Questions to ask when rehiring a former worker

Aformer employee sent me a text message exploring the possibility of rejoining the company 10 months after his resignation. Our human resource (HR) manager rejected the idea right away in the absence of a firm policy. He claims it could be a bad precedent. I found his reason overly simplistic — a more important factor might be that accepting resigned employees could encourage other employees to resign in the hope of regaining their posts if they didn’t like their new employer. What’s your view? — Ten Knots.

Here’s another situation when people get mad at HR for coming up with unimpressive answers. We paint HR people as policy enforcers except that in your situation, there’s no policy on rehiring “boomerang” employees.

Critical thinking is difficult for most HR people. That’s why they chose the easy route of using the “bad precedent” argument. But what if you challenge HR to come up with the best solution? It would be like Russian roulette, except that you will be presenting HR a gun with six empty chambers.

Imagine showing him a live bullet going into an unloaded revolver. Close the cylinder and spin it. Then put the gun to your head. A pull of the trigger results in only a click. You don’t feel anything. You’re still alive. You’re lucky. The truth of the matter is — it was all done for show. It was an imaginary gun designed to challenge HR out of its unthinking policy enforcer mindset.

To my mind, playing Russian roulette gets you one disastrous result out of six chances, except that you’re playing with an imaginary gun. This scenario could generate multiple but creative questions and answers. You’re right when you reject HR’s reasoning about setting precedents. Like Russian roulette, it is possible rehiring someone will produce five good outcomes to one disastrous outcome.

I will not give you an outright recommendation. It’s up to you to make the best decision by answering six questions, as in Russian roulette.

SIX QUESTIONS
Asking the right questions is much better than listening to stupid answers given by an HR person who might be an incurable yes-man. After all, we all want our HR people to be rational critical thinkers for the greater good of the organization. That means providing logical answers after evaluating the situation from a variety of perspectives, a result which these questions can elicit:

One, what kind of new experience is a “boomerang” employee offering? What makes this person unique compared to your current crop of workers? Could you develop similar talent using the company’s current resources? If yes, how long can you do it? Or, how easy or difficult it can be?

Two, how did this “boomerang” worker perform during his time with the company? Was he consistent and above-average? Did he exceed management expectations? If a “boomerang” person is average, what’s the assurance that he’ll do much better than before?

Three, what is attracting the “boomerang” person back into the fold? Why is he willing to swallow his pride by accepting the same old pay package? What’s the real reason behind his desire to return? Did he have a difficult experience with his current employer? If yes, what kind of difficult experience?

Four, is the “boomerang” person willing to accept a contract from Day One? Will he accept working as a probationary employee? If he performed above average in at least the last three years of his stay with you, then you can opt to make him a regular worker on Day One.

Five, aside from pay, what other issues could affect the “boomerang” person? Better review the result of his exit interview and discover insights from it. If there are no serious issues accompanying his exit, think of what might happen to the morale of other workers who may feel aggrieved should you decide to rehire.

Last, has the company changed in a way that may not be acceptable to the “boomerang” worker? If major changes took place in the company’s culture and management style, would they be acceptable to the “boomerang” worker? Why or why not? Discover all this in the interview and onboarding process.

LIVE BULLET
Which of these questions is likely to represent the live bullet that could prove disastrous to your organization? It’s question number one: What kind of new experience is a “boomerang” employee offering?

Chances are, he could be offering nothing. What new perspective have gained after a 10-month absence? Could he be bringing confidential information that he stole from the other company? If that’s the case, it’s a good reason not to rehire that person.

You can never predict the consequences that could get your organization in big trouble later on. Therefore, if you’re in doubt, then don’t. Better be safe than sorry.

Bring Rey Elbo’s unique leadership program on Superior Subordinate Supervision to rejuvenate your management team. Chat with him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or e-mail [email protected] or via