The benefits of rehiring corporate alumni (as in, individuals who are former employees of your organization) are almost too obvious to list. Alumni are a known asset, meaning we already know their strengths and weaknesses and can screen with relative ease. They also have prior organizational experience, meaning reduced onboarding time and assured cultural fit. In short, there are substantial performance and cost savings to be realized with alumni rehiring.
Yet surprisingly, on average only 5% of hires are alumni. This measly percentage is even more disappointing given today’s realities: layoffs, other labor market movements, and the renewed cost-consciousness of virtually every recruiting organization. There are no more excuses to pass up the opportunity to rehire former employees or keep former employees engaged for future rehires. You can start building a pipeline of these alumni easily by setting up free online professional networks on LinkedIn and Facebook, or a private social network using a third-party vendor. (Members, see the Vendor Directory for Online Social Networks.)
Also for RR members, check out our profile on how one organization approaches alumni hiring, and be on the lookout this fall for an upcoming toolkit to help you up an alumni recruiting program.
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