When it comes to re-hiring ex-employees (particularly the notoriously job-hopping Gen Z), or boosting corporate reputation, an efficient alumni portal has an invaluable part to play.
Yes, a corporate alumni solution gives former staff easy access to tax documents, payslips and their employment record. A helpdesk means they can submit inquiries and receive answers. Inactive employees on paid leave without access to the company portal can still see their personal data. Staff transferring to another role within the business in a different country can readily plug in their employment information. For HR, an alumni portal reduces the time, effort and expense of providing employment records and documents to ex-employees when HR staff are already busy serving the current workforce. An alumni solution can reduce manual exchange of emails and paperwork, automate the entire procedure, cut the processing time for simpler offboarding and optimise HR processes.
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At a higher, more strategic level, however, a robust alumni solution can be worth its weight in gold:
Helping with re-hires
With the tight talent market, fluidity of recruitment and growth of the gig economy, re-hiring is becoming more and more common. Gen Z, the cohort of workers born after 1996, will make up 27% of the workforce by 2025 and is far likelier than older generations to job-hop, according to Karin Kimbrough, chief economist at LinkedIn. Gen Z is changing jobs at a rate 134% higher than they were in 2019, and a quarter of Gen Z hope or plan to leave their employers within the next six months, LinkedIn found. The lesson here is that although they may hop out of a company, they can also hop back, particularly when an employer has invested in staying connected to maintain positive relationships through an alumni portal. If all the required employment data is stored there, it is far easier to re-hire an ex-employee than to start from scratch.
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With increasing competition for top talent, bringing back former staff can both ease labour shortages and boost productivity. Companies can leverage their expertise and tap into talent referrals. Returning staff already know the products, service and business culture; the employer already knows about the employee’s work ethic, skills and personality. Training costs are slashed, and it is far quicker to ramp up to full productivity. As the Harvard Business Review (HBR) has pointed out: “It costs half as much to rehire an ex-employee as it does to hire a brand new person; rehires are 40% more productive in their first quarter at work; and they tend to stay in the job longer. Research suggests that the average Fortune 500 company could save $12 million a year by actively recruiting alumni.”
In cases of re-hiring, a corporate alumni solution preserves employment history in a secure environment for faster recruitment and onboarding, drastically reducing the time to fill positions, and avoiding lengthy and costly recruitment search. The employee benefits through stress-free re-joining with all their details already on the system. According to the Financial Times, this is leading to a switch in attitudes. Instead of waving goodbye to departing staff, companies are welcoming them to the alumni network with the approach:
Stop thinking of it as a negative — they potentially could come back to us. Let’s see it as a positive.
Increasing brand value
There is further strategic benefit in the fact that a ‘happy leaver’ who has enjoyed a streamlined departure, with easy access to all the post-job data they require, will be much more inclined to sing the praises of the company to friends and other colleagues. In an era of punchy online reviews, this can be gold dust to a business. Indeed, reviews by former employees are pivotal in attracting top talent and being recognised as a good place to work. The best candidates will steer clear of an organisation that leavers moan about but beat a path to the door of those getting five-star write-ups.
Companies can no longer focus solely on period from “hire to retire”, because brand value needs to stretch beyond. This may sound daunting, but a smooth departure will put ex-employees in a positive frame of mind just at the point when they are likely to be penning a review. In the difficult situation where staff was made redundant through a merger or cost-cutting, an alumni portal that eases the way can encourage them to talk publicly about the business in a more upbeat voice. Alumni solutions can also evolve to offer ex-employees the latest news about the company, show vacancies and provide a means to connect with former colleagues.
The fact is, ex-employees are a company’s brand advocates for life. They may “boomerang” back as future employees, return as clients or customers, or keep using its product, services or technology even after they have left. It’s why the HBR notes that employees are just as likely to influence outside opinions about an organisation as current employees are – especially if they have not been gone long.
Zalaris offers a secure Alumni solution enabling seamless access to personal data and employment records through our PeopleHub portal.
At Zalaris, our goal is to enhance delivery speed and employee satisfaction by providing unbiased and fair access to employment data regardless of employment status. Zalaris’ Alumni Solution helps companies increase the efficiency of their HR operations team by reducing the manual & paperwork involved. Get in touch with us and let us help you ease your Alumni management.