Boomerang-Hiring aims to bring former employees back on board. Does that also work in practice?
“An employment relationship develops similarly to a love affair,” said a career advisor in an interview with KURIER just a few weeks ago. In the beginning, infatuation hormones would provide moments of happiness, but they would subside over time.
This means that the initial magic can gradually fade in professional life too. And either, it levels off again or you reach the point where there is no going back. There is a separation, the employee resigns. Normally that would be the end of a (work) relationship.
Rather an exception, not a tactic
This is where boomerang hiring comes in: a tactic that focuses on staying in touch with the exes from a company. In theory, the dropouts are brought back to the company at a later point in time. All's well that ends well – but is this also the reality of the job market?
You can hear different voices from the HR industry. Gerhard Novak, managing director of the personnel consultancy Anova HR-Consulting, is one of the skeptics: “I don't think that boomerang hiring is used as a fundamental strategy. When employees leave a company, they usually say 'No, thank you' to alumni ”.
If an ex-employee is hired again – which can definitely happen – it does not follow any tactics, so Novak. Of course there are always exceptions. “In the case of seasonal workers, there is often a commitment to reinstatement for the coming season. In addition, many companies in the catering and tourism sectors had to lay off employees due to the corona. Here I can well imagine that one or the other would come to an agreement. “
New, creative solutions
Julie Gruber, managing director of Wolkenrot Personalmanagement GmbH, sees things from a different perspective. Filling vacant positions in companies is part of the management task, says Gruber.
“Managers here should also be open to new, creative solutions.” But she also shares Novak's view on this point: Employers in Austria tend to be resentful when they leave employees. “They rarely give a second chance.”
Little contact with alumni
So far, companies have been spending more energy on retaining good employees by offering more salaries, new areas of responsibility or goodies such as a company car.
Gruber: “If there is a separation, companies rarely maintain contact with their alumni or build an alumni network. There is definitely a lot of catching up to do in Austria. “
Win-win situation
Even if it is often said that “only goulash tastes good when it is warmed up”, according to Gruber, warming up old working relationships could definitely be worthwhile for both sides. For the employer, because he saves time-consuming application processes and familiarization times, as ex-employees know the corporate culture and processes.
For the employee, because he might get a more exciting job or a higher salary – or both. “An important prerequisite is of course that the separation is good.”
