Round-trip talent: caring for employees who leave the company as a strategy to recover them in the future

The departure of a professional from a company sometimes becomes a real drama full of uncomfortable moments for both parties. Nevertheless, destigmatize this trance could, in addition to avoiding unpleasant situations, become a great strategy to attract talent in the long term, according to an article in the Harvard Business Review.

The author of this work, Rebecca Zucker, explains that if the employee has simply left because he has been convinced by a better offer, making his departure polite and fully professional will make him value returning to a company that treated him well in the future. at a time as complicated for her as that.

“There are organizations that consider the departure of an employee like a betrayal. This attitude generates a bad image in the employee who leaves and does not invite him to consider his return one day. De-stigmatizing departures and seeing them as a normal part of workers’ careers is the first step in leaving the door open for them to return in the future,” he notes.

In this sense, the author recommends treating employees as consumers and ensuring that they are satisfied at all times, even when they decide to change companies. Not only will this make professionals consider returning in the future, but it will also show remaining workers that the company cares about them even when they are leaving the organization. Also, the person leaving will be more likely to speak highly of the company with colleagues who may be interested in working for it.

The article also recommends that companies explicitly point out to the employee that the door to return is open if things don’t work out at their new job or if they just regret leaving.

Lastly, he points out that it is interesting to keep in touch with the professional, making sure that the company keeps their updated data and, for example, offering them to remain subscribed to the company’s newsletters. He may also propose that the organization keep your employment information in its database, along with your preferences, in case a position that might interest you becomes open in the future.

The article also explains that some companies choose to call ex-employees they are interested in once a year to ask them about their employment status, or they contact them by text message to see if they would be willing to talk to them.

Image | Ono Kōsuki