There are two ways in which alumni are a great source of positive contribution to your organization. First they are a great talent pool to hire from for key high impact areas where you can bank on this talent segment. Second they are your brand ambassadors and more importantly so if they are working with your clients or partners other organizations who are not in your direct competitive set.
The question is how many organizations actually end up leveraging this network of alumni. The big boys of consulting actually do it really well. A lot of leads for their new business and connects on research projects and gathering data come from the alumni at these power houses of business consulting.
First let us talk about rehiring alumni. You wouldn't want everyone who worked with you in the past. You would probably look at those were hard hitters and most valuable players in specific areas which you need to re prioritize or refocus growth or some area which requires complementary skills and capabilities which your alumni had when they left you.
You would want those who left on good terms, who contributed well, who left for reasons like a better prospects or in many cases (first time job holders... especially) they leave just for getting a different perspective and may never had any push factor that drove them away. Many of them may have been very good contributors too.
In early 2013, Yahoo Inc. send Welcome Back packages to alumni including VP's , Tech Engineers and others providing them insights as to how things had changed since the days the new CEO took over. (Ref: www.techcruch.com) The writing on the wall was clear... We will be happy to have you back with us.
However from practical stand point the question is what can the HR folks do to facilitate the influx of ex employees. in a later post I will be sharing seven ideas on how this can be facilitated and how you can really extend a red carpet to the folks whom you want back at the table.
The question is how many organizations actually end up leveraging this network of alumni. The big boys of consulting actually do it really well. A lot of leads for their new business and connects on research projects and gathering data come from the alumni at these power houses of business consulting.
First let us talk about rehiring alumni. You wouldn't want everyone who worked with you in the past. You would probably look at those were hard hitters and most valuable players in specific areas which you need to re prioritize or refocus growth or some area which requires complementary skills and capabilities which your alumni had when they left you.
You would want those who left on good terms, who contributed well, who left for reasons like a better prospects or in many cases (first time job holders... especially) they leave just for getting a different perspective and may never had any push factor that drove them away. Many of them may have been very good contributors too.
In early 2013, Yahoo Inc. send Welcome Back packages to alumni including VP's , Tech Engineers and others providing them insights as to how things had changed since the days the new CEO took over. (Ref: www.techcruch.com) The writing on the wall was clear... We will be happy to have you back with us.
However from practical stand point the question is what can the HR folks do to facilitate the influx of ex employees. in a later post I will be sharing seven ideas on how this can be facilitated and how you can really extend a red carpet to the folks whom you want back at the table.
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