Should you hire a "Boomerang Employee"?
Focus on human capital is one of the many components of strategic leadership. The term human capital is sometimes used to describe the quality of an organization’s human resources, which include the relevant skills and experience of members. One of the ways for which organizations are addressing this strategic leadership component is through the hiring or should I say rehiring of boomerang employees. A boomerang employee is an individual who return to their former employer for work after having left the organization for one reason or another. This new phenomena where more and more workers are turning to their old employers to seek jobs may prove to be of great benefit for organizations. According to information shared in a survey conducted by Kronos and Workplace Trends shows 76 percent of human resource professionals and managers are more accepting of hiring former employees than they were five years ago. This same survey shows 40 percent of employees also feel less anxiety about returning to their former company, and would consider boomeranging.
Retention is a the top issue for human resources. Losing employees can be expensive to an organization, because finding replacements takes time and money. At the organization level, human resources is more important to the organization that is heavily dependent on people who have unique talents, require extensive training, and would be difficult to replace if they left. One of the greatest benefits stated for hiring a boomerang is that they’re familiar with the organization’s culture and would easily integration back in. Other reasons given as a benefit to hiring a boomerang is lower cost for recruiting, hiring, and training someone who has already worked in the organization. lastly, other benefits given for hiring a boomerang is the potential for competitive marketplace advantages, through the institutional knowledge they bring from competitors. Also, if the boomerang is a high performer, it can boost the organization morale.
Chief executive officers and top management set policies for acquiring and integrating resources for the organization. Among their goals are to reduce uncertainty, increase stability, increase resources, and reduce competition. Based on the the above information hiring strategies should definitely be included. In particular, rehiring someone who has already worked for the organization may be a part of the solution for meeting the above mentioned objectives. Strategic leadership is a holistic process rather a set of distinct and discreet frameworks. If leaders want to be more strategic and show good stewardship consideration of all aspects of the organization, hiring strategies should be included. That would include development and stability of employment. As an organization you may not be able to fully control employees leaving, but you can have great impact on the hiring strategies.
