What are Boomerang Employees?
Boomerang employees are simple people who quit their jobs and then return later.
You can find a more in-depth explanation of “boomerang employees” meaning below.
The Meaning Behind Boomerang Employees
People may become boomerang employees for a variety of reasons.
For example, maybe they felt they weren’t growing in their role, or perhaps they saw an opportunity for a similar position with higher pay.
These same employees may then decide to return to their old employer if a new position doesn’t work out as they’d hoped or because they preferred the organisational culture at their previous company.
The concept of a boomerang employee is not new, necessarily. However, the frequency with which people are leaving jobs and then coming back has increased significantly, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boomerang Employees Statistics: A Deeper Look
There’s plenty of data backing up the idea that more people are becoming boomerang employees – or at least are thinking about becoming boomerang employees – than before.
For example, a six-country study (which included employees in the UK) revealed that 20 percent of employees who left their employer during the pandemic have returned. Furthermore, over 40 per cent of those who quit acknowledge that they were better off at their previous job.
A LinkedIn study also showed that the number of UK workers who had returned to their former employers increased from 1.9 per cent in 2018 to 2.23 per cent in 2022.
Considering the fact that this situation has occurred on the back of the Great Resignation, it’s no wonder some people are calling it “The Great Return.”
Why Employees Return: Unpacking the Trend
Now that you know the answer to the question, “what is a boomerang employee?”, let’s move on and discuss the reasons why people become boomerangs.
Here are some of the top reasons why employees return to their old stomping grounds:
The Appeal of Familiar Grounds
The first reason is the appeal of familiarity.
There are enough surprises in everyday life. When it comes to their jobs, many people are drawn to the familiar and don’t want to step too far outside of their comfort zones.
You may be hearing from old employees who want their former job back because they tried something new and found that they liked their previous work situation better.
Changes in Personal and Professional Goals
People’s personal and professional goals change all the time.
When they left, your former employee may have had one idea of how they wanted their career to go. After they started down that path, though, and experienced life at another company, they may have changed their mind and decided that they preferred the path they were on before.
The Role of Company Culture and Growth
Has your company changed between now and when the former employee left? Have you had a change in management or created a new role that better aligns with their interests and goals?
If the company has changed significantly, that might be the reason why the previous employee wants to give working there another try.
Potential Financial Benefits
Sometimes, employees return to a former employer because they realise that they have greater earning potential at their old job.
Maybe they left to work for a startup or a company that simply didn’t allow for as much financial growth as they had hoped for. To ensure they meet their own financial goals, the previous employee may have decided to try and get their old job back.
Missing Old Coworkers
Finally, a former employee might be interested in coming back to their previous job because they miss their former coworkers and the relationships they had with them. New jobs aren’t always all they’re cracked up to be, and your old employee might have had a hard time making work friendships when they transitioned to a new job.
Not having friends at work can interfere with productivity, performance, and overall job satisfaction, so it makes sense that people might want to go back to the place where they feel closer to their colleagues.
The Impact of Boomerang Employees on an Organisation
Naturally, boomerang employees can have positive and negative impacts on an organisation.
In the following sections, you’ll learn about the benefits of welcoming back familiar faces, as well as the potential challenges you might face by doing so.
Benefits of Welcoming Back Familiar Faces
Let’s start with the pros! Here are some reasons why as a leader you might want to rehire a former employee.
Faster Onboarding
Because they’re already familiar with how your company operates and what you expect from your team members, former employers can typically be onboarded faster than those who are brand new to the business.
If you want to expedite the process and have people hit the ground running sooner, rehiring former employees is an excellent way to go.
Familiarity with the Company Culture and Environment
In addition to having a good understanding of how your company runs day to day, boomerang employees are also familiar with the company culture and the type of environment you strive to cultivate among team members.
They won’t need much (or any) reminding of how to behave, treat others, etc., when they’re rehired because they’ve already abided by those rules (hopefully) before.
Fresh Perspectives
Although they bring with them their familiarity with the company, boomerang employees also bring fresh perspectives from the time they spent away from the business.
These new perspectives can help you make positive changes that increase the team’s productivity and performance. They can also help you change the work environment so that more people want to stay long-term.
Increased Loyalty
Speaking of staying long-term, when you welcome back a familiar employee, there’s a good chance they will be more loyal to the company because they appreciate you giving them a second chance.
While this isn’t always the case, of course, there are many situations in which former employees are eager to prove that you made the right call and are willing to go the extra mile as a result.
Higher Performance Potential
Because boomerang employees are more willing to go the extra mile, they have greater performance potential than they did in the past. They may have greater potential than some of your current team members, too!
Lower Hiring Costs
If you want to fill vacancies more quickly and save money in the process, don’t underestimate the power of hiring boomerang employees.
It typically takes less time to rehire former employees than it does to start from scratch and recruit new people, partly because you don’t have to do as much interviewing and assessing since you already know them.
This truncated hiring time, in turn, can result in lower hiring costs.
Potential Challenges with Boomerang Employees
Now, let’s address the downsides. Here are some issues you may encounter when rehiring former employees:
They May Have Left Under Negative Circumstances
A significant factor to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to rehire an employee is why they left in the first place.
Did they storm out after losing their temper? Were they fired for breaking rules or engaging in unethical behaviour?
If an employee left under unfavourable circumstances, it might not be a good idea to rehire them – unless you’re confident they understand what they did wrong and are willing to make meaningful changes.
They Can’t Explain Their Reason for Returning
Maybe the employee left on reasonably good terms, but they’re not able to explain why they want to come back. If they can’t clarify why they want to work for your company again, that could be a sign that they’re not going to be as committed as you’d like your employees to be (especially those that you’re bringing back on after an absence).
They Weren’t a Top Performer
Sometimes, employers are eager to welcome former employees back because they did such great work in the past. In other situations, though, they’re hesitant because the boomerang employee wasn’t a top performer when they previously worked for the company.
In these situations, employers have to make a judgment call and decide if they’re willing to give someone a second chance to do better work.
Ready to unlock the full potential of your team? Take a look at these 5 tips for improving team performance!
They’ve Been Gone for a Long Time
If an employee has been away from the company for many years, it might be harder for them to reintegrate. The business may have gone through significant changes since that person left, from using new technology to being owned by a different parent company. These changes, in turn, might mean that this employee is no longer the best person for a particular job.
They Might Decide to Leave Again
There’s always a chance that, if someone left the company once, they’ll be willing to jump ship again if another seemingly better opportunity comes along. If that happens a second time, employers will once again find themselves scrambling to fill a vacancy or distribute work among the remaining team members.
Replies to This Discussion