Boomerang hiring is an interestingterm used to denote the re-hiringof ex-employees in an

organisation. The fact that anemployee is leaving anorganisation doesn’t reallymean that he/she can nolonger be an asset for thatorganisation. A number oforganisations now-a-daysare resorting to thepractice of boomeranghiring as they believe thebenefits of hiring an ex-employee are numerous.According to a surveyconducted byTimesJobs.com, nearly 85%employers do hire ex-employees in theirorganisation. S.R. Manjunath, SrDirector – Human Resources,NetApp, agrees that they follow thepractice of boomerang hiring. “AtNetApp, we are open to welcoming an ex-employee who had proven his or herskills and competencies,” he added.

Benefits of boomerangsThere are numerous benefits of re-hiring anex-employee in your organisation. Ex-employees are familiar with theorganisational processes, culture andsystem, so it’s easier for them to get theirthings done within the organisation.According to the survey, nearly 30%surveyed employers consider this as the keybenefit of boomerang hiring. Talking aboutthe benefits of boomerang hiring,Manjunath, said, “The benefits includegetting back an employee who is familiarwith NetApp values and culture, theproducts of the company and technologieswe work on and the familiarity to people,systems and process. All of this will reducethe time taken to assimilate/integrate theperson into NetApp and will greatly help toachieve the higher productivity andefficiencies which has a direct and positive

impact to the success of the company.”About 21% employers believe, the cost-effective and time-saving nature ofboomerang hiring is the key benefit of thispractice.

Ways to get them backThe reasons why an employee could haveleft an organisation could be very diverse,therefore, sourcing them back can be atrickyaffair. Talking about the ways to source re-hires back, Manjunath stated, “Bycommunicating about the openings of theroles/opportunities at NetApp and whyNetApp is a great career options particularlygiven that an ex-employee has alreadyworked for NetApp and knows well who weare, our environment andProducts/Technologies etc.” Maintaining agood relationship with the ex-employeesand keeping them posted on the company’slatest ventures, projects and job openings is

essential for luring ex-employees back toyour organisation.

Although ex-employees are consideredvaluable assets, organisations steer clearof fired ex-employees. Manjunathexplains, “This really depends on thecircumstances and the reasons forearlier terminations. If theterminations were on account ofviolations of Code of Conduct, wewill not entertain such employeesas we set higher standards ofintegrity and ethics and have zerotolerance for non-compliance.”

Limitations of re-hiring ex-employees

Although the benefits of hiring ex-employees are many, the limitations

surrounding this practice still standout. Employers generally make this

blunder of positioning re-hires underemployees who were their juniors beforethey left the organisation. Almost 56%employers consider this to be the most acuteshortcoming of boomerang hiring. Re-hiredex-employees may have a tough time gettingalong with the employees hired during theirabsence. Nearly 26% surveyed employersbelieve this to be the major demerit of thisprocess.

Ex-employees generally demand greatercompensations for returning back. Thisgreater expectation can be a possible de-merit of this practice. Manjunath stated,“Expectations of the ex-employee on thecompensation role could be a limiting factorsince the offers that we would make wouldbe in line with internal equity. But ourexperience of hiring them back is verypositive and less challenging.”

Amidst the economic downturn, whencompanies are trying out all possible cost-cutting measures, boomerang hiring canprove to be an intelligent cost-effectivestrategy. Barring a few minor shortcomings,the process on the whole can be highlybeneficial for the organisation.

H I R I N G & B E Y O N D

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n Survey Highlights

Companies now-a-days have startedrecognising their ex-employees as valuableassets and are actively indulging inboomerang hiring. Barring few minorshortcomings, the benefits of re-hiring ex-employees are numerous. Read thehighlights of the TimesJobs.com study onre-hiring of ex-employees on pg 3-4

n Guest Column

Our Guest Columnist this month, Dr. DanHarrison, CEO of Harrison Assessments,enlightens us about appropriately usinginterviews to assess job behaviour. He alsoshares the reasons why job behaviourcannot be accurately assessed using thenormal interview process. Read more on thesame on pg 6

n Expert Speak

In an exclusive conversation with TJinsite,Harish Jotwani, Head Recruitment, SercoGlobal Services, shares his views andopinion on boomerang hiring. He alsohighlights the strategies and challengesassociated with the process of re-hiring ex-employees. Read the excerpts from theinterview on pg 8

Inside Insite

Boomerang hiring

the return ofex-employees

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TimesJobs.com’s endeavour hasbeen to provide a platform toaddress the persistent skill-gap

between the curriculum of theeducational institutions and industryrequirements. As an ongoing venture aboardroom discussion was held on‘Revisiting Campus Recruitment: theChallenges Faced and the Way Ahead’in association with NITTE University.

The forum sought to find possiblesolutions to several issues faced by theindustries. The panellists includedPoornima SP, Director & Head HR,Tejas Networks; Somnath Bhagavatula,Head HR, WS Atkins; George Abraham,Head – TA, Sasken CommunicationTechnologies Ltd; Dinu Nanjappa,University Hiring Lead - India, GlobalEarly Talent, SAP Labs India; PriyankaThakur, Lead –Campus Recruitment &Junior Managers Program, RobertBosch India; Sinam Lenin Singh, LeadCampus Recruitment, Oracle;Muralidhar Teppala, Head – India &APAC Recruitment, Headstrong;Shishir Kumar, Head-Recruitment andC&B, Airbus; Mohammed Rizwan,Manager - Talent Management Group,Mistral Solutions and Dr. M SMoodithaya, Director - GlobalInitiatives, NITTE University, whobrought in the academia perspective tothe discussion.

Campus hiring forms a very attractiveand a strong foundation for the futureof the workforce for all organizations.However it is weighed down by manychallenges including absence ofstandard parameters of evaluation,inadequate outreach programs to reachout to institutions across the country toidentify suitable talent that are job-ready. The primary reason for thisdisconnect is insufficient industry-academia connect, and the lack ofrelevant knowledge and forums toupgrade university courseware.

There was consensus across the boardon the need for keeping the coursematerial dynamic, developed in closecollaboration with the industryespecially with regards to technologyrequirements in the future, say inabout 4 or 5 years hence. Severalpanelists brought out the need forcolleges to focus on providing highquality technical knowhow combinedwith problem solving and leadershipabilities.

Somnath Bhagavatula, Head HR, WSAtkins, a company which is intoengineering consultancy segmenthighlighted the problems faced by thissector. ``The challenge we face is interms of which universities do wefocus on; do we have the right set ofuniversities defined across the country;

which of these are the best and withineach of these how do I identify orfunnel... as the student at the topscholastically need not necessarily bethe right person for us.’’

Panellists felt educational institutionswere increasingly focussed only ongetting the top companies based oncompensation packages while studentswere focussed on getting the biggerbetter deal not realising that qualityand competencies will automaticallyresult in attracting the best from theindustry. ``Student understanding ofcore subjects, this is where we facechallenges, as the students coming indo not have the expected level ofcompetencies there,’’ lamented ShishirKumar, Head-Recruitment and C&B,Airbus.

The panelists highlighted the need tofocus on job related specialization post-offer, in the last term of the academicyear.

Presenting the academia perspectivethe need for increased ongoingengagement with institutions, (asagainst only need-based sporadicinteractions) was emphasized by Dr. MS Moodithaya, Director - GlobalInitiatives, NITTE University.

Longer internships of about 6 months,a close view of where the market isheaded, and taking a calculated riskand developing suitable coursewareand encouraging student groups toparticipate in internationalprojects/competitions and/orpresenting papers in targeted globalforums, were some of the concretesolutions suggested by the panelists tobuild an institution’s brand to createtraction from the identified industryverticals.

Longer internships may create better job-readycandidates: say HR professionals

Read complete report on www.content.timesjobs.com

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HIRING & BEYOND

Organisations followvarious strategies to hireex-employees. Keeping in

touch with ex-employees andnotifying them about your jobopenings and new projects isconsidered the most effectivestrategy by nearly 32% of theorganisations, as per the TJinsitesurvey. As stated earlier alumnicommunities are considered agood way to keep in touch withex-employees. Close to 13% of theorganisations have developed orare developing a strongboomerang/alumni program aspart of their strategy to bringback ex-employees. For 23% ofthe organisations making surethat employees know re-hiringtop ex-employee is an appreciatedpractice, works best for them.The key feature of anyboomerang hiring program isthat it should not target everysingle ex-employee. Close to 86%

of the surveyed organisationsstated that they would notconsider hiring incompetent,unproductive and fired ex-employees. To know whom tore-hire, approximately 18% of thesurveyed organisations revisetheir exit interview process. Bythis they tend to make sure that

top employees leave happily, sothat they can be approached forre-hiring purpose. Similar tofresh hiring, re-hiring is also atwo way process where employeewillingness is as important as anorganisation’s eagerness to bringthem back.

• Nearly 32%employersconsiderboomerang hiringto be mosteffective forhiringSales/BusinessDevelopmentprofessionals

• Nearly 51%organisations arewilling to hire anex-employee whowas fired as acost-cuttingmeasure

• Nearly 20%organisationsagreed that theyhave a corporatealumni programto attract ex-employees

According to a recentTJinsite survey, 84% ofthe organisations have

a framework of re-hiring ex-employees. This shows that aconsiderable percentage ofworkforce have theopportunity to return to theirprevious employer. For mostorganisations, exit interviewsare the reference point toshortlist candidates whichcan be considered for re-hiring. Many organisationsare focusing on building theiralumni network. This helpcreates a sense of belongingamong employees and thisalso acts as a rich database toscan through while hiring ex-employees. According to thesurvey, 52% of theorganisations are planning tocreate corporate alumniprogrammes in the near

future. The survey furtherpointed out thatapproximately 52% of theemployers considerboomerang hiring as a veryeffective practice. Industryexperts believe that anorganisation’s re-hiringpolicy adds to its productivityand output. They believe thatboomerangs bring a freshperspective and new skill setsto the organisation. Theexposure to competitionenhances their outlook tobusiness operations andstrategies, which makes thema highly valuable asset for anorganisation. However, 44% ofthe employers differ inopinion and feel that thepractice of re-hiring ex-employees should only beused under direcircumstances.

Employee re-instatement: a win-win situation

Bringing ex-employees back

52%

44%

4%

Do you consider re-hiringan ex-employee as arelevant practice?

Yes, it’s a veryeffectivepractice

It’s moderatelyrelevant andshould be usedonly under direcircumstances

No, ex-employeesshould not bere-hired

32%

23%

18%

14%

13%

Developing a strong boomerang/alumniprogram

Revising the exit interview process tomake sure top employees leave happily

Asking a departing employee whetherhe/she is willing to return

Keeping in touch with ex-employees andnotifying them about your job openingsand new projects

Making sure your employees know thatre-hiring top ex-employee is anappreciated practice

What is the best strategy to bring an ex-employee back?

3

Survey Highlights

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Where there are variouspotential benefits of re-hiring ex-employees,

there are several pitfalls as well.About 56% of the organisationsbelieve that one need to be verycareful not to position the re-hired employees under formerjunior employees. For 26%employers the biggest dangerlies in resentment amongcurrent and re-hired employees.

Where re-hired employees mayhave difficulty in getting alongwith the employees hired duringtheir absence, currentemployees too can becomejealous when boomerangs arehired back at significantlyhigher pay or job level. Re-orienting former employees,perceptive mentoring and

guidance to both current and re-hired employees are helpful insetting the right expectationsand building amicable relationsamong workforce. Anotherdanger arises from the fact thatthe bad habits of an ex-employeecomes along with the employee,reported 17% of the employersin the TJinsite survey.

Industry experts proposevarious means by whichorganisations can tackle thedisadvantages of re-hiring ex-employees. Clearcommunication to both parties –current and ex-employees aboutthe reason for hiring an ex-employee and the changes theorganisation has undergoneduring the ex-employeesabsence is fundamental.

Most potent danger of re-hiringemployees

The biggest benefit ofbringing back ex-employees is that they are

well versed with theorganisational processes,culture, values and system,stated 30% of the surveyedemployers. Thus, compatibilitywith workplace is not an issue.Another big advantage is theprocess, itself, is cost-effectiveand time saving, mentioned 21%of the organisations. Therecruitment time iscomparatively less than freshhiring and training requirementis for such employees are alsominimal. The need for trainingcannot be entirely ruled out butthe associated cost is much lessthan training a new hire. For anorganisation which is strugglingto fill a vacant position at theearliest, rehiring provides agood option. The survey resultsfurther revealed that nearly 14%of the organisations believe that

an ex-employee’s return can actas a potent retention tool. Thisalso works very well as a PRexercise at no cost. It can alsohelp boost employee referrals.Moreover, re-hired employeesare more loyal to their

organisations than they werebefore, feel 12% of theemployers. Rehiring formeremployees also works well as astrategy to keep your valuableworkforce away fromcompetitors.

Key benefits of boomerang hiring

They are not newto the organisationalprocesses, culture

and system

30%

Its cost-effective and time saving

21%

They have alreadyproved their

worth

15%

An ex-employee’sreturn can act

as a potent retention tool

14%

Re-hired employeesare more loyal to your

organisationsthan they were

before

12%

The trainingrequirement is

minimal

8%

What is the keybenefit ofboomerang hiring?

56%

26%

16%

What is the key benefit ofboomerang hiring?

Employers have to be careful not to positionthe re-hired employees under former junioremployees

Re-hired employees may have difficulty ingetting along with the employees hired during their absence

The bad habits of an ex-employee comes along with the employee

Survey Highlights

5

Events

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HIRING & BEYOND

NAIP held its twin cityannual conference on31st Jan’13 in Bengaluru,

and 2nd Feb’13 in Mumbai. Thefull day event was well attendedby an International audienceand also we witnessed delegatesfrom many sectors of industryas well as the public sector.

The Conference Chief Guest wasDr. Mahendra Raju, AdditionalCentral P.F. Commissioner. DrRaju praised NAIP for itsinitiatives and also said that"The establishment of NAIP isfantastic and necessary and ofgreat benefit to Industry,Commerce and Government ofIndia." NAIP was proud toprovide a high level profile ofspeakers and senior dignitariesat the Conference, including DrJT Vyas (Former Governor ofthe Rotary Club and Former

President of InternationalJunior Chamber of Commerce),

Mr Sudhir K Gupta (Advocate ofthe Supreme Court of India, MrGordon Cresswell ( Founder ofUK's CIPP (Chartered Instituteof Payroll Professionals)andVice Chair of NAIP).

NAIP's Chairman, Nayaz Qazi,outlined the work of NAIP andthe importance of NAIP'sactivities to the employee lifecycle, and in particular to theemployee, employer andauthorities. Also outlining howNAIP's Professional Programmeis essential for the practitioneras a means of attaining aninternationally recognizedqualification and benchmark forPayroll, HR and FinanceProfessionals and how thedemand is on a Global basis,with the demand increasingthroughout India as well asUSA, UK , Middle East to Asia.

The day's conference allowed adetailed look at the pertinent

subject areas presented by thespeakers as well as a veryinteractive panel session whichincluded presentations ofcomplex and current issues byrepresentatives of ESI, PF,Income tax and LabourCompliance and the Q & Asession with the Panel whichprovided the delegates a uniqueplatform to raise their concernsand to learn about possibledevelopments and reform.

The conference was supportedby Chartered Institute ofPayroll Professionals (CIPP, UK),Northgate Arinso HR, NorthernMarine Management, AscentConsulting Services, ShriramValue, Opportune Technologies,Relyon SoftTech, RemunanceProgress Partners, GreytipSoftware, Giftwrapped, OrangeWeb Technologies, Times Jobs,People & Management,American University of

Sharjah, The British University,Webster Buchanan Research &Al Maktoum Foundation.

For more information on NAIPand its initiatives in India,kindly write tomandeep.wasu@accordworldwide.com

Annual Payroll Conference & HR TradeShow 2013 AN INITIATIVE BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF INDIAN

PAYROLL (NAIP)

EVENTS

CALENDA

R

3rd WomenEntrepreneurshipConference21st Feb 2013, GulmoharHall, India Habitat Center,New DelhiOrganised by DMA-IBAContact Person:- Dr. EktaSaxena, +91 9911941090

National Conference onSchool Education: IsSecondary Educationon track?26th Feb 2013, JacarandaHall, India Habitat Centre,New DelhiOrganised by CIIContact Person:- TaruKhubani, 0124-4101045

1st National HR SharedServices Summit,22nd Feb 2013, ITCMaratha, MumbaiOrganised by NHRDNContact Person:- Syed Quasim Ali,+91 9560989534

Upcoming Events

6

Guest Column

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HIRING & BEYOND

Dr. Dan Harrison, PhD has an diverse background enabling him to invent HarrisonAssessments. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and his Master’sDegreein Marriage and Family Counseling from Norwich University, Vermont. He thenspent 10 years in private practice focusing on Human Potential Counseling and givingseminars worldwide. He completed his PhD from Sierra University in OrganisationalPsychology. He spent over 20 years developing the underlying framework that laterbecame the Harrison Assessment methodology. His vast experience led to the creationof a comprehensive personality and organisational development assessment tool, nowknown as Harrison Assessments.

Using interviews to assess job behaviour In the past, interviews have been usedas the primary means assess attitude,motivation, and job behaviour.However, even if interviewers areextremely intuitive, there are manyreasons why accurately assessing jobbehaviour with a normal interviewprocess is nearly impossible.

l There are dozens of behaviouralfactors that either promote orinhibit success for any one job.Interviewers rarely have access to ajob formula that identifies thebehavioural success factors, weightsthe success factors against eachother. And formulates how differentlevels of these success factorsimpact job performance.

l Even if the interviewer has access tosuch a formula, the he/she wouldneed to accurately assess specificlevels of each applicant’s behaviourfor each of the job success factors.

l Being skillful at an interviewusually does not relate to job successand therefore it often confuses theminto thinking that such skillfulnesswill relate to job success.

l The interviewee aims to tell theinterviewer what he/she thinks willbe viewed as the best response. Theinterviewer aims to determine howmuch of what the person is sayingreflects genuine attitudes andbehaviour and how much is relatedto just trying to get the job. This initself is extremely difficult to

resolve in the short period of theinterview.

l Interviewers are biased. Researchclearly shows that interviewersroutinely give favorable responses topeople who are similar tothemselves, and less favorableresponses to people who aredifferent from themselves. In theend, the result is very likely to comedown to how well the interviewerlikes the candidate rather than howwell the candidate fits thebehavioural requirements of the job.

Many interviewers claim insights intothe personality of applicants andcertainly some interviewers are quiteperceptive. However, predicting jobsuccess is an entirely different matter.It is not sufficient to perceive aparticular quality of a person. Rather,the interviewer must be able toaccurately assess the magnitude ofeach of dozens of qualities inrelationship to a complex formula ofbehavioural requirements for aparticular job. This is nearly animpossible task without the aid ofsignificant research and tools.Assessment research shows thatinterviewing has a moderate ability topredict job success. However, thisdoesn’t mean that interviewers canpredict job behaviour. The moderateability to predict job success comes as aresult of exploring the candidate’sresume, previous experience,

education, and job knowledge ratherthan the interviewer’s ability to predictjob behaviour. If you doubt myassertion, I suggest you try thefollowing experiment. Have yourinterviewers conduct the interviewwithout ever seeing the resume andwithout discussing past experience,education or skills. Then have themwrite down their job successprediction. Later, you can compare thisprediction to the actual job success. Infact, conducting interviews in this waywould be so difficult that I doubtanyone would even attempt it.In comparison, an effective jobbehaviour assessment can obtain amoderate level of predictive accuracyfor job performance on its own,without any knowledge of eligibility orany interview. This is a significantachievement because the eligibility hasnot been factored into the prediction.However, the value of job behaviourassessment is much greater thansimply its ability to predict job successon its own. By using an effective jobbehaviour assessment at the interview,the interviewer obtains the tools totransform the interview into a genuinediscussion about the person’s real fitfor the job as well as the person’s likelylevel of job satisfaction. Thus, usingthe results of a behavioural assessmentduring the interview process greatlyincreases the ability to predict jobbehaviour.

For information on Harrison Assessment in South India and West India please contact - Deepika Vij (deepika.vij@timesgroup.com, 0120-6636432)

For information on Harrison Assessment in North India and East India please contact - Rashi Mall (rashi.mall@timesgroup.com, 0120-6636433)

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HIRING & BEYOND

News Bytes

ING to cut another 2,400 Benelux jobs as Q4 falls shortDutch banking and insurance group ING on Wednesday reportedlower-than-expected fourth-quarter net profit and announced yetanother round of cost savings, cutting an additional 2,400 jobs. Quarterly net profit was 1.434 billion euros; underlying pre-taxprofit for the banking operations was 184 million euros, and at theinsurance unit was 272 million euros. Analysts polled by Reutershad forecast a net profit of 1.587 billion euros; the banking andinsurance arms were expected to report underlying profit of 290million and 265 million respectively.n The Economic Times, February 2013

Companies queue-up at National Institute of Design tooffer jobsA few months ago, Vistasp Manekshaw, a post-graduate student ofproduct design at National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad,received a one-of-its kind job offer at the institute: Toshiba wantedhim on board its global design team in Tokyo and offered him Rs 38lakh. The package bettered last year's, till date the highest, by three-and-a-half times. "The offer spells huge exposure," says Manekshaw,who is pursuing his six-month internship right now. Toshiba madethe offer to Manekshaw and his classmate, Pinakesh De, from a listof 15 shortlisted candidates. "The best thing is, I will get to work ona global product offering," says De.n The Economic Times, February 2013

Newer IIMs seek professional help to get their studentsplaced The younger IIMs are seeking professional help to get their studentsplaced and create better linkages with industry to deal with a mutedjob market and bigger batch sizes. Final placements at IIMAhmedabad, considered the B-school benchmark, have had a mutedstart (ET, February 11). The younger IIMs too may have a poor runin final placements, necessitating dedicated effort on their part. Institutes such as IIM Kashipur, IIM Ranchi, IIM Rohtak and IIMShillong have hired - in most cases, on contract - advisors incorporate relations and placement to reach out to companies withinformation on the work they are doing and the quality of students.n The Economic Times, February 2013

Sourcing experienced networking professionals a bigchallenge: HR Networking technology has evolved a lot from what it used to be fewyears back. The services they provide include designing anddeploying of complex network and managing them. Networkingequipment vendors today work with Indian partners, like ALTENCalsoft Labs, in their product R&D initiatives, which require highend technical knowledge and innovativeness. The networkingprofessional is no more a cable guy. They are perceived as networkproduct developers and business enablers. However, this segment isn The Times of India, February 2013

Need for specialised IP Surveillance courses on the risewith increased R&D With India making greater inroads into R&D, IP surveillance isgaining in importance. On the other hand there is a dearth ofnetwork engineers with deep understanding of IP Surveillanceacross all industries.“All engineering courses today focus only onbase knowledge, consequently a specialised IP SurveillanceEngineer is hard to find,’’ states Amrit Khanna, HR Head, VariantAeroTech India Pvt Ltd. “For technology focussed companies likeours, innovation plays a key role in business, and getting someonewith IP Surveillance skills is a mammoth task.”n The Times of India, February 2013

Are you a leader or a boss? Organisations today put a lot of emphasis on hard work anddiligence. Though employees form the backbone of a company,bosses or managers are the front line representation of a business.Whether it is about mentoring employees or retaining the righttalent, a good boss is at the very root of an organisational structure.The core reasons behind the retention of employees can often beattributed to the environment he/ she receives at work – whichincludes their communication with their respective line managers.In order to become a successful boss, besides acquiring the rightworking ethics, one should be sensitive towards employees, walk thetalk, be honest and remain focused.n The Times of India, February 2013

NEWS BYTES

Expert Speak

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HIRING & BEYOND

Would 2013 witness a lot ofboomerang hiring? If yes, why?

Companies always prefer re-hires to freshhires for a variety of reasons. This isespecially true for the ITeS industrywhere there is a limited talent pool andpeople switch jobs within the sameindustry very often.

2013 will see a lot of boomerang hiring inthe ITeS industry, not only fromemployees who have left for other BPOsbut also people returning from otherindustries back to the ITeS industry.

Some of the reasons why people willactively come back are growth, stabilityand a fun work environment within thecompany, known work environment andcolleagues.

Re-hires help to build the reputation ofthe company individually and theindustry as a whole as they validate thecompany as a better place to work forthan the greener pasture for which theemployee had initially left the company,This increases goodwill towards thecompany and helps to improve retentionof current employees as well.

Under what circumstances would youthink about re-hiring an ex-employee?

Re-hires are always preferred and givenpriority during hiring over new hires asthey are inherently more productive onthe floor and have a shorter learningcurve.

What are the benefits of boomeranghiring?

Re-hiring is an advantage due to manyreasons:

l Easy availability of database

l Lower cost of sourcing

l Greater potential to clear training andincreased throughput of training

l Stability is higher and attrition is lower

l Shorter learning curves of theemployees

l Higher sense of commitment to thecompany amongst rehired employees.

How can these re-hires be broughtback?

Re-hires can be persuaded to return to thecompany by the alternate channels teamthrough outbound calling. During the callthe following benefits of joining thecompany can be explained: -

l New processes that are beingintroduced and growth opportunities inthe same

l Compensation benefits to the returningemployee

l Higher amount of non monetarybenefits such as company transportfacilities, health club, conciergeservices, doctor on call, insurancecoverage etc.

What all could be the possiblelimitations of boomerang hiring?

Boomerang hiring is very effective whenyou are hiring for a similar profile.However in case the profile isconsiderably different from what hadbeen hired earlier you will have to tapinto the industry and look at fresh talent.

Would you re-hire a fired ex-employee? And why?

Fired ex-employees are not encouragedbecause separation was initiated due tofraud or damage to company property etcand hence such individuals would not berecommended.

What kind of ex-employees would youavoid re-hiring?

People who have been terminated or whohave faced disciplinary action or

management separation due to unlawful,indecent, corrupt actions.

What are the points to keep in mindwhile re-hiring?

Few elemental precautions need to bekept in mind while rehiring a candidatesuch as employment history, reasons ofearlier separation, settlement of claimsor dues or any other negative feedbackfrom previous supervisors and HR.

How does an efficient corporatealumni program benefit anorganisation?

It provides us with a ready database ofexperienced candidates; this pool ofqualified candidates can be easily tappedinto when required. Re-hiring helps notonly to reduce the cost of recruitment butalso things such as the training yield,productivity on the floor and attritionwhich are considerably lower in re-hiringcandidates. These secondary costs help toimprove the rate of return of the re-hiredcandidates.

Do you believe re-recruiting generateshigh return on recruitmentinvestment? If yes, how?

Re-hiring helps not only to reduce the costof recruitment but also things such as thetraining yield, productivity on the floorand attrition which are considerablylower in re-hiring candidates thesesecondary costs help to improve the rateof return of the re-hiring candidates.

Also, companies that maintain a goodrelation with their employees are morelikely to get a higher amount ofapplications and conversions from re-hired candidates as opposed to freshersand other candidates.

Re-Hires also help to build a positiveimage of the company through word ofmouth.

Boomerang hiring: re-hiring of ex-employees

Harish Jotwani, Head Recruitment, Serco Global Services

Harish Jotwani is the Hiring lead for Serco Global Services – India – International

Business - a part of 4.3 Billion Pound Serco Plc (UK) and one of the largest BPO in

Indian market. He has played a key role in defining and developing Serco’s

Recruitment Process. With a career that spans across 15 years of rich & varied

corporate experience in ITeS, FMCG & Consumer urables industries, Harish joined

Serco in 2007. He has a Masters in Business from ENPC Paris and graduated in

commerce from University of Calcutta.

Disclaimer: Information provided in this newsletter shall not be reproduced, published, re-sold or otherwise distributed inany medium without the prior written permission of TimesJobs.com and a clear acknowledgement to TimesJobs.com.Contact: TJinsite, TimesJobs.com, Plot No 6, Sector 16A, Film City, Noida. Write in to girish.bindal@timesgroup.com

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