The benefits of boomerang employees have been well documented.  Their familiarity with how the organization works means they generally get up to speed far quicker, are more in tune with the culture of the business and are less likely to leave after a short spell.

New research from Carnegie Mellon highlights the advantages of boomerang employees, even over internal hires.  This is because they are able to combine their knowledge of the workings of the firm with the experience and contacts they gained outside the firm.

Contrasting outcomes

The research contrasts the performance outcomes of internally promoted employees with boomerang employees to try and help firms understand whether to explicitly include boomerang rehiring in their talent management strategies.

The researchers looked at the situation in a professional services firm and found that re-entry from boomerang employees often resulted in higher employee engagement, organizational commitment, and even compensation for the boomerangs compared to internal hires.  This doesn’t automatically make them better performers, however.

“When compared to internal employees who never left the firm, boomerangs aren’t better performers but they are happier and paid significantly more,” the researchers say. “This counters much advice in the human resources world, which pitches boomerangs as ideal hires for performance.”

Getting a better deal

The researchers argue that when we rehire boomerangs, they’re often able to negotiate a more informed and personalized contract.  This mitigates some of the negative feelings that may have contributed to them leaving in the first place.  They’re also more likely to benefit from the institutional and market forces that so often see external hires paid more than internal ones.  This is because people usually leave for a higher salary, which then gives them more negotiating power when they look to return than an internal hire whose salary has more likely stayed the same.

This perhaps plays a role in the feeling of value and appreciation the boomerangs have, with the active role the hiring managers played in rehiring them also a contributing factor.

While there was no real difference in performance between internal hires and boomerangs, the boomerangs did appear to differentiate their work patterns from internal hires, with higher levels of non-billable work performed.  Indeed, there was a marked difference in tasks related to the development of the firm itself.

Overall, the paper reveals that boomerangs are more satisfied, committed, and engaged in more tasks to benefit the firm as compared to their matched counterparts who did not leave the organization, all of which makes the allure of boomerang employees even greater.