Latest / Hiring & Firing with Fexingo: Recruitment, Performance, and Workforce Decisions / The Surprising Reason ExEmployees Make the Best Hires
Transcript
- Lucas: You know that feeling when a great employee gives notice, and you think, 'Well, there goes two years of institutional knowledge out the door'? Luna: I've felt it. That little knot in your stomach because you know the replacement process is going to be painful. Lucas: Right. But here's a thought that rarely crosses a hiring manager's mind: what if that person comes back? Not in a hypothetical, 'maybe someday' sense, but as a deliberate, structured part of your hiring strategy. Luna: Boomerang employees. It's a term I hear more often now, but I think a lot of companies still treat them with suspicion. Lucas: Exactly. There's almost a stigma—like if you left once, you're not loyal. But the data tells a very different story. A 2024 study from the Workforce Institute at UKG looked at rehires across several industries and found that boomerangs are forty percent more likely to stay longer than first-time hires. And they reach full productivity two to three weeks faster. Luna: That's a huge edge. Faster ramp time alone saves thousands in training costs and lost productivity. Lucas: Before we get too deep into the numbers, I want to mention something real quick. If these conversations have moved your work forward in even a small way, listener support is what keeps Hiring and Firing running ad-free. A couple of dollars a month genuinely makes a difference—it's the reason we can dig into studies like this UKG one without worrying about sponsors. Luna: Yeah, it's a small thing that adds up. Buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of these episodes. Lucas: Alright, back to boomerangs. The UKG study also found that rehires score higher on performance reviews in their first year compared to external hires. That might sound counterintuitive—they already know the culture, the systems, the unwritten rules. They don't have to learn which Slack channel is actually important. Luna: But there's a catch, right? Not every boomerang is a success. I've seen situations where someone comes back and instantly falls back into old patterns, or worse, tries to renegotiate their role. Lucas: Absolutely. The quality of the initial exit matters a lot. If someone left on bad terms—or if the company changed drastically while they were gone—the reintegration can fail. That's why some of the best-known boomerang programs, like at Starbucks and REI, are so intentional. Luna: What do they do differently? Lucas: For one, they maintain alumni networks. Starbucks has a 'Starbucks Alumni' group on LinkedIn that's actually active—not just a directory. When a position opens, they specifically reach out to former partners. REI does something similar, and they've found that rehires often stay longer than their first stint. Luna: I wonder if that's partly because they've had a reality check. They leave, see what else is out there, and realize their old company wasn't so bad after all. Lucas: That's exactly the psychology. The 'grass is greener' effect works in reverse. But it's not just about sentiment—there's a real economic argument. Let me give you a concrete case. I spoke with the head of talent at a mid-sized tech firm in Austin—around eight hundred employees. Two years ago, they started formally tracking boomerangs. Currently, about fifteen percent of their new hires are former employees. And those boomerangs account for thirty percent of top-quartile performance ratings. Luna: So they're disproportionately high performers. That's a powerful incentive to invest in the rehire pipeline. Lucas: It is. But it also requires a shift in mindset. Most companies treat departures as a permanent loss. They have exit interviews, but they don't think of them as the start of a future re-recruitment process. They should. Luna: What would that look like in practice? You end an exit interview and immediately add the person to an alumni newsletter? Lucas: Pretty close. Some companies create a 'talent cloud'—a database of former employees with notes on their skills, performance, and why they left. If the reason was something like 'wanted a promotion that wasn't available' or 'needed to relocate for a spouse's job,' those are easily reversible. You can target them when the right opening comes up. Luna: But what about the ones who left because of a bad manager? Or because they felt undervalued? That's not so easy to reverse. Lucas: That's the honest challenge. If the root cause was cultural or managerial, coming back might mean facing the same problem. The UKG study actually found that boomerangs who left for 'push' reasons—like dissatisfaction—had lower retention rates on rehire than those who left for 'pull' reasons, like a spouse's job or going back to school. Luna: So you shouldn't just automatically rehire everyone who applies. You have to filter for the ones who left on good terms and for good reasons. Lucas: Exactly. And you have to check for cultural drift. If the person has been gone two years, the company may have changed. The team may have changed. The expectations may be different. A good interview process for a boomerang should include a conversation about what's different now. Luna: That's interesting—treating them almost like a new hire in terms of orientation, but leveraging their prior knowledge. Lucas: Right. And the salary question is another tricky one. Some companies try to lowball boomerangs because 'they already know the culture,' but that backfires. If they left for more money and you bring them back at the same pay, they'll leave again. The market rate has moved. Luna: So you have to be willing to pay a premium for the known quantity. Lucas: Yes. And that premium is often worth it. The cost of a bad external hire—the search, interview, onboarding, ramp time, and potential mis-hire—can be two to three times the annual salary. A boomerang hire cuts most of that risk. Luna: I'm also thinking about the signal it sends to current employees. If they see that leaving doesn't burn bridges, that might actually reduce the fear of leaving. And less fear means more honest conversations about growth. Lucas: That's a really good point. The 'golden handcuffs' culture can be toxic. When people feel trapped, they disengage. Knowing that the door swings both ways—that you can leave and come back—can actually increase retention, because people stay because they want to, not because they have to. Luna: So maybe the best retention strategy is to let people leave gracefully. Lucas: I think that's exactly right. And it's not just about being nice—it's strategic. Every person who leaves and has a positive experience becomes a brand ambassador. They'll refer other talent. They might become customers. And they might come back themselves. Luna: There's one more angle I want to touch on. Boomerangs are also a diversity lever in some cases. If your company has a homogeneous culture, people from underrepresented groups might leave because they don't see a path. If you create a welcoming alumni network and actively recruit them back after they've gained experience elsewhere, you can bring in fresh perspectives that also understand your context. Lucas: That's a nuanced argument and I think it holds water. I've seen it work in practice at one of the larger tech companies—not naming names, but they had a returnship program specifically for women who had left the workforce for caregiving. That's a different kind of boomerang, but the same principle: someone with prior company knowledge comes back and brings new skills. Luna: Let's talk about the practical steps. If a hiring manager listening wants to start a boomerang program, what's the first thing they should do? Lucas: First, audit your exit data. Find out who left in the last two years, why they left, and whether they went to a competitor or a different industry. Then create a simple outreach: an email or LinkedIn message that says, 'Hey, we valued your time here. If you're ever interested in coming back, we'd love to talk.' No pressure. Luna: And if they respond, what's the interview process? Is it shorter than a typical hire? Lucas: It should be shorter, but not zero. Skip the culture-fit questions—they already know the culture. Focus on what they've learned since leaving. Ask about new skills, new perspectives, and how those would apply if they returned. Also ask about what they liked and didn't like about their previous tenure, to make sure the issues are resolved. Luna: So it's more of a conversation about growth than a screening. Lucas: Exactly. And one more thing: set expectations. Be clear about what's changed. If the old manager is gone, tell them. If the role has different responsibilities, lay it out. Transparency builds trust. Luna: I want to ask about the flip side. What if a boomerang hire doesn't work out? Does that taint the relationship for good? Lucas: It can, but it doesn't have to. If you handle the second departure with the same grace as the first, you might still have a future advocate. But honestly, the data suggests the success rate is high enough that you shouldn't let fear of failure stop you. The UKG study found that rehires had a lower involuntary termination rate than new hires. So they're less likely to be fired. Luna: That makes sense—they already passed the first filter, and they've self-selected by wanting to come back. Lucas: Right. So here's where I land: boomerangs are an underutilized talent pool. Most companies have a reactive stance—they wait for former employees to apply. The proactive ones are building alumni networks, tracking reasons for departure, and re-recruiting strategically. That's the next frontier in hiring. Luna: I think it also forces companies to be better places to work. If you know people might come back, you treat them better when they leave. And that raises the bar for everyone. Lucas: That's a great closing thought. I'll leave listeners with a question: if you left your current job today, would you want to come back? If the answer is no, maybe that says something about where you work. And if it's yes, maybe that's the best retention signal there is. Luna: Thanks for listening, everyone. We'll be back next episode with another angle on hiring and firing.