Leaving the door open to alumni

Sometimes, finding the right person for a job requires casting the widest net possible. It goes without saying that the internal talent pool can’t be overlooked. Of course, the external talent pool is vast and worth exploring. There is one category of candidates, however, that doesn’t get talked about or tapped into nearly enough.

That category is alumni. These are the people that have left an organization for any number of reasons, but on generally good and respectful terms. Yes, they have left, but that doesn’t mean they should be shut off from opportunities to return. 

If there was ever a moment to leave the door open for alumni, it’s right now. 47.4 million people left their jobs voluntarily last year, per CNN. That’s a ton of talent to lose. The good news is that they don’t have to be lost forever. It remains to be seen how many people will decide to go back to their old companies, but we could very well experience a dramatic shift from the Great Resignation into the Great Return. If no bridges were burned on either side, a happy reunion could be in the cards for employers and employees.

From the employer perspective, the main advantage of opening up opportunities to alumni is familiarity. We had the chance to get to know these people already. We know their work ethic, their culture fit, and their potential because we experienced it firsthand in the past. These are intangibles that, at best, we can only take a swing at when hiring external candidates. Anyone who has hired anyone knows there’s a chance that it’s a swing and a miss. With alumni, we’ll know in advance whether or not it’s going to be a home run type of fit. 

Another reason employers can benefit from rehiring alumni is that the time away from each other has led to growth for both parties. It’s possible the reason for the employee leaving in the first place was a lack of organizational opportunities that have since come to exist. On the other hand, the employee could have moved on to bigger things. They could be returning with more skills and more experience, ready and willing to take on more responsibilities than they had in the first go around.

From the employee perspective, it’s all about how they feel about their current situation and how it compares to the organization they would be returning to. They could honestly, sincerely miss their past company or at least certain aspects of it. Maybe they feel like they didn’t fully appreciate what they had, and the grass on the other side didn’t end up being as green as it appeared when they left. Maybe they have flourished in their time elsewhere, but would still be open to changing course back to a familiar path. 

At the end of the day, it’s up to the alumni to decide whether or not they have any desire to return. The best thing we can do is let them know it’s definitely an option.

PS: Our Alumni module just dropped, check the release here.