Ready for a Re-Do? Pros and Cons of Rehiring Former Employees

Where do you stand on rehiring former employees? Once a connection is severed, gently or not, do you believe an employee can find their place within an organization once more? Every organization has its HR policies or rehiring, and none of them are objectively right or wrong. Some businesses have no qualms about welcoming a former employee back into its fold, while for others, once an employee chooses to leave or is asked to go, there can be no security in hiring them back.

There is valid reasoning for both ends of the spectrum and it’s up to an organization to determine what works best for it and why. Some employers even decide to handle the situation on a case-by-case basis, but it is always beneficial to have a standard policy to fall back on.

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Rehiring Former Employees—How Do You Feel About It?

Rehiring employees is a very simple concept. It refers to the process of giving a former employee another shot at working at the organization. Employees leave for varying reasons and while some shut the door so firmly on their way out that it becomes impossible to reopen, in a majority of cases, employees don’t entirely give up on their relationship with the business. 

The decision to rehire employees can rely on multiple factors, from the company’s preference to work with fresh talent to their desire to stick to the initial decisions made on cutting ties with the employee. One of the most critical aspects to consider when it comes to HR rehiring policies is the employees’ reasons for leaving in the first place. 

In situations where the employer and employee leave on good terms, there’s more reason to reignite the relationship that once existed between the two parties. In cases where things ended on bad terms, it’s much harder to establish a healthy association.

Understanding Why Employees Leave

Employees come and go in any organization—that is the natural course of things. These exiting employees leave for many reasons. Their justifications for leaving many include unavoidable circumstances such as relocation, leaving to start a family, health concerns, etc. 

They may also quit because they found a better opportunity, received better benefits elsewhere, decided to switch career paths, had a really tiring manager or team they could no longer work with, got tired of the work culture at the current location, or just felt like it was time for a change. Depending on their reasoning, it can be much easier to decide if it’s possible to re-establish a relationship.

Employees are also occasionally let go of by the organization itself. Sometimes this occurs as a result of cost-cutting plans and widespread layoffs and other times it occurs due to the organization’s dissatisfaction with the employee’s performance. Occasionally, employees are also fired when they violate company policy or behave in a way that’s unacceptable. Under the latter circumstances, it is rare for an organization to consider rehiring the former employees. 

When there is an obvious divide between the perspective of the organization and the worker, it makes little sense to force a relationship between the two. Should you rehire ex-employees? There are multiple reasons why you should or shouldn’t consider rehiring former workers.

Benefits of Rehiring Ex-Employees

There are many advantages to rehiring former employees instead of hiring someone entirely new. 

• The organization will be faced with lower talent acquisition costs as it will not have to spend resources and time in finding the right candidate
• The former employee will be familiar with how the organization works and won’t need to be introduced to the work policies
• The organization will not have to invest as many resources in training the employee compared to a new hire
• Rehiring a former employee will help switch to the productive phase more easily as they will only have to catch up to the changes that occurred since they left
• They will be no trouble in acclimatizing the employee to the company culture as the employee will know what to expect
• The employee will be able to provide a fresh perspective to their tasks, combining the knowledge of what they know about the organization and what they learned since they left
• The employee will be able to reunite with their teammates and revisit past connections more easily than someone who has to create bonds from scratch
• The employee’s past performance will be a good indicator of how the employee will perform, ensuring there is no need to closely observe and improve of their work
• An employee will value their time at the organization more the second time around when they know exactly what they’re signing up for, ensuring they are motivated for their role

Disadvantages of Rehiring Former Employees

Despite the many benefits of rehiring, there can be multiple drawbacks to bringing someone back onto the team. 

• Unless the internal reasons for the employee leaving the first time are fully resolved, they are likely to arise again
• If the employee is rejoining the organization after a big break, things might have changed quite a bit. They might find the changes disorienting
• Returning employees might want to stick to their preferred ways of doing things, even if the organization works differently, causing a disruption in the work done
• There will be a readjustment period for the employee, the duration of which is hard to predict
• Depending on the reasons for the employee’s return, if they are turning back to the organization because they lack an option, they may remain unmotivated to work
• There is the risk of employees quitting again if they are only looking for a job until they find their next desired opportunity
• If an employee was unable to work with a specific team or manager the first time, it is unlikely they will be better able to do it the second time around

Rehiring former employees requires a lot of consideration and it’s not an easy decision to make. When employees leave on bad terms, it is much easier to make a decision, but when employees still leave on good terms, the decision is a lot more nuanced. Rehiring also relies heavily on why the employee intends to return. These details combined provide a full picture of the situation.

An organization can look into formalizing a clear HR rehiring policy that specifies the circumstances under which they are willing to bring an employee back on board, just to make it simpler for the hiring team. 

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