Hiring Practices: Bringing Back Past Employees
Posted on Wed, Oct 27, 2010
by Koleen Singerline
I spent the last four days in Dallas, Texas at Snelling Staffing’s annual meeting for franchise owners. The company is preparing to celebrate its 60th anniversary, so there was plenty of excitement in the air.
As I entered the Snelling office, I was greeted by Bill Hamrick, the current Vice President of Network Support Services. Bill was the person who trained me when I joined the company in 1995 and he inspired me with his passion for the staffing industry and the Snelling brand. Bill joined the company in 1988 when the original owner, Bob Snelling, was the CEO (until 1999). He was responsible for the reengineering of “Snelling University”, the nationally recognized training school for the company’s franchisees.
After over 10 years or pursuing other ventures, he came back to create a training program that will encompass best practices gained from over 100 nationwide Snelling branches and encompass the use of emerging technologies such as social media.
It seems rather fitting to me to bring back such an enthusiastic, outgoing and accomplished employee to the company; he has added so much value to the Snelling history.
Managers seem to be divided on the issue of rehiring, but according to a recent survey by Career Builder, 26% of approximately 26,000 hiring managers planned to hire back top performers. In lieu of recent lay-offs, this is a good time to look at your company’s policy and decide if rehiring could be right for you. Consider these points originally emphasized from Inc.com:
- Expenses: From the valuable time spent on training, recruiting and interviewing, employers can save time and money by offering the position to someone who has held it before.
- Retention: Because the former employee knows what is expected of them – and what to expect of the job – they are more likely to stay once they come back.
This LinkedIn thread lays out some of the issues surrounding rehiring. Review your company’s policy to determine under what circumstances you can bring a former employee back.
If you need the expertise of former employees, but don’t want to bring someone back full time, you may want to bring them on as a temporary or contract worker. These former enthusiasts could help you take your team to the next level.
