TM - February 2008 - (Page 24)

recruitment & retention assessment & evaluation compensation & benefits performance management learning & development succession planning panies such as Dow can easily hold on to and transfer valuable business wisdom, build a mentoring program, and even discover new business development potential through more active and engaged retirees and the baby boomers who may have gone gray but are not ready to wind down. Don’t be fooled. Retirees are already online and using these tools. According to a comScore analysis, more than half of MySpace visitors are 35 or older, with 11 percent 55-plus. The demographics are similar on sites such as Facebook and Friendster, and skew even older on professional sites, such as LinkedIn. The Benefits of Maintaining Corporate Alumni Relationships 30 percent following the implementation of a corporate social network, linking corporate alumni with each other, the company and their former peers. The study also found rehires are more likely to be star performers. Study subjects report, on average, 66 percent of rehires made through their corporate social networking program are star performers versus 26 percent of experienced hires. According to industry statistics, star performers contribute three times the amount of an average performer. The study also revealed, on average, the time to contribution of rehires is half that of all experienced hires, which may be linked to rehires’ existing knowledge of customers and established relationships within the organization that can facilitate work. Making the Business Case Alumni of an organization long have been recognized as sources of new business and employee referrals, as well as for their potential roles as customers and rehired employees. Maintaining these relationships for life and connecting alumni electronically, with each other and with current employees, can escalate these benefits by fostering connectivity and information flow. For example, KPMG set up a corporate alumni social network in the spring of 2007, aiming to better connect current and former employees, keep them up to date on corporate news, events and job openings, foster a more collaborative environment, and provide KPMG executives with an easy way to stay in touch with former employees. KPMG has signed up approximately 10,000 former and current employees on its corporate social network. KPMG credits its network with helping it hire 137 former employees, or around 14 percent of the company’s total hires, since the network’s launch, up from 72 people in the three months prior. This increase in the number of rehires delivers significant benefits to the organization — from cost savings to productivity improvements and increased goodwill among employees. Additional benefits include access to the knowledge experienced alumni hold, the ability to inform opinions and discussions alumni have about the organization, and the potential to create positive impressions for individuals who may remain shareholders or customers of the organization. Such brand ambassadorship, whether for an organization’s employment or corporate brand, can have substantive results. Rehires Hit the Ground Running The line between the personal and professional lives of employees, retirees and other corporate constituencies is blurring. Workers come in and out of the workforce, individual companies, and retirement at a higher rate than ever before and seek to maintain connections to their current and former associates. Forging and fostering personal connections throughout organizations helps to break down silos, align corporate objectives and engage employees more fully. Building relationships for life won’t happen overnight. In many organizations, this way of thinking is an entirely new concept and will take a massive shift in organizational thinking from the CEO on down. Many companies still feel if employees leave or retire, they are gone forever and shouldn’t be welcomed back. Yet, the numbers speak for themselves. The sheer number of retirees eligible for retirement over the next five years versus the number of Gen Y workers marks a clear chasm in the workforce of the future. Retirees who leave are taking with them incredible knowledge that if not captured and shared will be lost forever, marking gaps in knowledge transfer and a potentially dangerous gateway for competitors to gain an advantage in the marketplace. These potential risks to an organization’s business, bottom line, market reputation and brand recognition cannot go unnoticed. Action must be taken to build and maintain these important relationships for life. The business benefits of maintaining relationships for life with employees even after they have left the organization are clear. Share these benefits with the HR team, line managers, hiring managers and the executive team. From corporate alumni to retirees, the benefits of maintaining these relationships can have a profound impact on an organization’s bottom line. They are numbers and benefits that cannot be ignored. Diane Pardee is chief marketing officer at SelectMinds. She can be reached at editor@TalentMgt.com. Corporate alumni bring many benefits when they rejoin an organization. They understand the culture, work ethic and how to navigate their former employer’s organization. Further, the organization has knowledge about their prior performance, and the goodwill associated with returning, customer-facing employees can have substantial financial impact. According to a recent survey of SelectMinds clients, most were able to increase the amount of rehires versus external experienced hires by approximately February 2008 24 talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com http://www.TalentMgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - February 2008

Talent Management - February 2008 Editor's Letter - Talkin' 'Bout My Generation Contents Human Performance - Achievement Motivation: Top Talent At Any Age Leading Edge - Who's On First? Foundations - Managing the Next Generation Workforce Viewpoint - Talent Strategies That Work Are Talent Strategies That Stick Those Who Have Left: The Value of Building Employee Relationships Alternatives to 360s: The Manager's Role Compensation and Benefits For X&Y Build A Multigenerational Performance Management Strategy Development's Role in Creating A Culture Of Inclusion Tomorrow's Leader: Identifying the Next Generation Integrating Talent Management Systems Strategically Seagate Uses Yearlong Evaluations to Help Integrate Talent Efforts Western Union: Connecting Strategy and People Globally Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources Full Potential - The Best Time to Change? Right Now!

TM - February 2008

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