When Initiative Goes Unpunished. Why Are They Coming Back?
A come-back attempt is a powerful stride. Since not everyone would feel comfortable about openly applying for a job and engage in a conversation about coming back. A lot of employees still associate come-backs with the failure to implement the ideas at a new job and the need to capitulate.But an intention to come back is not always restricted to the instances of failure to cope with the new job duties or achieve the objectives, but may also be due to the disparity of values and mindset between the employee and the new employer, or due to failure to expressly agree on the terms of employment in advance.
There are quite a number of instances when an employee departs hoping to get a higher position or salary, but underestimates the significance of the other employment terms: for instance, the company is unwilling to modify the hours of its new employee so that he could have enough time to pick up his child from school, an employee has to perform the duties of two jobs at a time until a new colleague gets back without any extra compensation, etc.
Employees may equally come back if they get enthusiastic about the prospects in the former company. In 2016, the research centre of Superjob.ru recruitment portal took a poll that showed that 23% of Russian citizens will be happy to come back to the former job, if they are offered a bigger salary, and 13% — if the old management changes.
In BDO, we have repeatedly encountered situations when employees would leave the company for the sake of new experience, and subsequently would come back to a more senior position when the company opens new streams and departments.
Rejection Impossible to Keep. What Good Do the Boomerangs Make?
Meanwhile, come-backs are not always initiated by the employee. Oftentimes, after getting to know that the former employee is on the job market again, the former employer may call him back.Why?
Boomerangs have a lot of advantages: former employees need virtually no time for adaptation (at least, if such employee did not stay out for a long time), and moreover, you are unlikely to encounter any nasty surprises. Besides, this sort of team member will try hard to meet your expectations. He has made sure that the grass there is not greener and he feels comfortable here. Such employee’s motivation will definitely go up. After working for a different company, the person may bring new ideas and better practices in, which will also work for your benefit. Come-backs may also produce a certain reputational effect: these people’s loyalty attests that your company is a good employer, a reliable and stable business.And partly — if we are totally frank — employment of the “boomerangs” is the least-evil solution. There are sectors and areas, where the number of experts is quite limited. And when taking your employee’s departure, you cannot guarantee that you won’t need his services again.
Nonetheless, employment of such specialists poses certain risks. If a specialist departed to resolve a certain problem or achieve a certain objective, and the issue was not resolved when he was coming back, there is a likelihood of the new departure. Let’s say, the employee hoped to increase his income, but was offered the same salary again. Or he wanted to secure a new range of job duties and new experience, but the company is unable to offer this. In this case, your office may turn into a kind of transit centre, where the employee will look for the more promising options of career progress.
The company management need to weigh all the “pros” and “contras”, make a total recall of the things they were unhappy about with this employee and ask themselves: do we really want to put up with his shortcomings again? For instance: you have a valuable specialist who unfortunately, is quite ill-tempered. You had to put up with him for the sake of his expertise, but after this specialist had left the company, everyone gave a sigh of relief. And now he is willing to come back. Ask yourself: do you really want to continue shutting your eyes to his shortcomings?
Nonetheless, as the old English saying would have it “Better than the devil you know, than the devil you do not know”. In this case, you have a chance to both assess the risks correctly, and to make certain conditions: I will employ you, but you address your communication style.
“Taking an employee back or not” is your decision. It’s certainly true, that apart from the obvious benefits, this has multiple traps and pitfalls. The employee has already made his choice, and you have to draw conclusion.
Love Potion Recipe
The key issue for many employers is how to make employees come back? The answer is not as obvious as it might seem.You can “snatch away” an employee or offer him a higher position, but none of these will guarantee his loyalty. People always come back to the place where they feel comfortable working. Where their values are in harmony with the company’s values. These are not mere words. Strange as it may seem, people equally care both about the salary and bonuses, and about intangible values: opportunity to choose convenient hours to match the school or kindergarten schedule, to develop professional skills, etc. These little things attesting to the company’s attention to the staff’s needs and requirements shape the image of the “dream employer”.
Ekaterina Boitsova, HR Director, BDO Unicon Outsourcing
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