How to Rehire Former Employees

Tweet

Rehiring Former Employees: Countering Potential Problems

At some point in the rehiring process, you will inevitably encounter problems. There might be hard feelings on the part of the alumni if they were laid off. If so, Sullivan says it's best to be perfectly honest.

"Tell them, 'times are tough. They're getting better. Would you consider coming back?' It's not an offer, it just plants the idea in their minds," he says. You might also consider bringing people on for a trial period or as consultants.

"Sometimes you have to entice them," Sullivan says. "Refresh the relationship."

If someone has left voluntarily, you should definitely ask him or her why. Doing so could open a can of worms, but it's better to know about these problems ahead of time. One of the most common reasons people leave a company is because of a manager they disliked. If that's the case, consider placing the alumni in a different department. If that's not possible, Sullivan says, you may have to decide who is more valuable, the rehire or the manager.

"It's okay to change the job for a superstar," Sullivan says. "If it were Tiger Woods or LeBron James, would you change the coach? The answer is: You sure would."

Sometimes, discussing managerial issues with former employees can actually alert you to weak links on your current staff. To ensure a rehire is worth making changes for, though, Berkowitch suggests asking for references from people within the company who worked closely with that candidate before.

Some alumni may also feel entitled to negotiate the terms of their return with salary increases. In that case, you have to determine whether or not a person's new skill sets warrant that increase. Sullivan says offering performance-based bonuses is an effective way to compromise.

Yingling of the Comeback Kids program, however, says to be careful of offering too many incentives. "We do make sure that people aren't utilizing the Comeback Kids program as a means to try and gain anything additionally," she says. "We're bringing them back to the firm because we want to invest in them, and we want them to invest in us as well."

Dig Deeper: 7 Tips for Masterful Negotiating

Rehiring Former Employees: Remember Your Current Employees

You can start the alumni recruiting process before your employees have even left the company by making it known that you're willing to welcome great boomerangs back.

When the rehiring process is complete, make sure you celebrate the employee's return in whatever way you can, whether you spotlight him or her on your alumni website or send a mass e-mail to the company explaining where this person has been and what he or she will be doing now.

"That's the kind of messaging that needs to come from the top," Berkowitch says. "If you do promote success stories with people who come back, it can build greater loyalty from employees, because they want to work for a company that really values its people." 

Dig Deeper: Building a Culture of Employee Appreciation

 PREV  1 | 2 | 3 

Issie Lapowsky is a reporter at Inc. magazine. She has covered lifestyle and entertainment for the New York Daily News, and her work has been published in BlackBook magazine and The Brooklyn Rail. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.