RECRUITMENT

and vice presidents. Rehiring has been really good

especially at the middle level in Schneider Electric too.
"Organizations finding candidates for strategièally
important positions sometimes look at former
employees which clearly represent a vast pool," views
Dr. Shallni Sarin, director BR, of Schneider Electric
-

India.
According to a Right Management study, only 10%
i u of over 1,000 employers surveyed don't rehire past

re h i rin g i:ti0
employees; i.e. 90% do rehire fonner employees. The

ramp-up time. Agreeing to this is Dr. Sarin, who adds,

`1 "These `outside-insiders' can walk a fine line: balancing

W 3 1'l i
L
a deep understanding of the company's culture with
the right amount of perspective and independence to
push the changes necessary for organizational growth?

ed g e
For example, in US many outplacement candidates are
being rehired by their former employers on contract
or project assignments to finish important or time-
sensitive initiatives.
Not only companies are considering rehiring people
who have left voluntarily but, also the ones which were
laid off during the recession period, although the reasons

The re-hiring scales keep

changing with time as HR
pros keep weighing its pros
and cons.

ecently, the job market is pepping up. Not

R only new hires are being attracted, but

organizations are also keeping their
doors open for their former talents,
especially in this talent starved
market. In fact, at least 25-30% of
companies across all industries are considering
rehiring their ex-employees, anticipates
TeamLease Services Pvt. Ltd. Rehiring may
happen in either small or large numbers
depending upon the organizations rehiring practice
policies. "Certainly, as the economy improves and
the hiring increases, the proportion of rehiring will
also increase," Kavitha Suresh, senior manager HR of
-

Ramco Systems predicts.

Irrespective of market conditions, as long as the
employee has been a good performer, he/she will be
sought after by any employer. Ramco Systems has
rehired ex-employees across levels like systems analysts,
business analysts, préject managers, sales managers

HUMAN CAPITAL * hurnancapitalonline.com

 Organizations finding candidates for
strategically important positions sometimes
look at former employees... these `outside-
insiders' can balance a deep understanding
of the company's culture with the right amount
of perspective and independence to push
the changes necessary for growth.

OR. SIIALINI SARIN

DIRECTOR HR - SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC INDIA

for rehire remain same. A research from Right
Management reveals that 18% of laid off workers are
rehired by their former employers because of their
familiarity with the job 37%, understanding of
organization's culture 33%, and also the organization
minimizes the likelthood of a bad new hire 20%.
Furthermore, a survey done by an online recruitment
company discovered that 32% of employers who had
laid off their employees in 2009 planned on rehiring
workers in the first six months of 2010.
Rehiring er-employees is relevant also in the context
of talent shortage, and/or talent mismatch. In case of
talent shortage, there are many examples of rehiring in
different sectors as well, such as in oil and gas, aviation.
etc. ONGC rehired several of its retired oil exploration
experts to mitigate the global shortage of talent in that
area. Similarly, airlines have been rehiring pilots. On
the other hand, the potential talent pool may have
expanded in present times these people may not
essentially have the skills or experience some employers
need to deliver on business goals, which becomes a
case of talent mismatch. Actually, employers are
presently having trouble filling vacancies due to lack of
suitable talent. "In fact, a vety large number of new
hires fail within 12-18 months due to problems of
assimilation into the organization, adapting to the new
culture, developing friendly and comfortable
relationships with co-workers etc. This problem
becomes worse at more senior levels where the time
and space available for integration is more limited and
the pressure to perform is higher. Former employees
have a greater likelihood of success since they are
familiar with the culture and are likely to have retained
some links/association with people in the organization
from their previous stint," opines Dhruv Prakash,
managing director-India, leadership and talent
consulting from ICom/Ferry international.
Generally, people leave organizations in search of
diversity of experience or challenge to grow to their
full potential, which organizations are unable to provide
thereby stunting the growth of people. Thus, by going
out, people have the opportunity to go through more
developmental experiences and can join back when
the previous employer is ready to provide the next
level of challenge. Prakash says letting people go and
then taking them back can, thus, work to the advantage
of both the parties. Although, Dr. Sarin thinks it can be
a smart move to welcome back former high-flyers,
but, she prefers only under the right circumstances.
Rehiring, however, does have benefits Along with
tangible benefits like reduction in cost of recruitment
and training, shorter cycle time for the rehired
employee to become productive, proven performance
record of the rehired employee and improved
employee morale rehiring has many intangible benefits
like a rehire gives positive feedback on the work culture/
role, in comparison to the other organizations that the
person has worked with. "This proves to be an immense
reaffirmation of faith in our organization. For a product
company like ours, rehiring is an additional advantage,
because they are ready to be deployed almost
immethately. also notice that the loyalty/engagement
of the rehires towards the business have increased
after the rehiring," avers Suresh.
Additionally, Dr. Sarin shares, there have been cases
where employees have left in haste to know what is in
store for them in other organizations after having
worked with Schneider for long. But, when they join
the new organization, they start realizing the benefits
they enjoyed while they were with Schneider. This
enables them to look back to Schneider and if they
were performing well, we welcome them back with
open arms.
Challenges In rehiring
Rehiring is a smart practice and many companies have

40 * July2010 wwhurnancaprtalonline.wm U HUMAN CAfltL

 RECRUITMENT

welcomed theft ex-employees in recent times. The issue
that organizations may face is on the guarantee that
the retread will not make similar mistakes again. Mostly,
when companies rehire old employees, they expect
that the second time hiring will last for a longer
duration.. .dll retirement. Generally, it is seen that the
boomerang and the company communicate more
openly with each other than their earlier association.
In fact, a regular quitter can always be recognized
during the process of rehiring.
The challenges that a company may face in hiring
a boomerang could be:
* Retreads sometimes join back with the baggage
they left with, such as any bad habits that they formed
on the job or any unresolved dispute with former
colleagues who are still present with the company.
* Ex-employees may have inter-personal differences
with employees recruited during their absence.
* There could be sensitivities linked with the rehired
employee's position like former junior employees that
may presently he on higher position now.
Other than these three main issues, rehired
employees need to be handled very cautiously, feels
Dr. Sarin. She pinpoints, though they have the benefit
of knowing the organization environment and culture,
still they require time and resources to form
relationships with newly inducted employees and also
refreshing theft existing contacts. In many cases, rehired
employees sometimes undermine the fact that they
would also be seen as a new resource in the
orgafiization and need to develop niche for themselves
the way they did in theft earlier stint. Hence, it becomes
very important that returning employees need to be
taken care of and handled in a more sensitive manner
to enable them to re-establish themselves in the
organization as fast as possible.
Prakash advises companies need to have very clear
cut policies and criteria for rehiring. If the program
gets to be seen as a means of gaining salary or level
advantage over colleagues who stayed back, it is almost
certain to fail. An employee should be rehired only if
s/he has acquired demonstrable superior skills which
are relevant to the future growth of the organization.
In case the employee is brought back at same or similar
level merely to fill a vacancy then it is critical to ensure
that parity with others and ratio to previously drawn
salary is maintained within defensible range. Rehiring
within a short period, therefore, is more challenging.
HR consultants often advice candidates to leave on
a good note from previous employments as in a
globalized, competitive employment market keeping
positive networking relationships gives job seekers an
edge and incase of employers develops `employer of
choice' value. Research proves that building such
relationships is beneficial for both the candidate and
the employer over time.
In case of laid off ex-employees companies see if
the lay off was handled well; if rehiring is considered.
The issues also depend on, which laid off employee is
considered for rehiring? The person who was laid off
for business/economic conditions or due to behavioral
or administrative issues? In fact, there are stigmas
attached to laid off employees. In the previous situation,
there may not be any stigma attached as in most cases
people understand the rationale around staff
reduction. ..the company was looking at its business
model and required to make some alterations and
since it's not linked with performance, the stigmas
seize to exist. Although, in the latter case, says, Dr.
Sarin i.e. laid off due to behavioral or administrative
issues does raise eyebrows, but, then it depends on the
rehiring process, which makes them rehiring back
effective. If the returning employees are rehired purely
on basis of fresh assessment and past performance
parameters, then the chance of having concerns is
very less. Also, the boomerang needs to be introduced

For a product company Ii ke ours,

rehiring is an additional advantage, because
they are ready to be deployed almost
immediately. We also notice that the loyalty!
engagement of the rehires towards the
business have increased after rehiring,

KAVITHA SIJRESH
SENIOR MANAGER - HR RAMCO SYSTEMS

HUMAN CAPITAL * whumancaØitaIonIne.com July2010 * 41

RECRUITMENT
to the existing workforce in such a way that his
comeback is seen in a positive manner and no stigmas
are generated with his rejoining. HR and the hiring
manager play a very vital role here and they can make
this transition very effective, elucidates, Dr. Sarin.
Advantages and disadvantages related to hiring ex
employees keep shifting. Also, each organization that
rehires ex-employees will have different paybacks and
limitations. However, benefits of rehiring ex-employces
have definitely outweighed the disadvantages for many
organizations that have hired retreads.
Rehiring practices
Organizations that have a rehiring practice have a
definite rehire policy set in place. Schneider finds out
the niche it is looking for, then glosses over the list of
ex-employees and identifies the right fit. The company
examines some aspects before making an offer: finds
out the work history of the employee identified;
understands the reasons for his quitting; gathers
information about his persona1it attitude towards work
and his inter-personal relations, what the management
felt about him and vice versa; and also checks if there
were any major concerns about his health. "if we are
satisfied with the ex-employee's track record and
convinced of his worth then we seriously consider
taldnghim back," says Dr. Sarin. She adds merelymaking
an offer might not bring that person back to us; we
also find out whether the retread is actually willing to
move from the current job.
Furthermore, as Dr. Sarin explains, they assess the
extent to which his absence affected the organization;
compare his performance with other talented ex
employees to rate the quality of his work, identify the
benefits the organization Is likely to gain by hiring him.
In parallel they trace the evolution of his career after
he left the organization; gather information about the
companies he worked for, the duration in each company
if he changed from one to another, the posts he
served and his performance. This gives a fair idea
about his approach to work and his market value.
At Ramco the process of rehiring has been in
practice for a long thne now. There too, depending on
the business need for a specific skill, a similar process
is followed. "7pically, an ex-employee is interviewed,
irrespective of the fact that whether he/she is considered
for the same position or a different role from the
earlier one. Also, due care is taken during fitment of
compensation/position, depending on the time lapsed
from the exit and the availability of the competency
internally to avoid any problems later," says Suresh.
Organizations also consider whether the relieving
process was handled by the employee in a professional
manner and if s/he had given due notice period.
Most organizations have created and are engaged
in alumni networks as this is most effective in keeping
in touch with ex-employees. Many companies have
created alumni groups on their company websites or
on social networking sites like Linkedln and use that to
keep track of the progress of individuals and keep
42 * July2010
rA CASE IN POINT
Contrary to the above, in a true case of temporary rehiring
In a pubrication house lead the boomerang employee to
realistically mar the relationship with her ex-employet In
fact the first time the employee had left on good terms and
approximately after a year and a half the ex-employer
contacted the boomerang employee and offered her a
higher position of managing editor than her previous sub
editors position. Of course, the boomerang was overjoyed
and happy for It, although, she refused the position as she
was already content with her present job, and knew that
this place was toxic. The ex-employer was lacing a talent
shortage on this position given the kind of industry he was
in. Thus, the employer suggested to the boomerang
employee to work temporary on a contract basis of three
months on Saturdays only tifi he finds a new hire for the
vacant position.
The boomerang employee, after contemplating, agreed as
she respected her former employer and wanted to M him
out. At first, things went well, but, on the Third Saturday
of the first month her temporary employer started shouting
at her, abusing her for deadlines despite knowing that the
lime given is very less., three days to finish the entire
magazine on her own as them were no sub editors plus
train a non media trainee for sub editing! To top it extreme
interference in work by non-editorial people was allowed.
This continued for the next two issues. The boomerang
employee tried voicing out the problems, but, all in vain.
However, she successfully completed all the three issues.
During exit, instead of thanking the boomerang employee,
the employer snubbed her off, and she quietly exited, but,
committed to herself not to ever communicate with this
toxic organization. This case highlights that challenges may
not just lie in front of employers while rehiring but, even for
the ex-employee it may get tough, it everything is not
considered before joining.
contact information of ex-employees current and
inform them about company's progress and
achievements/developments. For example, Ramco's
rehiring policy is integrated with its recruitment strategy
The company uses online media like Linkedln and
Facebook, to remain connected with ex-employees.
"Those who have been rehired spread the good word
about their positive experience in coming back to the
company." says, Suresh.
Well, industry experts suggest that boomerang
programs should not target every ex-employee.
Targeting some categories of former employees like
top performers who voluntarily left; top performers
who were in key positions; top performers with key
sldlls, contacts, or experience; retirees who may not
have found retirement to be all that great and are up
for work; and top finalists who accepted another job;
long-term consultants or contractors; and promising
interns who failed to return make up a brilliant alumni
group.
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