When Should You Hire a Boomerang Candidate?

For the uninitiated, boomerang candidates are employees who have worked for your company in the past, left for a period of time, and are now interested in returning. With workers moving between careers at an almost unprecedented rate in today’s job market, boomerang candidates are becoming increasingly common. As you can imagine, hiring these workers can bring a number of benefits, but it can also present some unique challenges. So what are the biggest pros and cons of hiring boomerang candidates and under what circumstances should you welcome them back into your company?

Why Did the Employee Leave?

This question is the most crucial one to ask when you’re considering bringing back a former employee. Obviously, if the employee had a particularly bitter exit, then rehiring him or her may cause more drama than they’re worth. Conversely, if you had to let the employee go reluctantly, then you might want to jump at the chance to bring him or her back into the fold. In order to give yourself a refresher, take a look at the employee’s exit interview to remind yourself of the circumstances surrounding the initial departure.

What Are the Pros of Boomerang Candidates?

Perhaps the biggest plus to hiring a boomerang candidate is the established familiarity. On the employees’ side, they know the culture of the company and what is expected of them. The company, on the other hand, knows what caliber of worker they’re getting and what he or she is capable of. Additionally, boomerang employees are typically easier to train if new procedures have been implemented in their absence, and their turnover rate is lower compared to hiring brand-new employees.

What Are the Cons?

One of the biggest drawbacks to hiring boomerang candidates is that it can have unintended consequences on the rest of the staff. Even if the split between the employee and the company was civil, that doesn’t mean that other workers weren’t happy to see the employee go, and bringing him or her back could reignite old hostilities. Also, it’s important to keep hierarchy in mind. If the employee was on a lower rung when he or she left and returns to a managerial position, it could cause resentment among workers who worked their way up the ladder internally.

Let Here’s Help Find Candidates for You

The placement experts at Here’s Help Staffing & Recruiting are dedicated to finding temporary, temp-to-hire or permanent placement candidates to fit your Hudson Valley staffing needs. For 30 years, we’ve been helping clients in Middletown NY and across the Hudson Valley find the best candidates in a wide variety of fields. If you’d like to learn how we can help your business, contact our team online.

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