Boomerang Employees

[PredatorSlayer]

I wouldn’t hold it against her. Like others have said, you shouldn’t fault somebody for trying to improve their situation.

 

[DanimalW]

I agree. My old company hired an outside agency to review our comp package and wouldn't you know it, They came back and said we were all right where we needed to be. Fast forward a couple years and I started looking. Nearly 8 months interviewing and in that time was able to assess the market and come up with a salary range based on real world data from that process. Once I found an acceptable company that came in at the top of my range my employer immediately matched it.

Imagine giving someone a 4% raise saying that's the best you can do, than two weeks later matching a 30% increase to try and keep them.

It's just business. My personal opinion is you don't owe a company loyalty. You should be reviewing your options every couple years in order to keep everyone honest.

 

[Swamp Fox]

LOL ...

Preach on, Dwight ....

 

[ddd-shooter]

I love a grammar/usage debate on a hunting site!

Call me weird.

It's not like I couldn't care less!

 

[Predator_SD]

Well yeah , that is what I said . But it's because she is not in need of the extra $15K . But my point was when there is such a discrepancy employees are going to leave . She is the exception , but if employers are going to pay less than scale , employees are ging to leave .

Point taken

 

[Rich M]

How long was she with your company before she bailed?
You can always ask her how long she will stay if she was allowed back.
Was she a good worker?

We've had a few boomerangs, last one had some personal issues (father dying) and left, we just hired him back. I left for 9 yrs and am back, kinda funny that i told my first boss here that I'd retire from the company with his job - I have his job. Couple others have gone and returned, they often work harder when they come back. A few have left, returned, left, returned - it all depends on how they leave.

 

[Macintosh]

Mostly already been said, but I figure it’s a manager’s job to know what an employee is looking for, know what their frustrations are and what they value. It’s not always possible but I figure it should never come as a surprise when an employee leaves because you should know what market pay and benefits are out there, what opportunity for growth there is within your company, etc. if you are looking for someone to be competent and punch a clock in the same position for many years, then both parties had best be on the same sheet of music on that and what it takes to stay there, or you’ll have more turnover than you want. Same with an employee who wants to grow and move up the ladder—you can either build a path within the company or not, but if not you know at some point relatively soon they will get the experience they need and then move on if there isn't a “next move” for them there. If you have the conversation ahead of time (every review?) then it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, and it keeps you up to date on risks to your department and the company and where you have opportunity to make changes that have the potential to improve the long term function of your team.

Also, if you choose not to make changes that might be required to keep an employee, I dont look at a good employee leaving as a bad thing necessarily. Assuming the new employee is reliable and at least engaged, assessing what your real needs are and what you are looking for allows you to hopefully find someone who is a better fit, getting fresh perspective on any team is still a benefit, it keeps you and the team from getting in a rut, makes sure your processes and organization are sound, etc. No one likes to have to hire, especially when its hard to find good people, but it really is an opportunity that can be a benefit to the company and the team.

edit: Also to a degree it's dangerous for people to stay at one company for too long becasue many employers consider too long at one company to be a negative, they would rather see some breadth of experience, i.e. several years each with multiple different companies.

 

[Dos Perros]

We have a fair amount of boomerang'ism where I work. People do tend to come back, and even stick around after returning. I think they're going away so they can come back at higher job titles and salaries, because we have this corporate BS promotion scheme that isn't flexible and is too slow.