Should you re-recruit former employees?

Should an employee who voluntarily resigns to work somewhere else --or who stops working entirely for a time - -be rehired if he or she re-applies for work? While the loyalty that is shown by many consecutive years of employment should be rewarded, those who choose to leave for one reason or another should not be looked on unfavorably.

 An employee who leaves might find that the very act of leaving has helped define all the options: the employee wants to return, and this time to stay. An employee who has been trained and then leaves may represent, if he or she asks to return, a low-cost hire.

Compare re-recruiting to employee referral programs, which are becoming known as one of the most effective recruitment sources. In employee referral programs, "your best people refer your best people." Consider re-recruiting some of the people who've already worked for you.

Consider these issues when implementing a re-recruiting program:

Will your corporate culture accept returning employees? Make a frank assessment: does your culture send a covert-or direct-message to employees who leave indicating they are not welcome to return? Or do you see a former employee who undertakes a new job as someone who has obtained new knowledge and skills, plus a fresh perspective, and it hasn't cost your company a single training dollar?

Can you identify whom you want to re-recruit? Obviously not everybody who leaves is suitable for rehire. So how do you know whom to go after? Consider these options:

(a) Handle partings professionally --let departing employees know that you are interested in their growth. These people can remain advocates for your firm.

(b) Do not take partings personally or consider them personal rebuffs. Make sure that others in the company have this attitude.

(c) Determine whether managers and other employees were happy to see this person leave and why; let their responses greatly influence your decision.

(d) At termination, record whether you would consider rehiring. Former employees should not be re-recruited if they were dismissed for cause or "blew off steam" when they left the organization.

(e) At the exit interview, if you've determined whether you would consider rehiring, obtain any forwarding information about the employee and ask whether the employee would ever consider returning.

Establish a timeframe. The first three to six months on a new job is usually the honeymoon period. If you're interested, contact the former employees you want to approach within six to 18 months after they've left your organization. Usually you can still find them during this time period; if you wait longer, they may be more difficult to track.

Develop a contact strategy. How will you approach former employees? Some options to consider are inviting former employees to a holiday reception attended by vendors and partners; sending personalized postcards to the former employee's home address and inviting those who respond to an open house; and maintaining a formal alumni organization, modeled on college and university programs

Overcoming obstacles to re-recruiting. A common fear voiced by HR managers is that a re-recruiting program rewards employees who leave. But a targeted program seeks out only those former employees who have been pre-screened-both in their previous in-house performance and again at the point of termination of employment (by making a conscious decision, at that point, about willingness to rehire). As a general rule, these previously successful employees have gone on to acquire a new skill set. If that is the case, you are in effect outsourcing the training and development of some personnel.

What if returning employees demand raises? That's a risk, but often pay is not the issue in the decision to return. These employees have often acquired valuable new skills; if so, there may be a reason to increase pay. If not, treat them as you would any other recruit. Keep in mind that returning employees are cheap to recruit, given that this is a targeted audience, and because they know the business, they are immediately productive. Think of them as a "reserve army" of talent and treat them with respect.