The idea of rehiring a past worker may not cross the mind of most business owners. But let me tell you that it is not as bad it seems. In fact, bringing back a employee may be very beneficial to your business. However, the chance that may or may not work on you still depends on different factors. So, in order for you to know whether or not rehiring a former employee is a good idea for your company, let us know first what are its possible advantages and disadvantages so you can identify if you think you can apply it to your company.
Just take note that we’re only referring to those who left a good standing with your company and have proven themselves to be a beneficial part of your organization. Any past employees who were fired due to bad performance or behaviour may be taken out of the list of those you can consider to hire back.
Disadvantages of Rehiring Former Employees
Before we even talk about the risks, let’s first discuss the risks that you to consider in deciding whether that person deserves to be hired back. These are also the things that may affect their performance when you bring them back.
First, you have to think if they are really the best candidate for the job because there is chance that they are not. The fact that there is a former employee applying for the job is not an enough eliminate all other applicants just because you liked his/her personally. You should still give chance to others to prove themselves because not doing this might deprive you of the chance to hire your company’s greatest asset. Stick on your qualifications and give everyone a fair chance test everyone including former employees to know who really suits to be in the role.
Another thing that you have to consider is the possibility that they may leave again. It did happen before so there’s a chance that they may do it again for whatever reason they may have.
You also have to consider that they may feel more entitled when they come back. Of course, you have to consider them as a new employee again even if this is not your first working engagement. But this may not be the same case for them. There’s a tendency that they will assert their superiority and look down on others just because of their past experience.
Lastly, past employees who have unfinished business other employees may also bring back quarrels and arguments which could cause bigger trouble for your business. So, before you bring someone back on, you should be sure that they don’t have any issues with any of your current employees and vice versa because this can contribute in making a toxic work environment fuelled by workers that don’t get along with each other. Remember that this environment is also one of the leading causes that drives away not only the bad but also the good employees.So, before you make your final decision, try confirming first whether all their problems with other employees are settled if there’s any.
Advantages of Rehiring Former Employees
Now that you know the negative effects that it may entail, now is the time to discuss the positive ones to weigh if hiring a former employee is worth considering for you.
One of the biggest advantages of bringing back an old employee is that you can benefit from their past experience and their familiarity with you. This means you don’t have to train them back from scratch because they may already have all the basics of how you operate. Plus, they won’t struggle much adjusting to your company culture because they already had a taste of it. So, since they’ve already worked with you, you just have to polish and improve what they already know and have. This saves you from all the costs of training a new employee just to make them productive.
But just don’t assume that the still remember all that you’ve ever told them regarding their job and your company because at some point they will still need some refreshing as well as update of your new systems and operations.
Another good thing about hiring a past employee is that they can be more determined. This is when they realise that they’re working at a company that is willing to reconsider an old employee and didn’t keep any grudge towards them. It can also leave a positive impression to your current employees as seeing an old employee come back informs them that their current position is a good one since people are coming back for it. These can all increase the level of morale in the workplace which will result in an increase in productivity and confidence among your employees.
These old employees can also bring in a fresh perspective from other jobs they tried which can be useful for you to improve the quality of work and service that you are providing. You can also use it to analyse the way you manage and train your staff.
Now that you are informed of both the its advantages and disadvantages, you can look into your business and into that person to see whether your company would be better without them. Know that just like love, hiring a worker again can be better the second time around.
