October 8, 2020

Here’s what employers need to know about ‘boomerang’ employees vs. new hires

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A common piece of career advice is to not “burn bridges” when leaving one employer for another. After all, who knows what opportunities may present themselves in the future?

For some, that may be even more true than for others. They are called “boomerang employees,” those who leave a company only to return.

Although numerous studies have examined the performance outcomes for both internal and external hires, few have considered “boomerang employees” who are rehired by a company where they previously worked.

Michael A. Campion, Purdue’s Herman C. Krannert Distinguished Professor of Management, and collaborators address that research gap in the paper “Welcome Back? Job Performance and Turnover of Boomerang Employees Compared to Internal and External Hires,” in Journal of Management.

The study’s co-authors are John D. Arnold (first author), University of Missouri; Chad H. Van Iddekinge, University of Iowa; Michael C. Campion, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; and Talya N. Bauer, Portland State University.

“Studies have shown that while internal hires may possess unique knowledge, skills and relationships within the organization that may enable them to perform more effectively in a higher level position, external hires may provide new perspectives or attributes the organization lacks,” Purdue’s Campion says.

In contrast, less attention has focused on “boomerang” employees who leave organizations and are later rehired by the same organizations, he says.

Historically, rehiring former employees has rarely been considered because choosing to leave was viewed as disloyal, Campion says.

“In an era when the average employee will work for many different employers during their career, however, organizations are becoming more open to rehiring former employees,” he says. This may be particularly salient as organizations rebuild following layoffs associated with COVID-19.

The anecdotal benefits of rehiring former employees are numerous, Campion says.

“Hiring former employees, who are a known entity, is thought to be less risky than hiring new employees,” he says. “They are also familiar with the job, understand the organization’s culture and values, and may have relationships with existing employees.”

Boomerang employees may also bring fresh perspectives and new knowledge and skills to the organization from their time away, as well as signal to existing employees that it is a good place to work.

To put these perceived benefits to the test, Campion and his research colleagues analyzed data on 30,714 employees of a large retail organization who were initially hired or rehired into a management trainee position.

“The results suggest that boomerang managers’ performance tends to remain the same after being rehired,” Campion says. “Additionally, initial turnover reason was not a good predictor of rehire performance when controlling for initial performance. Finally, boomerang employees who left the organization a second time tended to do so for similar reasons to those of their initial departure.”

The study found that while boomerang managers perform similarly to internal and external hires in the first year, both internal and external hires improve more over time than rehires. Boomerang managers also are more likely to turn over than other types of hires, Campion says.

“Interestingly, despite demonstrating less performance improvement and a higher propensity to turn over, boomerangs are more likely to be promoted than internal hires, and they are as likely to be promoted as external hires,” he says. “This suggests that organizations may use promotions to try to retain boomerangs, even though such employees may not be as effective as others over the long term. Taken as a whole, these findings call into question some of the proposed benefits of rehiring former employees.”

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://purdue.edu/.

Media contact: Jim Bush, 765-336-1909, jsbush@purdue.edu 

Source: Michael A. Campion, 765 49-45909, campionm@purdue.edu 

Journalists visiting campus: Journalists should follow Protect Purdue protocols and the following guidelines:

  • Campus is open, but the number of people in spaces may be limited. We will be as accommodating as possible, but you may be asked to step out or report from another location.
  • To enable access, particularly to campus buildings, we recommend you contact the Purdue News Service media contact listed on the release to let them know the nature of the visit and where you will be visiting. A News Service representative can facilitate safe access and may escort you on campus.
  • Correctly wear face masks inside any campus building, and correctly wear face masks outdoors when social distancing of at least six feet is not possible.

An abstract and PDF of the study is available at https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320936335.


ABSTRACT

Welcome back? Job performance and turnover of boomerang employees compared to internal and external hires

Michael A. Campion, John D. Arnold (first author); Chad H. Van Iddekinge, University of Iowa; Michael C. Campion, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Talya N. Bauer, Portland State University.

DOI: 10.1177/0149206320936335

“Boomerang” employees are workers who leave an organization and are later rehired by that same organization. Although many organizations rehire former employees, only a handful of studies have examined this phenomenon. The present study uses a large, longitudinal data set to examine the performance and turnover of boomerang employees rehired into management positions (n = 1,318). Further, we provide some of the first comparisons between boomerang employees and two traditional sources of employees: external hires (n = 20,850) and internal promotions (n = 8,546). Evaluations of job performance before and after being rehired revealed that boomerang managers’ performance tended to remain the same—rather than increase or decrease—after being rehired. Furthermore, boomerang managers performed similarly to internally and externally hired managers in the first year on the job, but both internal and external hires improved more than rehires over time. Internal and external hires were also less likely to turn over from the organization than rehires. Finally, supplemental analyses indicated that boomerang managers who turned over a second time tended to do so for reasons similar to their initial turnover reasons. The overall results call into question some of the assumed benefits of rehiring and suggest that organizations consider factors such as the reason for initial departure, the time horizon of performance, and the availability of other types of hires before considering boomerang employees.


Note to journalists: Journalists visiting campus should follow visitor health guidelines.

Research News

More Research News

Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907, (765) 494-4600

© 2015-22 Purdue University | An equal access/equal opportunity university | Copyright Complaints | Maintained by Office of Strategic Communications

Trouble with this page? Disability-related accessibility issue? Please contact News Service at purduenews@purdue.edu.