Should You Ever Rehire A Previous Employee?

Contrary to popular belief, sense is not common

A couple of year’s ago I read a paragraph written by JobDig chairman G.L. Hoffman, twittered by start-up guru Guy Kawasaki and printed in Inc. Magazine. It went as follows:

“Never hire a quitter back. People will leave your company, chances are. No one is irreplaceable, it happens. But if they resign, do not hire them back into the company. It is very, very tempting to do so, after all, you are a great person, and they made a mistake (they will tell you) in resigning, what have you. If you do, you have just signaled that your company has a safety net, and more people will leave to test the employment waters. Let it be known if they leave, that is ok, but they are not on the team now or in the future.”

OMG, how can such arrogant blathering be allowed to exist without a fight? Someone must stand up for all that is good in this world and today that someone is me! Though I rarely write comments to such things, better sense and the good of mankind insisted I do so. Here was Inc. Magazine’s printing of my response:

“In Praise of Second Chances

I completely disagree with G.L. Hoffman’s strategy of never hiring back a quitter [Blogger Logic, June]. At any given time, anywhere from one-fifth to one-third of my staff is former “quitters.” We have hired back dozens of employees after they left us and even hired back people a second or third time. If the employee left on good terms, we hire back a fully trained employee who is familiar with our customers and the way we operate. If I had employed Mr. Hoffman’s practice, I would be short many of my best staff right now!

JACK GROOT
Founder and president, JP’s Coffee & Espresso Bar
Holland, Michigan

I could write a bunch more about the why of re-hire but I think my comment really sums it up. If you have a good business with a good culture and a great staff, re-hiring a great employee could be about the smartest thing you’ve done this week!

Benefits of rehiring:

• Familiarity with your company, your culture and your way of doing business
• Re-training costs much less than new employee training
• Customers respond well to a great employee coming back
• Most rehires are more productive than new employees
• Good rehires have learned while away…and you benefit from a more skilled, seasoned and mature employee
• Shows existing employees they too may be able to come back

Things to think about when rehiring

• What were the circumstances of their leaving? Of course you’re not going to rehire someone you fired, but when they left did they give you two weeks notice? Did they work hard the last two weeks of their time at your store?
• Only rehire top performers. If they were not stellar employees when they worked for you before, don’t hire them back. You only want the cream of the crop working for you.
• Did any of your current great employees work with them? Ask their opinion of hiring them back.
• What has changed in their life to bring them back? Some reasons are good and some not so good.
• Make sure they understand the changes you’ve implemented since they left.
• Look at their social networking pages (Facebook, MySpace) to make sure you like what you see.