Case Study: Should You Rehire a Defector?

Group – 2
• Kapoor Niharika Sanjay 0423/57
• Ojas Yadav 0373/57
• Sambit Roy 0382/57
• Abhishek Bandari 0034/57
• N Sri Pranav 0366/57
 Case Summary

• Ram is the CEO of Green consulting Horizon, a 6-year old sustainable design firm.

• Hari was one of the most valuable employee of the young firm who left 2-years ago for a better opportunity.

• Hari no longer enjoys his current job and expressed his desire of working with Ram again.

• Hari didn’t leave in the best of circumstances. It was a tough year and Ram had to manage both office and
field operations.

• Ram had a discussion with Tuli and preeti about Hari’s recruitment. While Tuli understands the strategic
importance of bringing Hari, Preeti is skeptical about how other employees will feel about his return.

• Ram turns in to his mentor Mohan. According to Mohan boomeranging is very common in big organizations
but Hari’s motivation of coming back might not be best aligned with the company’s interests.

• Hari might be burdened with workload and he misses the work life balance he could have in Green
consulting. Also it might be difficult to trust him given his prior track record of leaving the firm in a tight
situation.
Q-1 Should Ram take Hari back? Why and Why not?
 Why
Why Ram
Ram should
should rehire
rehire Hari?
Hari? Why
Why Ram
Ram shouldn’t
shouldn’t rehire
rehire Hari?
Hari?

• Hiring Hari will allow Ram to focus on the • Hari had previously left the organization in search
Middle East expansion without having to deal of greater chances and higher compensation. As a
about day-to-day operations. result, people will have less faith in him.

• The decision to rehire her could create a negative

• Hari would be able to bring back his experience precedent for others as it would necessitate a
from working for a competitor. comprehensive reorganization of the team – It
would cost a lot of money and time.

• Hari is familiar with the workplace and he has • Re-allocation of work and projects will occur,
proved his skillsets and job quality. which may cause some employees to be dissatisfied
with Hari's return to the company
Q-2 What is the role of Mentor?
Roles of a Mentor at Workspace - I

● Help the mentee by providing appropriate advice and guidance

1. Guide ● Provide feedback to improve, help mentee become socialized
during organizational entry

● Be an example and inspiration to the mentee to emulate

2. Role Model ● Share stories and experiences to support the mentee

● Provide a safe space to speak openly and without fear of

3. Professional Friend ●
embarrassment or fear
Provide support on personal issues, if appropriate

● Support the mentee in thinking through situations

4. Sounding Board ● Act as a sounding board to run past ideas, provide insights into
possible opportunities
Roles of a Mentor at Workspace - II

● Assess capabilities, provide feedback & instructions to improve

5. Performance Coach ●
productivity & performance
Support mentee in specific and focussed areas

● Identify resources to help mentee enhance personal development

6. Resource Person ●
and career growth
Expand the mentee’s network of contacts

● Serve as advocate for mentee when opportunity presents itself

7. Sponsor/Champion ● Seek to develop mentee’s career and helping them progress

● Support, validate and encourage mentees, provide instrumental

8. Motivator ●
and emotional support
Lead through experience and competence
Q-3 What is meant by Boomerang talent/boomerang employee?
Discuss the pros and cons of rehiring a boomerang?
- Definition
- Pros
- Cons
Boomerang Employee

A boomerang employee is someone who chooses to take a job

elsewhere (or quits work altogether) for a time, either for personal
reasons or professional reasons, before choosing to come back to
their former company as a rehired employee.
Boomerang Employee - Pros

• No surprises: Generally, there is a lot of mismatch between how a candidate performs in an interview and his actual work.
Boomerang hires reduce the risk factor as organizations have already seen the individual at work and will be aware of their
strengths and weaknesses.
• Better Cultural Fit: A new hire only gets a glimpse into the organization’s way of life before accepting an offer. In contrast,
boomerang hires have factored in company culture when deciding to re-join the company. They associate themselves with
the employer’s brand, which means that they are more likely to stay loyal.
• Reduced cost-per-hire: Boomerang hires typically only return if they have left on good terms, often maintaining strong links with
current employees and relying on these relationships to re-join the company. These relationships can eliminate agency costs and
reduce time to hire.

“As per a Glassdoor study, by hiring previous employees, the entire hiring process can be cut up to 50 percent compared to other
unknown applicants.”

• Accelerated induction: Previous employees already know about the company’s products, culture, vision, and mission, which
makes the onboarding process much less time-consuming and much more cost-effective.
• They bring back a fresh perspective: Boomerang employees come with an improved skill set, more leadership experience, and
insights into how other companies handle situations that could benefit the organization. They bring competitive intelligence and
even potentially new clients because of their new connections.
• Improves Employee Retention: The return of previous employees is a genuine approval of the company’s image as a business.
Current employees will gain confidence in the organization as an employer when they see people voluntarily return.
Boomerang Employee - Cons

 They may hold old grudges: If a coworker or manager is still there with whom the boomerang employee had friction in the
past, it is unlikely that they will bury the hatchet this time around. Reignited feuds can damage team morale.

 Demand Huge Perks: Apart from their compensation, ex-employees may expect perks, flexible policies, and various unique
benefits. 

 Resist Change: They may need more time to acclimate, especially if management, policies, or company culture have
changed.

 They might be easy, but are they the best? They may not actually be the best fit for the new position, regardless of their
past performance.
Q-4 What is difference between Frenemy and Boomerang talent?
 Frenemy
• A frenemy can be a friend, a colleague in
an Organization, or, sadly, even a family
member. Frenemies will keep up friendly
appearances and possibly even pretend
to be warm and supportive. But deep
down they harbor ugly feelings about you:
resentment, envy, jealousy, and anger.
• They can be detrimental to the
productivity in an Organization as
collaboration and not competition is
required.
Boomerang
• Boomerang employees return provides
unique value to an organization in that
they represent external employees and
the knowledge they contain yet have
internal job experience.
• They don’t necessarily harbor ugly
feelings about the organization and more
likely experience a reduction of the
negative feelings that may have led to
their initial turnover from the organization.
Q-5 Why is there a need for a strong talent pipeline to fill the gaps
when people in critical roles leave?
ed for a strong talent Pipeline

• When a critical role employee leaves it will have a huge impact on the companies growth.

• Critical roles are central to the core business of the organisation.

• It takes huge amount of time for the new recruit to adapt to the complexity of the work.

• The recruitment and training cost for such a role is a huge budget issue for the organization.

• The talent acquisition for such roles takes time(HPPY survey suggests it takes about 9 to 12 months) which will
drastically slowdown the supply chain mechanics, operational flow of work which in turn leads to customer
disruption causing loss of loyal customers.

• The present workforce who scurry to fill the gaps left by the departure employee often becomes frustrated and
resentful due to additional workload affecting their productivity.

• A strong talent pipeline is must to fill the gaps when people in critical roles leave.
Q-6 What is the theory behind this case?
Theory of the case…

The career decisions of Hari from leaving Green consulting for a high paying and travel job and again coming
back to Green consulting can be explained through the lens of different perspectives in career transitioning

1 2 3
Decision-making perspective Relational perspective Identity perspective

 Hari’s switching into a bigger firm
and then returning back be
explained by a rational decision
making approach. Initially, he
prioritized making more money and
travel opportunities whereas now
his priorities are better work-life
balance and less work load
 Hari also hinted during his interview
with Ram of the positive chance
event of 75% salary hike and more
travel opportunity which influenced
his decision emotionally
 Hari mentions that he miss the
closely knit culture of the
organization which indicates how
he values the social networks he
formed in the organization
 Ram turns into Mohan whenever
he is faced with work dilemmas.
This highlights the mentor-
protégé relationship and how it
helps in making better
organizational decisions
 In the bigger organization Hari found
himself stuck as a cog in the
consulting wheel. He wanted to have
the feeling of leading a team again
 This can be a triggering factor which
influenced Hari’s decision to return in
his former organization. In the current
job Hari identifies himself as an
employee whereas in the former one
he identified himself as a leader
Thank you