The Prodigal Employee: A Case for the Second Chance

 If you’ve been in hiring and recruiting long enough, you’ve had some candidates come around again, either looking for a second chance, or willing to give the company a second chance. Sometimes employees leave for good and honest reasons; sometimes they leave with little or no warning and sometimes they pull a “Who’s coming with me ?!” To consider rehiring an employee, it is obvious to take a good hard look at why they left in the first place.

Savings

Companies can potentially save anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 per re-hire. This figure is so high because rehires save the company in several areas:

-Productivity starts soon, due to their knowledge of the position.
-Training is far less extensive, saving time, money and resources.
-The onboarding process is far less extensive as well.
-Sourcing and hiring costs are lower.

Part of the Gang

Assuming that everyone is onboard with re-hiring this former employee, onboarding and acclimation will take less time. Engagement and cohesion aren’t something that can be rushed, and re-hires have already been a part of this team. They already have a solid understanding of the direction of the organization, business values, policies and company culture.

It will often have a good effect on the workplace, introducing a familiar face into the mix. Furthermore, no one is interested in slowing down their own work for the type of informal training that newbies require.

It’s me not you, or wait…is it you?

It’s no surprise that poor manager-employee relationships are a huge factor in why otherwise happy employees will leave a company. When they left, did you learn anything? Did anything change based on their feedback and experience?

Whose fault was this really? Retention is a very important metric, one that saves the company resources and drives engagement. If this was in fact a manager-employee problem, the re-hire may be a good fit in a different department, or the manager may be a good in a different company. Take a good look at why the relationship failed and if this is a trend with that particular manager or employee.

Furthermore, if that particular manager or supervisor is no longer with the company, this might be the perfect time to have this employee back.

Lessons Learned and Appreciation Granted

Sometimes they will come back for a paycheck and sometimes they will come back because they genuinely loved working for the company. It is pretty easy to tell the difference. Everything about that person will let you know if they are excited to be back, or if they simply have bills to pay.

When employees are genuinely excited to return to a company, they can become the greatest asset you have. Talk about brand ambassadorship ! They’ve gone out there, seen what there is to see and chose to come back. This speaks volumes about a company. In this scenario, the company ends up with an employee who really values what they offer and the employee ends up with a company they know they will be happy at.