Greener pastures: The benefits of corporate alumni networks
There's a lot of buzz going on about corporate alumni networks and for good reason. These networks can help companies keep in touch with a very valuable resource: former employees. In the past, employees who left a company were viewed as gone for good. But as the era of cradle-to-grave employment quickly fades away, perceptions toward those employees have changed. Tightening labor markets, retiring baby boomers and a shortage of skilled workers in many sectors of the economy have led companies to a change in attitude toward ex-employees. And some companies are finding that yesterday's employees can be today's treasures.
As more and more employees explore new job opportunities and lifetime employment becomes obsolete, many organizations are finding that they have more former employees than current ones. An article in the July-Sept. 2006 issue of Staffing Management cited the following factors as driving businesses to embrace former employees:- Employer-employee relations have shifted away from the long-term, hierarchical model and toward a new short-term, transactional model. Employers are more likely to "forgive" employees who leave voluntarily and to keep the door open if they want to return.
- Employers realize they have a powerful interest in maximizing the return on their investment in employee recruitment and training, even if the relationship was interrupted for a time.
- Employers are eager to rehire former employees to capture the value of training that has been provided by other companies.
- Returning employees who learned that the grass wasn't much greener elsewhere are likely to have high rates of retention.
- Industries dealing with acute staffing shortages may overlook former employees' resume taboos that in the past would have been deal breakers.
Organizations seeking to rehire former workers range from governmental departments and agencies -- consider the U.S. Army's long track record of retaining skilled soldiers through the Army reserve -- to consulting groups and health care organizations. Eager to lure workers back into the fold, companies are using high- and low-tech means of staying in touch with former workers. For example, Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm headquartered in McLean, Virginia, uses an online alumni network and alumni events to stay close to former employees. In 2001, the firm created its ComeBack Kids program to recruit former employees. In the first few years of its existence, ComeBack Kids accounted for 8.5 percent of the firm's rehires. The company recognized the need for such a program as the dot-com boom was falling apart. Managers saw a lot of people who wanted to return to workplaces that were more stable. KPMG is a New York-based professional services firm with approximately 113,000 employees worldwide. It recently launched a social-networking system to connect with its corporate alumni with hopes they will serve as mentors to current employees, refer prospective candidates to the company and serve as goodwill ambassadors for the firm. Only a few months after launching the site, KPMG had approximately 7,400 alumni registered. The firm is measuring the success of the initiative in three ways: career development, recruitment and relationship building. Even in the early stages, it has seen action on all fronts. Alumni have agreed to lead classes for employees, which will bring a different educational perspective than the use of in-house instructors. The firm also has received job referrals through the site, and employees are adding new business contacts. In other cases, managers and organizations are turning to alumni communities to find people who will take on short-term and project work. Shell Oil Co., for example, launched a networking Web site for its alumni in 2005 to provide alumni with an online networking platform. The company-sponsored site doesn't charge alumni to register. The site allows former employees living around the world to post their resumes detailing their Shell and other work experiences. As the company identifies its short-term resourcing needs, its HR staff uses the database to search for alumni candidates with the relevant skills for various projects. Keeping in touch
There are a number of creative ways to stay connected with your company's former employees. Choosing how to go about this depends on a number of factors, including your company's size, culture and budgetary and staff resources. Some firms hold alumni happy hours and host other events. These may include coverage of these events in their corporate magazine or newsletter. You can also help alumni keep in touch with each other by printing and distributing a series of alumni directories. Many people still reach for a paper directory rather than going online, and a book on a shelf is a constant reminder of their former employer and colleagues. For companies with limited budgets, online directories are a good option. These can provide alumni with a secure database-driven site that is easily updated and has a longer shelf life than printed directories. What do former employees say about your company? For many organizations, this can mean thousands of individuals sharing their firsthand views, whether good or bad. By reaching out to your alumni regularly and letting them know that you still value them, former employees can foster goodwill as ambassadors for your company and brand.
