This document discusses boomerang employees - those who leave a company but later return. It provides reasons why employees may leave, such as new opportunities, life circumstances, variety-seeking, believing the grass is greener elsewhere, or a clash of values. Employees return for company growth, familiarity with the culture and people, or realizing their former job was better than their new one. Hiring back boomerang employees can reduce training time and increase retention since they're already familiar with the company. Employers should avoid burning bridges during separations in case an employee wants to return later.

1. The
Anatomy of
Boomerang
Employees
By Sentinel Background Checks

2. Description
• Boomerang employee:
someone who left an
employer but returns at
a later date.
• A Monster poll revealed
that 28% of surveyors
have already returned to
a prior employer and
over 50% said they
would consider doing
the same.

3. Why Employees Leave
There are five top reasons why an employee may
decide to leave a job:
• 1. Opportunity
• 2. Life Circumstances
• 3. Variety
• 4. Greener pastures
• 5. Clash of values

4. Opportunity
• Sometimes, an employee’s skill set grows faster than the
department they work in.
• This type of employee may want to branch out and find new
challenges to further their career.
• Also, management may already be in place to where there
is nowhere to be promoted.

5. Life Circumstances
• A life changing event forces an employee to
leave a position because they have to adjust
to the circumstances.
• An illness, death, relocation or addition to the
family can restructure an employee’s career
without warning.

6. Variety• To some people, variety is
an important part of job
satisfaction.
• Changes in leadership,
responsibility, location or
coworkers may drive the
decision to jump from one
company to another.

7. Greener Pastures
• In this scenario, anmployee believes that there is
something better out there waiting for them.
• Once the seed is planted in their mind, there is
often no stopping them from finding out on their
own.

8. Clash ofValues
• When an employee’s values
are not the same as the
company’s or coworker’s, it
can cause anxiety and
stress.
• This can lead to an the
employee seeking new
opportunities where they
feel they are a better fit.

9. Why Employees Return
As companies grow or people shift around, it can create opportunities for a
former employee to return. Here are some of the main reasons for returning to a
former place of employment:
• 1. Company growth
• 2. Life circumstances
• 3. Familiarity
• 4. Culture change
• 5. The grass isn’t always greener

10. Company Growth
• It may take a couple of years
for a company to skyrocket in
growth, which creates
opportunities that were not
there before.
• Likewise, if an employee left
due to a reduction in staff,
new growth may allow for the
opportunity for that person to
return.

11. Life Circumstances
• Just as life events can cause an employee to leave,
they can also bring an employee back.
• All the same reasons for leaving can become the
reason to return.

12. Familiarity
• When you spend 40+ hours a week with the same
people, they tend to become familiar to you.
• Some employees move to a new company only to
find that they don’t gel with the people the same way
they did at their former job.

13. Culture Change
• As attitudes change,
values shift and new
management moves
into place, a company’s
culture can change as
well.
• What didn’t fit before
may be a perfect fit for
an employee later.

14. The Grass isn’t Always Greener
• Some boomerang employees will find
out that the they had it pretty good
where they were in the first place.
• This realization will cause them to
return to their former job.

15. Conclusion: Don’t Burn Bridges
• This goes for employers and employees
alike.
• Hurt feelings and highly tempered emotions
need to be removed from the equation.
• Business is business and sometimes a move
is necessary for professional growth.

16. Benefits of Boomerang Employees
• The hiring process tends to be quicker as much of the
key background information for the employee has
already been processed and recorded.
• The training time should be substantially reduced
because the employee is already familiar with
company procedures.
• Retention rate is higher among boomerang employees
because they’ve already been on the other side of the
fence and have found their way back home.

17. NoticeAlways check with your HR department and/or legal
department to ensure that all your hiring/employee
practices abide by the regulations provided by the
EEOC as well as all other state and federal labor
laws.
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