Six Important Talent Acquisition Trends in 2021

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If you find it challenging to find the right talent, you’re not alone.

According to a survey of 40,000 employers conducted by Manpower Group, 45% of employers say that they can’t currently find the workers with the skills they need.

This statistic means that there’s more competition than ever before when it comes to attracting and retaining highly-qualified candidates. That competition is just one factor changing the landscape of talent acquisition – technology and changing attitudes towards labour are also playing their part.

If you’re going to attract and retain the best talent in 2021, you’ll need to keep on top of the latest trends. Let’s dig deeper into six unmissable 2021 talent acquisition trends.

2021 Talent Acquisition Trends

These are the six most prominent 2021 talent acquisition trends, but we’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions too. Be sure to let us know if there’s another trend that you’re particularly excited about in 2021.

1. More companies will adopt cutting-edge talent acquisition technology

There’s no question that as we enter the brave new world of Recruitment 4.0, technology is transforming the very notion of talent acquisition.

Advancements to AI mean that HR departments can use cutting-edge talent acquisition technology to level-up their performance and find the right candidates. As talent acquisition platforms continue to mature throughout 2021, we can expect to see HR departments use them to:

  • Reduce unconscious bias
  • Automate time-consuming and repetitive activities
  • Pinpoint the best candidates from within a talent pool
  • Effortlessly increase hiring volume
  • Auto-screen candidates

We’re excited to see how companies continue to make the most of talent acquisition technology and how those platforms will enhance the performance of HR professionals.

2. Businesses will focus on mentoring and training to retain talent

According to the Association for Talent Development (ATD), those companies that offer comprehensive training programmes enjoy a 218% higher income per employee.

Top candidates also expect to receive training: 87% of Millennial employees state that career growth opportunities are an essential factor when deciding whether to remain at a company.

Over the course of 2021, we’ll be sure to see more businesses invest in robust mentoring and training programmes to attract top talent. Those mentoring and training programs can help businesses to get the most from their team members while also fostering a sense of loyalty and belonging.

3. Remote Work

If 2020 was the year that remote work became the norm, 2021 is sure to be the year that candidates expect it. It’s fair to say that with many businesses working from home for a large part of the last year, workers have proven that for many industries business can carry on, as usual, no matter where they are. While there have been hundreds of stories about the death of the office, no workplace will expect to shut down its base entirely as there are some huge advantages of all being able to work together in the same space. However, candidates will expect a level of flexibility in their future workplace, and for many, it could be a deciding factor in whether they accept a job. Not only will remote working help you to attract top talent, but it will also widen the available talent pool as you’re no longer limited to a commutable area. If the possibility of remote work hasn’t been factored into your recruitment strategy for 2021, it’s time to ensure it is.

3. Ambitious companies will invest heavily in employer branding to attract top talent, reduce costs and enhance engagement

Employer branding sounds fancy, but as we know, it merely refers to a company’s reputation as an employer.

Given that it’s so difficult for companies to attract the best talent at the moment, they must invest in employer branding to stand out from the competition and entice the most sought after candidates.

TalentNow found that 84% of job seekers say the reputation of a business as a potential employer is crucial to them when making decisions.

Over the course of 2021, we’re confident that more companies will invest in employer branding to attract the best talent. We’ll see lots of companies take a combination of the following steps:

  • Audit their existing employer brand
  • Define a strong employee value proposition
  • Craft a definite and clear culture
  • Manage their online reputation
  • Encourage employees to become energetic advocates

Are you looking for an innovative and effective way to boost your employer brand in 2020? We have three words for you: corporate alumni network.

For more information, please read our guide on why building a corporate alumni network makes sense for your business.

4. Workplaces will become more diverse (and prosper for it)

By now, countless studies have demonstrated that diverse workplaces benefit from increased creativity, different perspectives, higher innovation and much more.

This is why achieving true workplace diversity has become an essential goal for businesses in recent years. HR departments around the world now place a strong emphasis on assembling diverse teams that include people with different characteristics.

Over the course of 2021, we’ll continue to see ambitious HR departments bring together a range of diverse candidates. Those departments will use several vital techniques to promote and manage diversity in the workplace.

Here are just some of the principal techniques that HR managers will use:

  • Talent acquisition technology will help mitigate unconscious bias
  • Diversity-friendly workforce policies will accommodate for a range of profiles
  • Mentorship programs will give every team member the chance to advance
  • Clear internal communication will contribute to an open and respectful atmosphere

5. Direct Sourcing & Building Talent Pools

Hiring wasn’t a priority for many in 2020, and while most industries and their employees embraced a new way of working there is no doubt 2021 saw a lesser focus on recruiting for new positions due to uncertainty and budget constraints. When the pandemic hit organisations and their service providers looked towards Direct Sourcing and building talent pools to reduce the cost of the search.  A talent pool is a collection of candidates who are passionate about your brand and want to work for you. By using keep warm strategies like email attraction campaigns, you can keep these candidates interested in your business until a role becomes available. In 2021, if hiring still isn’t a realistic prospect, building a curated talent pool could be.

6. Businesses will offer competitive perks to secure the best talent

When it comes to the dynamics surrounding talent acquisition, the ball is most certainly in the court of talented and in-demand candidates. If you’re going to attract them to your business, you’ll need to offer a suite of competitive perks.

Nowadays, those candidates expect their salaries to be complemented by a range of non-monetary benefits that keep them happy and engaged. 48% of candidates weigh benefits and perks when deciding on their next role.

We expect that over the course of 2021, businesses will revise the suite of perks that they offer to attract top talent. Here are just some of the most sought after perks that you can use to sweeten the deal:

  • Private insurance
  • Performance bonuses
  • Flexible schedules
  • Employee development programs
  • Gym memberships
  • Stock options
  • Employee discounts

Unlock the Power of AI-Driven Talent Intelligence with Elevate Direct

Are you ready to leverage the power of AI in 2021 to build an instantly qualified pipeline of talent? Learn more about how the Elevate Platform can help you to retain, engage and attract the best talent for your organisation.

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The Benefits of a Curated Talent Pool

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What is Talent Curation? | Finding and engaging top talent quickly and efficiently is the number one goal when companies hire; this is even more important when it comes to contingent workers. 

Direct sourcing and talent pools have become the go-to strategy for companies looking to find talent quickly and efficiently while reducing the overall cost of search. Direct sourcing is about leveraging a company’s high-quality brand to attract, curate, and engage with talent. Like all sources of talent, there is a lot of focus on talent attraction ” top of the funnel ” and not enough on talent pool curation.

What is talent curation?

Curation is a combination of many key elements, both human and automation;

  • Matching of skill sets and experience for unbiased hiring decisions.
  • Proactive talent pool building with the necessary skills to meet the hiring needs of today and tomorrow.
  • Using personalisation to nurture and engaging candidates in your talent pool.
  • Skills assessment and testing to ensure quality.
  • Thorough screening and interviews to validate the perfect fit

Curation is strategic, precise, and tailored by role, industry, and skill and immediately provides value to the hiring company. Direct sourcing platforms like Elevate uses powerful Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies that empower organisations and their service providers to understand the skills to deliver a curated shortlist of qualified candidates.

What is the value of curation for the hiring company? 

Curation provides immediate and quantifiable value to the organisation;

  • Time to fill is drastically reduced.
  • Candidate quality is dramatically improved, and the hiring ratio is typically 3x better.

Benefits to the candidate

Talent curation is being proactive rather than reactive and at the heart of it all is the candidate. A highly personalised positive experience creates a higher chance to re-engage for future work opportunities and more referrals of other high-quality candidates.

Having the right combination of human and technology automation is a must for any direct sourcing program to succeed. Without both, you will not reap the obvious benefits of a curated talent pool.

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Six Reasons You Should Develop An Alumni Talent Pool

Any business owner or HR professional knows that finding, attracting and retaining quality talent is one of the biggest challenges facing any business.

The hiring process can often last too long and cost too much. Even after you’ve found a candidate, there’s no guarantee that they’ll be suitable for the role. If you’re going to conquer recruitment challenges to find the right candidates at the right price, you’ll need to think outside the box.

You should certainly consider creating a robust alumni talent pool.

What is an alumni talent pool?

Before we dive into why you should develop an alumni talent pool, let’s quickly sketch a simple definition for the sake of clarity.

As the name suggests, an alumni talent pool is a database made up of former employees who worked for your business. This talent pool includes full-time employees, but you might also want to include independent contractors or part-time employees.

The talent pool is a useful HR resource – you can draw upon it to find potential candidates when you need them. But it can also do a lot more.

Why to create an alumni talent pool

An alumni talent pool is an excellent resource that you can draw upon to effectively manage the common pitfalls that come with recruitment.

Let’s take a closer look at the six key reasons you should develop an alumni talent pool.

1. Guarantee a cultural fit

According to Deloitte, 94% of executives believe that a distinct workplace culture is critical to business success. It’s little wonder: a strong company culture has the potential to elevate employee engagement, happiness, productivity and much more.

A company culture is a delicate thing, though, and you’ll have to work hard to find candidates that reflect and enhance that culture – a poor fit could negatively impact your business and harm your sense of culture.

If you draw on your alumni talent pool to find candidates for new roles, you can rest assured that you’ll find a good fit in terms of culture. You’ll already understand the profiles within your talent pool and this means you can remove the guesswork and danger that comes with hiring new profiles.

2. Boost your corporate training ROI

According to SH!FT, 7 out of 10 employees state that training and development opportunities heavily influence their decision to stay with a company. Quality corporate training can also help you to get the most from your employees.

Corporate training isn’t cheap, though, and you’ll need to make significant investments if you’re going to unlock its full potential. This is one of the reasons it can be so painful for businesses if an employee decides to leave.

If you lose an employee, your ROI on corporate training plummets. If you have the opportunity to re-hire that employee, though, you’ll protect your investment and unlock a higher ROI on your corporate training.

3. Strengthen your employment brand

If you’re going to attract the best talent out there, you’ll need to polish your employer brand. This means that you’ll need to craft a strong employee value proposition and build a vibrant company culture.

The return of a former employee is great for internal PR. This event is a testament to the quality of your business and it demonstrates that after having ventured out to find alternatives, your employees can’t find a better alternative.

If you find an appropriate candidate within your alumni talent pool, you’ll make a strong statement to your other team members and really create a sense of community.

Ready to delve deeper into this subject? Be sure to read our piece on how building a robust alumni talent network can strengthen your employment brand.

4. Understand the capabilities of your candidates

Even after the most rigorous and comprehensive interview process, there’s still an element of risk when you decide to hire a new employee. You’ll need to monitor how your new employee performs to assess their capabilities and whether they’re up to the task.

If you hire from within your alumni talent pool, though, you’ll have an excellent idea of what your candidate is capable of. You’ll be able to go through their previous performance reviews and determine whether or not they’re exactly what you’re looking for.

This helps to eliminate the element of risk that comes when hiring a new employee.

5. Reduce your recruitment costs

Finding the right talent can be incredibly expensive. In the UK, a typical recruitment agency will take around 15-20% of the final salary of the candidate, which is around £5,000 for an average salary. That figure ramps up considerably for more senior or technical roles.

An alumni talent pool can help you to reduce your recruitment costs significantly – if not eliminate them completely. That talent pool can give you direct access to experienced and pre-qualified candidates, so it’s an important resource.

6. Retain and re-attract Millennials

The modern workplace is evolving before our eyes, as well as the very concept of labour. Millennials now make up the majority of the workforce and they bring a unique and energetic approach to their work.

According to Glassdoor, though, a staggering 66% of Millennial employees are thinking of leaving their organisation in 2020. There’s a sense of dynamism among Millennial workers, and this means that you have to expect many of them to leave your business.

It’s an unfortunate reality, but a well-maintained alumni talent pool can help you prepare: if you carefully monitor the status of your Millennial alumni, you might be able to re-attract them to your business as they continue to change jobs at a regular pace.

Create your alumni talent pool today with Elevate

Are you ready to create your alumni talent pool and unlock the benefits we’ve gone through above? You might be interested in Elevate AI, a leading Talent Intelligence platform that makes it simple for you to create effective Private Talent Pools.

Learn more about how our platform can help you to retain, engage and attract the best talent for your organisation.

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The Contingent Workforce: What Is It, Why Is It Growing and What Are Its Benefits?

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Technology is changing our society at a breakneck pace, and the world of work is also shifting as a consequence. Our opinions, beliefs and even feelings towards work are changing quickly, and this is affecting the very nature of labour.

These changes have given rise to the contingent workforce – a growing group of talented professionals who work with several companies on an on-demand basis.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the contingent workforce and explore the key reasons it is multiplying.

What Is the Contingent Workforce?

The contingent workforce refers to professionals who work with organisations on an on-demand basis. Those professionals are most often freelancers, independent contractors, agency workers and consultants.

Why Is the Contingent Workforce Growing?

A combination of diverse factors is behind the growth of this contingent workforce. If you can understand the motivations behind the different members of the contingent workforce, you’ll be better able to connect with them.

Here are just some of the main contributing factors according to some experts:

Key Contingent Workforce Statistics

Here are some key statistics about the contingent workforce to paint a clearer picture of its impressive growth:

  • The latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics show that almost five million workers in the UK identify as self-employed.
  • Data from Simply Business found that the UK experienced a 31% annual rise in people looking to go freelance in 2018.
  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, contingent workers in the US are twice as likely as non-contingent workers to be 25 or less.

The Power of the Contingent Workforce for Employers

Now that we have a clearer understanding of the contingent workforce and its growth, let’s dive into the key benefits for employers:

1. Cheaper than full-time employees

Every business owner knows just how expensive it can be to hire and retain a full-time employee. There are several significant costs associated with doing so, such as salaries, national insurance contributions, recruitments expenses and much more.

Once a business has made a full-time hire, it has to make a significant commitment to that employee. Replacing an employee is very expensive, which is why it’s so critical businesses make the right decision.

These dynamics mean that it’s often much cheaper for businesses to hire from the contingent workforce. Doing so allows companies to circumvent many of the costs that are traditionally associated with full-time employees.

Members of the contingent workforce will often charge a higher hourly rate, but businesses still make significant savings by working with those professionals.

2. Faster to find and hire

There are a lot of common challenges for companies looking to hire new talent. To begin, they’ll often struggle to attract and engage with the appropriate candidates. They’ll also have to invest a lot of time and attention into cultivating a strong employer brand.

The candidate experience has to be flawless, too, if businesses are going to secure the brightest and most in-demand talent.

These factors mean that it now takes an average of 38 days to fill an open position. That’s not counting all of the time that is required to onboard and train a candidate once they have been hired.

The contingent workforce offers an exciting opportunity for businesses in this respect. Companies can leverage data-driven recruitment tools and platforms to find the talent that they need in a matter of days instead of weeks.

This speed means that businesses can now identify a distinct need and then fulfil it in the same week. This gives those businesses a significant competitive advantage, and if they call upon the contingent workforce accurately, they’ll be able to move their businesses in the right direction.

3. Talented and diverse

Several studies have demonstrated that diverse workplaces enjoy a range of critical advantages. Those workplaces are often more creative, productive and performant, for instance.

Businesses that call upon the contingent workforce for short-term projects get to benefit from a more diverse workforce. Those on-demand professionals will naturally bring a whole new set of attitudes and approaches that can deliver lots of value for businesses.

This regular injection of new talent helps businesses to keep abreast of new developments and even get a glimpse into best practices picked up in other companies. It’s a significant advantage offered by the contingent workforce.

Experience the Power of the Contingent Workforce with Elevate

The contingent workforce is here to stay – are you prepared? Join a number of the world’s leading brands and access Elevate’s leading Talent Intelligence platform today.

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Agile Talent Is On the Rise: Here Are Five Reasons Why

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A blend of novel technologies and shifting attitudes towards work mean that the demand for agile talent is soaring. Today, countless businesses seek out agile talent temporarily.

According to figures from a global survey conducted by Staffing Industry Analysts, contingent workers accounted for 20% of workforces in 2017 – a significant leap from 15% in 2014.

In this piece, we’ll take a closer look at the key reasons agile talent is now becoming vital to the success of any growing business.

What Is Agile Talent?

Before we begin to explore the factors driving the popularity of agile talent, though, let’s quickly clarify precisely what we mean by this phrase.

There are many different types of contingent work and, therefore, categories of contingent workers. In its research study titled The Case for Contingent Work, Staffing Industry Analysts outline five key categories:

  • Temporary agency workers
  • Other directly-sourced temporary workers
  • Temporary workers
  • Human cloud workers
  • Independent contractors

Agile talent tends to refer to highly-skilled contingent workers who collaborate on a short-term basis with several businesses.

Why Is Agile Talent So Popular?

Let’s dive right into the reasons that agile talent is becoming a popular choice for businesses around the world.

1. Faster to hire

According to findings from Jobvite’s 2018 Recruitment Benchmark Report, it takes the average company 38 days to fill an open position. This varies, of course, depending on the employer and the vacancy that they are hoping to fill.

That’s a significant amount of time, and it means that many businesses often find themselves stuck without the talent that they need. In today’s fast-moving business world where each day counts, that can significantly harm the growth of a budding business.

Those new team members will often need to go through an extended period of onboarding, too, to understand internal policies and procedures.

Agile talent is the perfect solution to this problem. Businesses can find, recruit and onboard agile talent in a matter of days. This helps companies to keep moving forward at an impressive pace.

2. Build diverse teams

Diverse workplaces are often more creative, productive and performant. Those businesses benefit from a variety of perspectives, and the majority of people relish the opportunity to work as part of a diverse team, too.

Agile talent can help to make businesses more diverse. Those professionals often work on a short-term basis, meaning that businesses can benefit from fresh perspectives and backgrounds regularly.

This dynamic can help businesses to evolve constantly. Those agile team members will bring new perspectives and best practice with them, too, assisting the companies to improve and learn through exposure to new professionals continually.

3. Find unique and flexible talent

Findings from The Open University Business Barometer suggest that over the course of 2018, a staggering 91% of organisations in the UK struggled to find workers with the right skills.

There’s a significant skill shortage, and this is still an issue today. In the same report, 70% of senior business leaders said that deficit was responsible for a longer – and more expensive – recruitment process.

This dynamic also places the power in the hands of those talented candidates, who can now command high salaries. This means that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to access the talent that they require.

Agile talent could be the key. These tech-savvy professionals work on a more flexible basis, and they’ll often move from one project to the next, which means that their unique talents are more accessible to businesses.

This is why so many businesses are turning to agile talent to resolve their skill shortage issues. As the demand for more specialist skillsets continues to increase, we’ll be sure to see this preference for agile talent grow.

4. Cut costs dramatically

Finding and employing full-time workers is incredibly expensive. Businesses have to consider the following significant costs when hiring talent:

  • Recruitment costs
  • Salaries
  • National insurance contributions
  • Pension contributions
  • Holiday pay
  • Sick pay
  • Maternity and paternity pay

There are several other factors to consider, too, like equipment and the costs that are associated with sourcing and maintaining a healthy working environment.

Putting together a full team can place a substantial financial burden on any business. This is one of the key reasons that companies, both large and small, are turning towards agile talent.

While agile talent may command a higher hourly rate, businesses can still expect to make significant savings – all while enjoying the additional benefits that agile talent brings.

5. Prepare for the future

Figures from Wonolo suggest that if the gig economy continues its current rate of growth, 50% of the US workforce can be expected to participate in it by 2027. There are similar trends taking shape in the UK and beyond, too, so businesses should be sure to try and develop their agile talent strategy sooner rather than later.

As time draws on, we’ll see that those businesses with a mature agile talent strategy will enjoy privileged access to the best talent at the best rates.

A big reason for the success of those businesses will be established alumni talent pools. Are you intrested to learn more about what those talent pools could do for you? Be sure to read our piece on why building a corporate alumni network makes sense.

Retain, Engage and Attract Your Agile Talent with Elevate

Are you currently riding the wave of agile talent? Develop a keen strategy, and you’ll be sure to unlock all of the benefits above.

Interested about the prospect of finding the best talent exactly when you need it? Join some of the world’s leading brands and access Elevate’s leading Talent Intelligence platform today.

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Four Actionable Techniques to Maintain a Healthy Talent Pool

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According to Glassdoor research, the average length of the UK hiring process sits at 27.9 days. This significant amount of time can harm the productivity of your business and hinder its ability to move forward.

There’s an ocean of potential talent out there, but the challenge of recruitment is fishing for the appropriate candidates and keeping tabs on them.

This is why talent pools are an invaluable resource.

In this post, we’ll take a look at what talent pools are and four actionable techniques that you can use to maintain a healthy talent pool.

What Is a Talent Pool?

A talent pool is a database of candidate profiles. This database gives recruiters and hiring managers the ability to keep track of crucial candidates over the long-term and access potential candidates instantly.

The most effective hiring managers and recruiters will diligently maintain those talent pools to add and remove candidates as necessary. They’ll also draw on candidates form their talent pool regularly.

For added convenience, the majority of hiring managers will maintain distinct talent pools which can further segment groups of candidates according to factors like their level of experience and overall suitability.

What Are the Benefits of a Talent Pool?

Here are the key reasons to create and maintain talent pools::

Better candidates

Any recruiter or hiring professional will understand how challenging it can be to find high-quality candidates for their roles. 76% of hiring managers told Glassdoor that attracting quality candidates is their number one challenge.

Talent pools can give you the edge. With a robust talent pool in your hands, you’ll find it easier to sort through pre-qualified candidates and have access to proven talent quicker.

Faster hires

When it comes to hiring candidates, it’s critical that you find the appropriate talent within a reasonable timeframe. Each day that you have a vacant position will result in losses for your business.

Talent pools can expedite the time to hire. You’ll be able to quickly browse through pre-qualified candidates as and when you need to. You might find the perfect candidate in your talent pool.

Reduced hiring costs

Making a new hire in the UK is expensive. On average, businesses can expect to pay around 20-30% of the final salary to recruitment agencies. This can harm the profitability of your business, and those costs can seriously mount up if you make multiple hires.

Equipped with a talent pool that’s overflowing with quality candidates, you’ll be able to make your selection and circumvent many of the traditional costs that come with recruitment.

Four Actionable Tips to Maintain a Healthy Talent Pool

Now that we have a better understanding of why to maintain a talent pool let’s explore five essential tips that you can use to establish and leverage your own.

1. Divide Your Talent Pools Using Candidate Personas

Candidate personas are a handy tool used by recruiters and hiring managers. Those semi-fictional personas make it easier to guide the hiring process and stay focused on finding the right talent.

Those candidate personas can also provide you with a logical and organic way to segment your talent pool. This exercise can make your talent pool even more convenient to navigate, and you’ll have the right talent just a few clicks away.

The details of this tip will vary from one business to the next, according to how you created your talent pool. For a rudimentary solution, you could divide an excel spreadsheet into tabs according to your key profiles.

Here’s a look at how that might appear:

2. Keep Track of Your Alumni

To get the best results from your talent pool, you should be sure to keep track of your alumni. There’s always a chance that your previous employees might be available to rejoin your business.

There are clear benefits to rehiring alumni: they will slot right into your company culture, for instance, and rehiring alumni can have a very positive impact on your employer brand.

To keep track of your alumni, you should be sure to keep their contact details on record and maintain regular contact with them. You might even decide to send a monthly newsletter to those alumni – this could keep them updated and help them to feel like a part of the family.

Interested in what this might look like? Take a look at this Alumni Newsletter example from Deloitte. You can see the type of content and tone that they use to re-engage their corporate alumni.

Ready to take a look at the additional benefits that come with a strong alumni talent pool? Read our piece on the six reasons you should develop an alumni talent pool.

3. Don’t Forget to Track Unsuccessful Candidates

According to numbers from Forbes, the average job will attract a staggering 118 applications. While you might need to hire just a single person for the role, you could have invited some very intriguing candidates.

It’s vital that you keep hold of them and retain their details. We all know that plans change quickly within the world of business and that it’s always useful to have a backup plan.

Re-engaging unsuccessful candidates is also great for your employer brand. Lots of hiring managers tell unsuccessful candidates that their contact information will be retained on record, but they fail to follow up. If you contact an unsuccessful candidate in the future, they’ll be sure to appreciate the gesture.

4. Use Your Talent Pool Regularly

The best way to maintain a healthy talent pool is to use it regularly. Far too often, hiring managers and recruiters neglect their talent pool and fail to exploit its full potential.

A lack of activity could mean that your talent pool becomes rusty and outdated very quickly. The longer you neglect, the greater the temptation will be to ignore it when trying to find a new candidate.

Try to incorporate your talent pool into your recruitment workflow to get the maximum value from it. Make it your first port of call after identifying a new position, and you might find the perfect candidate.

Cultivate Powerful Talent Pools with Elevate

If you are ready to create and maintain AI-driven talent pools, do so with Elevate’s leading Talent Intelligence platform today. Our solution provides you immediate visibility into your private talent pools while granting you access to the exclusive Elevate Directmarket.

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What Are Boomerang Employees (And Should You Hire Them)?

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In today’s recruitment landscape, the power lies with candidates rather than employers.

This means that candidates with the appropriate skills and experience can afford to be highly critical of your offering. With so many potential opportunities out there, they can scrutinise your employer brand and recruitment process at their will.

This dynamic makes talent more mobile than ever before, too: a white paper from LaSalle Network found that three out of four millennials are open to finding a new job.

Recruiters must adjust their strategies and techniques to this new dynamic if they’re going to attract the best talent.

This means reassessing your attitude towards boomerang employees.

What Are Boomerang Employees?

Boomerang employees are those team members who decide to leave a company but return at some point in the future.

As we all know, there are several reasons that an employee might decide to leave a business. Some of the main reasons include:

  • Looking for new professional experiences
  • Pursuing better benefits
  • Dissatisfaction with their job
  • Changes to personal circumstances

Those employees might look for greener pastures, but never actually find them. In some cases, those employees might decide to return to their previous employer – that’s when they become a boomerang employee.

In The Corporate Culture and Boomerang Employee Study, Workplace Trends found that 15% of employees have returned to a former employer.

Why Hire a Boomerang Employee

As the workforce grows more mobile and receptive to new opportunities, we’ll see a growth in the number of boomerang employees.

The same study from Workplace Trends found that 76% of HR professionals are more accepting of boomerang employees today when compared to the past.

Here are the main reasons you’ll want to consider hiring a boomerang employee:

A proven cultural fit

A study from Leadership IQ found that 46% of new hires will fail within the 18 months. Of that 46%, a shocking 89% are deemed to fail because of difficulties integrating into the workplace and its culture.

That can increase your employee turnover rate and push your recruitment costs sky high. If you hire a boomerang employee, though, you can rest assured that they’re a great cultural fit and that they’re familiar with your unique culture.

A lower cost per hire

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the average cost per hire in the UK is placed at around £3,000. That’s a significant amount of money – mainly when you’ll almost inevitably lose a portion of that talent within the first 18 months.

If you maintain close contact with your alumni, you’ll be able to slash those costs. A well-maintained talent pool can give you access to the pre-approved talent that you need.

Curious about what talent pools can do for you? Read our piece on six reasons you should develop an alumni talent pool.

A lower time to hire

Every day that you have an empty vacancy will cost your business significant amounts of money. You might lack a salesperson, for instance, who would otherwise be contributing to your revenue.

This is why it’s critical that you reduce your time to hire. That’s easier said than done, though, given that it’s currently so difficult to find the appropriate talent. That difficulty protracts time to hire and costs your business money.

Boomerang employees can help here. Given that they’ll be pre-approved talent, you can often move them faster through the hiring process to reduce your time to hire.

Shorter onboarding times

Finding the right talent is just half of the battle: you’ve also got to train and onboard your new hires. This can be an expensive process, given that you’ll have to assign lots of administrative time and effort. New hires might also impact the productivity of your existing employees, too.

Those risks are mitigated when you decide to work with a boomerang employee, though. Your pre-approved talent will be able to hit the ground running immediately and start driving value from your business.

Benefit from new perspectives

Diverse workplaces are happier, more productive and more innovative. It’s crucial that you try to foster people from a range of different backgrounds – that includes professional experiences.

On their adventures, your boomerang employees might have picked up some valuable experiences and best practice along the way. You can incorporate the best parts of those experiences into your culture to reap the benefits of fresh input.

Boost your employer brand

According to LinkedIn, a staggering 75% of candidates will check out your company’s online presence before submitting an application. This means that they’ll inevitably check out your reviews on job boards like Glassdoor.

Re-hiring a boomerang employee can boost your employer brand. It demonstrates that your employees genuinely enjoy working for your business, and it also shows you value enduring relationships with your talent. Those are desirable factors to potential talent.

Monitor Your Boomerang Talent with Elevate

Are you ready to keep tabs on your alumni, attract boomerang talent and unlock the benefits above? Learn more about Elevate and how our platform can provide you with immediate visibility to the talent you need.

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Why building a Corporate Alumni Network Makes Sense.

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There’s plenty of talk around how rehiring boomerang employees can benefit an organisation, but few companies have yet to take advantage. One of the easiest and most effective ways to keep in touch with ex-staff members is to establish an alumni talent network.

The Importance of Alumni

If you’re considering rehiring an alumnus, you know off the bat that they’re a good cultural fit, they know the company policies and processes. They’re comfortable with products and services. But alumni bring much more than that.

They can make quality referrals

Because alumni know the organisation, they can refer candidates with the right skills and who will fit in. Also, as the candidates understand the alumni successfully worked for the company, they’ll be more likely to accept an interview invitation. Alumni can boost your talent pool.

They can refer new business

As they move on in their career, alumni become exposed to different industries and markets, and they can recommend you with confidence. Again, knowing that they will have referred by someone who can vouch for a company, buyers are more likely to support the business. Alumni add credibility to business referrals.

Employers have still not Found their Feet.

Most alumni networks are on social network platforms like Facebook, Google and LinkedIn.  Corporate alumni programs are few and far between.

A 2014 study by the University of Twente in the Netherlands found that only 15% of companies surveyed had a formal alumni network, while 67% had informal alumni networks established by employees. What that indicates is that those past employees are keen to keep in touch with their previous employers; however, employers have yet to catch on and make an effort.

Establishing an Alumni Talent Network is Easier than you Think

It begins long before an employee resigns. Making employees feel valued, focusing on engagement and having an offboarding policy in place are where it all starts.

Employees who feel valued even after they’ve resigned will stay loyal to an organisation. During offboarding top talent must be asked if they’d like to join the alumni network. The bond of mutual trust has already been established, and it’s up to the employer to keep it alive.

Setting up a group on social media doesn’t take much time, but it does take time to maintain and keep the group engaged, providing open vacancies, company news and new developments; much like an ongoing company newsletter. You also have to take into consideration any comments, questions or enquiries from alumni must be addressed.

Add Benefits and Incentives

There are plenty of ways that you can keep your alumni network engaged.

Incentivise candidate referrals just as you do your employee referrals program. Offer a reward for every successful placement. You can offer cash rewards, discount vouchers, paid holiday trips or tickets to top events. Receiving recognition can make alumni feel that they’re still part of the organisation.

Free webinars and online training programs for skills improvement is another option. For a small investment, you not only upskill people but if you do employ them again, you get a better-qualified employee. 

Another assurance is that people who continually upgrade their skills are top talent.

You can also connect with alumni through social or industry events. This way, you keep them directly involved, and they can mix with past colleagues and new hires. 

Conclusion

An alumni talent network reinforces your employment brand in a multitude of ways. As alumni work as brand ambassadors, your organisation will gain a market reputation as an employer that cares for its employees. You will earn an employer of choice status, and top candidates will start approaching you for jobs.

Imagine the savings on the cost of hire and time to fill, as well as added income from new business. Can your company afford not to establish an alumni talent network?

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