and job openings.
Not only will this help you organize and identify the desirable candidates, but it will also help you keep track of what Sullivan calls "right days." Perhaps someone has recently gotten divorced and is looking to move, or maybe the start-up a person left to work for has been acquired. That person may be more willing to return to your company if you catch them at these opportune moments.
"There are lots of right day factors, and if you track them, it's pretty easy to bring people back," Sullivan says.
If you do have the capacity to build even a basic website for former employees to access, Berkowitch suggests creating a searchable database where you can log each individual's experiences and skill sets. "So many companies are launching alumni outreach because they've come to realize that the value of bringing back your top players is incredibly high," she says.
Though you don't need an army of people working on alumni networking, Berkowitch does recommend appointing someone to be accountable for outreach. "If a company has a part-time person that's 100 percent focused on outreach, it's more valuable than 50 percent from a full-time person," she says.
With a point-person in place, it's also easier to organize and advertise alumni events and parties to help you get some face time with targeted individuals.
Dig Deeper: Rules of Conduct on Internal Social Networks
