Welcome “Boomerang” Employees
In 2017, I received a message from a Kronite whom I’ll call Ernie. A 25-year veteran of the company, Ernie had left about a year earlier to take a position at a global IT services firm. This firm had advertised Ernie’s new job as a management role, but when he arrived, he was disappointed to find that it was actually a fairly junior consulting position that came with no management responsibilities. Still, he stuck around. Months later, another unpleasant surprise hit him. The company announced it was laying off thousands of employees. Since Ernie had the least seniority on his team, he was shown the door. Now Ernie was writing me to see if I could help him find a new position at Kronos.
Many leaders, upon receiving a message like this, might not have responded. Perceiving Ernie as disloyal for having left the company, they certainly wouldn’t have welcomed him back into the organization. I was happy to help him, and I wrote him back that same day, telling him that I was forwarding his message to someone who would know about any job openings in his area of expertise.
At Kronos, we enthusiastically welcome back what we call “boomerang” employees, sometimes hiring them back just weeks after they’ve left. A Kronite, Brenda, wasn’t happy with her “nasty commute” to and from work each day. She wondered what it would be like to work for a big consumer brand that she had long adored. With a bit of effort, she landed a job at this company in which she would do more or less what she had been doing for Kronos, with free sneakers and athletic wear to boot. She left for this opportunity. A few weeks later, she got back in touch with her Kronos manager. Her new job wasn’t working out. The organization she had joined was disorganized, and as she told us, “The overall corporate culture was less than professional and too loosey-goosey for me.” She asked for her old job back. Her manager said yes—without hesitation. She has been at Kronos for 18 years since.
Today, our hundreds of boomerang Kronites are among our most loyal and impassioned employees. Their stories are diverse and unique. One of our employees in India left because her husband transferred to a faraway city. An employee in Australia left because she wanted to experience the client side of our business. An employee in our Massachusetts headquarters left to start a business with a friend. Whatever their reasons, when these employees return, they bring with them a deeper appreciation of our culture, not least because they’ve seen what it’s like in other workplaces. Brenda, the sneaker lover, told us that she has come to love how at Kronos, “all departments have a clear, concise mission” and departments “each work cohesively for a common goal—success and customer satisfaction.”
Although more companies have come to welcome boomerangs (a 2017 survey of hiring and human resources managers found that almost 40 percent envisioned hiring former employees),1 some people inside Kronos and other organizations still remain reluctant to rehire employees who’ve gone elsewhere, fearing that doing so would encourage more attrition among the existing workforce. Why would the company possibly want to send the message that it’s OK to leave? I hate to see good people go as much as anyone, but I think our attitude toward boomerangs sends a much different message: That we’re a confident company. That we care about our employees and want them to be happy. That we don’t hold grudges. When other Kronites encounter boomerangs roaming the hallways, they’re reminded of how unique an employer our company is. They’re inspired to stay, not leave. Our stellar retention statistics are proof of that.
To build an energetic, inspired, high-performance workforce, have a more open mind to the topics of recruiting, development, and retention. In your capacity as a manager or leader, invest aggressively in developing your people, but don’t hoard your talent and stigmatize employees for leaving. When former employees contact you about employment opportunities, do what you can to help them, up to and including hiring them back. They’ll benefit—and so will your business.
LURING BACK BOOMERANGS
When I say we welcome back boomerangs, we don’t simply respond favorably when former employees contact us, wanting to return. We actively recruit former employees. A Kronite—whom I’ll call Kelly—who worked on our customer support team wanted to transition into a career as a software quality assurance engineer. After three years with us, she left to pursue training and to hone her skills at a smaller company. That company, a start-up, closed its doors shortly after Kelly had come on board, and a second company she joined laid her off after only about six months.
The day of the layoff, she was returning home when she heard the phone ringing. Guess who it was? A friend from Kronos, calling to see if Kelly would be willing to come back as a contractor in software quality assurance. No joke! Trying not to reveal her excitement, Kelly paused and said, “Sure, I guess I can do that.” After the contract expired, she remained as a temporary Kronos employee until her manager decided that the team didn’t have enough work to support her position. Unhappy to be leaving, she spent a few months looking for work. Then, as she says, “The unbelievable happened again.” Kronos called with another temporary employment opportunity. This time, after a few weeks, she transitioned into a full-time position.
To Kelly, receiving a phone call from Kronos was “unbelievable,” but we do this all the time—even contacting Kronites whom we’ve laid off. We also dedicate a page on our website to enticing boomerang employees to come back, announcing to them in big, bold lettering that “the door is open.” We’re so enthused about boomerangs, and so eager to position ourselves as a boomerang-friendly employer, that we’ve conducted independent research on the phenomenon. In 2015, our affiliated think tank, The Workforce Institute at Kronos, fielded an industry thought leadership survey of 1,800 employees, human resources professionals, and managers about attitudes toward boomerangs. As we found, managers were becoming more open to hiring former company employees, and employees were becoming more open to returning to firms where they’d formerly worked.2 The survey generated widespread media interest, appearing in Forbes, the Huffington Post, and various blogs and industry publications.3
Now, we don’t hire back every former Kronite who solicits employment. If employees have underperformed in the past, or if they’ve had trouble fitting into our culture, our hiring managers will typically pass. We also decline to extend offers if we don’t have the right opportunities available. But if we do have those opportunities, and if former Kronites who were strong performers return to us seeking employment, we’re quick to see if they might fill some of our open positions. From our point of view, these employees represent far less risk than new employees who have never worked for us. And we don’t have to invest as much to train and onboard them. In our 2015 survey, a third of HR professionals and 38 percent of managers affirmed that “familiarity with the organization’s culture is the biggest benefit to hiring back former employees, while nearly one-third appreciate that boomerangs do not require as much training as a brand-new employee.”4 Most of the time, we’ve found boomerangs can sign on and begin contributing to their teams much more quickly than ordinary new hires. It’s a win for them, and for us.
YOU DON’T OWN YOUR EMPLOYEES’ CAREERS
Skeptics might counter that boomerang employees actually do represent higher risk. Because they’ve left before, they stand a higher chance of leaving again. In the Kronos survey previously mentioned, almost one-third of managers and HR professionals subscribed to this belief, claiming that “boomerang employees have a stigma hanging over their heads.”5 I respectfully disagree. We haven’t collected data on historical attrition rates among this group of employees, but we do know that while some do leave us again, the majority stay, often for years and even decades. They’ve seen what employment conditions are like at other companies, and they’re even more appreciative of what they have at Kronos, especially our culture.
Even some employees whom we’ve had to let go in the past feel intense loyalty to Kronos once they’ve returned. John, who was laid off in 2001, came back to us four months later. As he told us, “Kronos was the first place to make me an offer while I was unemployed.” He is still with us today. Another Kronite, also coincidentally named John, left Kronos when his department at Kronos dissolved. He worked elsewhere for five years. “I knew I was going to come back and work for this company again one day,” he told us, “[and I am] very happy I did.” He’s been back for six years and loves his job. “Earning a living by keeping customers satisfied is what I enjoy doing,” he said. He loves the teamwork and collaboration at Kronos.
Some laid-off Kronites do leave disgruntled, despite our best efforts to treat them compassionately. Some are so upset and resentful that they have little interest in returning. But it’s remarkable—and inspiring—to see how many take such career setbacks in stride. Just as we’ve trusted them as employees, they trust that our decision to do away with their jobs wasn’t personal, but rather something we had to do to secure the company’s long-term health. As a result, they’re often eager to return, if they can, and even more eager to stay once we’ve rehired them.
Even if boomerangs were less loyal than they’ve shown themselves to be, I would still feel perfectly comfortable rehiring them. It comes down to my personal philosophy underlying the employer-employee partnership. The way I see it, we as a company have a responsibility to invest in employees while they’re working with us, developing their talent and helping them build their careers. And we do make that investment, offering a whole suite of employee development programs and initiatives, including on-the-job training and coaching, mentoring, functional rotations (in which high-potential Kronites can gain experience across the company), “Kronovation Days” that allow employees to work on projects outside of their ordinary jobs, “career matrices” that help employees understand the skills and experiences they need to progress in their careers, tuition reimbursement, and much more. These resources are so extensive that many Kronites cite them as reasons for their high engagement. As one remarked, “I am proud to be working for a company that encourages its employees to continue to learn and excel.”
Despite our sizable investment, we don’t feel entitled to total employee loyalty when it comes to career choices. As I like to say, we don’t own employees’ careers. We just don’t. If people feel they need to leave our organization to pursue a dream, or take care of a sick relative, or make more money, or try out an opportunity that seems attractive in some other way, that’s their prerogative. We don’t—we can’t—hold it against them. Think about how wrong it would be to do so. Individual employees only have one career. We, on the other hand, have thousands of employees. By definition, each employee’s career will be more important to that Kronite than it is to the organization. We respect that and genuinely want our employees to make the career choices that best serve their own interests, even if it means that we occasionally lose some great people, as well as the investment we’ve made in developing them. When our best people leave and find success elsewhere, I am disappointed, but I understand it is likely the best career decision for them.
I should emphasize that this philosophy isn’t just my own; most people managers at Kronos think this way. Quite frequently, our managers will spend years developing high-potential employees, only to find that their interests have changed and they want to explore opportunities elsewhere in the company. While our managers might feel disappointed to lose that talent on their team, they should never stand in the way of someone’s career goals. One of our managers, who had recently helped two valued employees transition off her team into different functions inside the company, explains it this way: Her people “aren’t going to be happy if they’re here and looking to do something else. I’d want someone to do that for me.” Another manager agreed, explaining: “It’s really hard because inside you’re screaming, ‘I don’t want to have to hire another person for this position.’ But you’re doing the right thing by these individuals.”
As our managers also point out, setting employees free to pursue their careers is also a practical move. Employees who are held back and who have grown unhappy tend to spread their unhappiness to their teammates, causing overall engagement and morale to decline. “You just don’t want the negativity,” one manager said. On the other hand, another manager pointed to the intense loyalty that results when you develop employees and set them on a path they love, even if they wind up leaving your team. Describing a situation in which her best employee had just left on a six-month developmental assignment, a manager noted that her employee now “never wants to leave Kronos . . . I mean, she’s like married to this company.”
How do you as a manager think about your talent? Do you hold grudges when your best people leave? Do you want to cut ties, and do you resent their subsequent success? Are your organizational policies designed to retain people at all costs, dissuading them from pursuing career choices that might not serve the organization’s short-term interest? Bottom line: you don’t own their careers. They do. The sooner you accept and internalize that reality, the more affection and loyalty you’ll garner. And the more likely you’ll be to hire boomerangs, too—and reap the many rewards of doing so.
BENEFITS OF THE BOOMERANG
What are those rewards exactly, beyond loyalty, less risk to the company, and an easier time onboarding? Well, hiring boomerangs allows us to stay current with the realities of the modern workplace. You’ve heard statistics about how often millennials like to change jobs—I won’t even bother repeating them. And you’re no doubt aware of the gig economy phenomenon, whereby more and more workers shift between jobs and work multiple “gigs” simultaneously. Rehiring employees represents a tacit acknowledgment and acceptance of the fluidity that currently exists in the workforce. It positions us among job seekers as an employer in tune with the times, a company that “gets” the desire that many people feel to experiment with companies and to grow and evolve both personally and professionally.
Some of my favorite boomerang stories involve employees who left to experiment with other opportunities, including those that were largely unrelated to their work at Kronos. Paul, a project manager who had worked his way up to directing customer service for a geographic region, had long dreamed of working in film and television. In 2007, he had an opportunity to collaborate on some short films and TV shows. Although the money was unsteady, he embraced the opportunity, supplementing his income by designing apps in his spare time. He returned to Kronos after the birth of his son, realizing that while TV and film work was fun, he “needed something that could be fulfilling and stable.” Seven years later, he remains at Kronos. As he remarks, “Kronos’s culture of taking care of employees and insisting on [not paying lip service to] having a work/home life balance makes it the perfect place to work with new technology, while still making the time to be daddy to my little boy.”
Another Kronite, Sandy, joined us in 1989 and worked her way up to manage one of our large corporate accounts. In 2002, she “still had a few dreams to pursue,” so she left, enrolled in culinary school, became a chef, and opened a small catering company. Several years later, she wanted to return to a more corporate environment, so she took a position with a consulting firm that partners with Kronos. Three months after that, she “crossed back over” to become a Kronos employee.
As these stories suggest, our approach to boomerangs strengthen our culture, affirming that we care for employees and their careers. Many boomerangs leave Kronos not because they want to, but because their families need them. A Kronite—whom I’ll call Scott—had a family member with special needs, and he found it hard to travel for his job at Kronos. He felt Kronos couldn’t accommodate his need to restrict travel, so he left and took a position with another company. Three months later, his former boss at Kronos contacted him with news that his team could now accommodate his need for reduced travel, so he eagerly returned. Another employee, Laura, left to stay at home full-time with her two young children, returning 14 years later when her kids were older and more independent. If Kronos shut the door on such employees, we’d be contradicting our family-first philosophy. By welcoming them back, we generate more trust and affection among boomerangs and their colleagues alike.
A final reason to welcome back boomerangs is to benefit from the considerable knowledge and experience they gain while working elsewhere. Many boomerangs leave to join start-ups. Upon their return, they contribute entrepreneurial energy and excitement to their teams, furthering our own efforts in this area (Chapter 13). Some go to work on the client side of our business, and when they return, help to inject a deeper understanding of the client perspective into our teams. Still others are exposed to new technologies or industries and bring that knowledge back to the company. Of course, any new employee will contribute new knowledge, perspectives, and ideas. But since boomerangs also are already deeply embedded in our culture, we get the best of both worlds: veteran employees who nonetheless can freshen our culture and expand our horizons.
THE ULTIMATE BOOMERANG
In the summer of 2014, I heard a knock on my office door. Dave, our chief people officer, wanted to speak with me. I assumed it was about one of our policies, or perhaps a new idea for continuing to build our culture and increase engagement. I was in for quite a surprise. A much larger company had offered him a job. The compensation package was extraordinary, far above market value for someone in his position, and certainly far more than Kronos could match.
I shook my head. Dave had played a key role in helping me execute my vision of providing a highly inspiring and engaging workplace. I didn’t want to see him go, but at the same time, I knew this opportunity would be wonderful for him and his family. Frankly, I didn’t see how he could turn it down, and I told him so.
Dave and I continued to discuss his situation. I was a bit suspicious about why this new company was offering such high compensation. I wondered if something was going on behind the scenes that they weren’t telling him. Dave agreed, but he wasn’t terribly concerned. In his mind, the offer was incredibly attractive. In the end, he decided to take the new job. As we said our goodbyes, I told him to remember Kronos after he started his new job. I told him that if he was unsure about his decision, he should imagine that a little birdie was sitting on his shoulder, chirping, “My previous job at Kronos is not going to be open forever!”
A couple of days after he started his new job, I called him with the news that the Boston Globe had named us the best place to work among large companies in the state of Massachusetts. I kidded around with him, saying, “I don’t know why you’d want to work someplace else, when you already worked at the best place to work.” A few weeks after that, Dave called and asked if we could grab a coffee. I assumed he wanted my permission to recruit members of his former Kronos team for his new company, and I was prepared to be furious with him. In my head, I had composed a whole tirade about how inappropriate that was. But when he came in, Dave told me that while the money was great, the new job wasn’t in line with what he expected. He wanted to know: could he come back home to Kronos?
Uh, yes! Right then and there, I called our board chairman to discuss the logistics of bringing Dave back as a boomerang. Within 10 minutes, we had an agreement. Dave was coming back.
I didn’t begrudge Dave for leaving. If anything, the episode left us even more committed to our policy of respecting people’s careers and welcoming back boomerangs. I mean, come on, even our chief people officer, the person charged with helping us retain our best employees, is a boomerang!
Even prior to Dave’s return, boomerangs gave rise to a kind of subculture within Kronos. You heard chatter about boomerangs at meetings, in the hallways, on the elevator. Always, this chatter was accompanied by expressions of affection for Kronos. Employees took pride in identifying themselves as boomerangs.
Dave continued this tradition. Not long after his return, a few of his colleagues welcomed him back by playfully presenting him with an actual wooden boomerang, with an inscribed handwritten message, “Welcome back to the ‘Ultimate Boomerang!’” That gift still hangs in Dave’s office, a testament to the importance of empowering employees to live their lives and pursue their dreams, wherever that might take them.