Many companies go above and beyond to welcome new employees and set the tone for longevity. First impressions matter, of course. Though what about lasting impressions and promoting Boomerang Hiring?
If saying goodbye goes wrong, employees may turn to social media to spread less-than-positive information about the company. Many job seekers use LinkedIn and Glassdoor to check an employer’s profile and see what others said about the employer. The process for offboarding employees should be just as important as the onboarding one, and that companies neglecting important processes may experience negative impacts.
Losing talented employees is never easy. However, it’s crucial that hiring managers and bosses make employee exits a positive, respectful experience for all involved. Companies that burn bridges with exiting employees are at risk of harming their employer brand and reputation. Saying goodbye with a smile is the first step to kicking off a positive and rewarding offboarding process.
Ensure that the offboarding process goes off without a hitch by guaranteeing that the departure process is easily navigated. Establish a checklist for proactive communication with the employee by your various departments to make sure all things are closed off. Another way to keep things positive is to share a congratulatory announcement with the employee’s co-workers and team, as well as to plan a supportive and appropriate send-off on the employee’s last day.
Offboarding should be seen as an opportunity to ensure growth and improvement for the health and well-being of a company. This means allowing exiting employees to share both positive and negative feedback. Develop exit surveys, this can be done in a paper survey format or via an online survey provider. Get more details about an exit by asking the employee’s reason for leaving and questions about the overall success of their direct manager and about company resources and the work environment. This will reveal the good and bad trends that exist internally.
Past employees’ opinions of their ex-employers’ matter both online and off. Most job seekers visit company websites and social media when evaluating employer brands. Many turn first to individuals in their personal and professional networks who had knowledge of a targeted company. Most job seekers will find negative remarks on employer review sites to be very damaging.
Employees past and present should be treated as invaluable ambassadors for a company’s employer brand. A strong offboarding process can set up employees for a future of singing a company’s praises for years to come.
Provide departing employees with an opportunity to positively represent the company and keep in touch. Add these employees to an email database for future contact about company news, job alerts, referral opportunities and Boomerang Hiring.
Successful off boarding will lead to improved boomerang hiring, when former employees return. Many companies may not consider individuals who have left when a vacancy becomes available, but boomerang hiring is on the rise particularly in areas where there are skills shortages.
Many businesses are utilising their alumni to fill roles and for some they are a becoming a critical recruiting channel. Organisations that discount former employees are reducing their pool of talent significantly, and perhaps unnecessarily. When making a Boomerang hire there are no surprises as you have already seen the individual at work, and will be aware of their skills and capabilities.
Remember that a Boomerang hire is more likely to stay as they have already left once, and where they went wasn’t better. By hiring a previous employee their onboarding experience will be much easier, they know the business and how to navigate it. Boomerang hiring will also promote transparency as organisational culture has never been more transparent, online review platforms such as Glassdoor allow past employees to see how organisations have improved and changed.