As companies navigate an ever-changing talent landscape, they must continuously refresh their recruitment strategies to remain competitive and bring in the best talent. A new strategy Lincoln has pursued this year is a focus on attracting former employees back to the organization—also known as “boomerang” hiring.
In the early aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, “The Great Resignation” saw employees leaving their employers for potential “greener pastures” and new opportunities. By early 2022, a great portion of them started realizing that, indeed, “the grass isn’t always greener” and began “boomeranging back” to their former employers. With this movement’s merits, there’s value in assessing its long-term place in your recruiting strategy.
A successful boomerang hiring strategy can extend past recent talent who left during or after the pandemic to employees returning after 5 or 10 years away from the company.
Have a Proactive Approach
To build a boomerang hiring strategy, I recommend starting with surveying and conducting focus groups with some of your boomerang talent to better understand why they came back and use that information to drive your messaging both internally and externally.
In addition, through proactive outreach to select former employees on a regular basis, you’re able to keep your company top of mind and provide reassurance that, should they choose to return, they’ll be welcomed back with open arms. Using your employee value proposition in your messaging not only reinforces who you are as an employer but also attracts employees who may be missing something you have that their new employer doesn’t.
Promoting a culture internally where boomerangs are welcomed back and celebrated not only boosts your employee engagement but also reminds employees why their employer is worth working for. “People are leaving, seeing what else is out there, and are coming back. Should I still consider leaving?” It’s important to highlight your welcoming boomerang culture externally, too, as many candidates who are considering boomeranging back may be concerned about how they’ll be perceived and received if they return to their former organization.
A good boomerang hiring strategy becomes more than a hiring initiative; it becomes a retention and cultural initiative, too.
Celebrating and Giving Boomerangs a Voice
Boomerang hiring should be embraced and celebrated. Your remarkable talent is central to the success of your organization, and there aren’t many things more rewarding than welcoming employees back and seeing their success and supporting their future career growth. I expect boomerang hiring to continue to gain traction as companies vie for talent and employees realize the grass isn’t always greener.
Michael Kellar provides executive strategic leadership and consultation on all aspects of external talent acquisition at Lincoln Financial Group, including early-career talent strategy on university campuses, high-volume recruiting for customer-facing roles, and the executive search process for senior leadership positions. In his role, he’s responsible for leading internal talent mobility to drive employee development and succession planning. A 25-year industry veteran, he joined Lincoln in 2015 as vice president of recruiting and has taken on increasing responsibilities, most recently modernizing Lincoln’s recruiting delivery model and leading his team through an increasingly competitive labor market. Before joining Lincoln, he worked as an HR business partner and recruitment leader in a variety of industries, including financial services, pharmaceuticals, technology, and health care.