What about boomerang employees?
Marieke Pepers
Chief People Officer | CHRO | Nmbrs | Progressive People practices | Future of Work
In the first years of Nmbrs I followed them closely from a distant. I was proud to become an employee when things started to take off. After a while I felt I had outgrown my role. When a once in a lifetime opportunity came by I jumped. Five years later my former role opened up, all interesting and challenging again; Nmbrs changed. I rejoined and with that became a boomerang. And I was not the only one returning to Nmbrs. For various reasons people had left, but now came back for the same or other roles. You can say that our alumni program pays off.
When I started to check this boomerang effect around me with peers in people roles I heard more stories about returning former colleagues. I started to wonder: if people leave and return fast. Was their resignation something we should have been able to prevent? Or was it healthy and smart to let them explore elsewhere for a while??
Generations before me people worked their way up at one employer. Tlking about loyalty. My generation stays loyal to their profession - but changes employers for various reasons every 5-10 years. Younger generations change employees and professions overnight. The boomerangs seem to arise in all groups. What is the trigger? What do we hope to find outside? Why come back? Does loyalty have a new meaning? What can we learn from this as HR professionals?
I’m very curious. Do you have more and more boomerangs at your organization? What do we need to learn from this? Please share your opinion or give me a call.?
I recently wrote an article about boomerang employees: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/boomerang-employees-anna-karapetyan/ . I'm of the view that boomerang employees can be highly successful if they possess self-awareness about their reasons for leaving and subsequently returning. Additionally, if the organization is cognizant of the complexities of reintegrating such employees, the outcome can be exceptionally fruitful!
UX Lead at Visma - Customer Success & Communication
2 年I am a boomerang employee myself (and proud). As Jose Saramago wrote "you have to leave the island to see the island", and I see myself in this quote so much.
Head of Employer Branding & Sponsorship Activation | Visma Group
2 年Nice read ????
Marketing & Events bij Nmbrs BV | Sport Commentator | Ex-Topsport bij THC Hurley
2 年Martine Janzen also one of my favourite boomerangs of all time. Together with Remco Rietveld of course.
Positive thinker
2 年Nice topic! The year has just started and "our" third boomerang employee will start next month. All been away between 12-6 months only. We all are happy, but it is crazy!