Getting New Hires from Old Employees

By Gregg Gregory

Does your organization have an alumni program in place?  A couple of weeks ago, traveling from Atlanta to Washington, I sat next to a woman who works in the marketing department for a large law firm in Washington, DC. As we talked, she told me of one way her firm attracts and hires new and talented people: by creating an alumni program, which she heads. And just like a high school or college, they host alumni parties and gatherings as well as send newsletters to their alumni.

At first this sounded a little strange, but as we began to talk this concept made perfect sense. If your organization has averaged 250 employees over the past fifteen years with a constant turnover rate of 8 percent, that equates to twenty people per year. Multiply that by fifteen years and now you have 300 alumni.

Not everyone needs to be invited to participate. Let's face it – you don't want some employees back or any referrals they may have. And in some cases they may not want to participate in the program themselves. For instance, if they now work for a competitor, are they going to be quick to give you good referrals? Not likely.

So let's assume that of the 300 potential alumni in your program you have about 15 percent who will not participate – that gives you just over 250 people to market to.

You might ask, What do I mean by “market to”? Think about it. Who else knows what your company or organization does better than a former employee? Maybe they have simply moved on because they were no longer were growing at your company, but they left on good terms. Maybe they still have friends working there. If you market to them about new positions or new products, they may very well know someone who could benefit. Maybe they have changed direction in their work but know other friends who could benefit, and they might make a referral back to you for a new hire.

If a good employee gives you a referral, don't you think this referral might be a good employee too?

The larger the organization the more this makes sense – and the greater the rewards. If your organization is growing, why not put this into play now? Your growth plan will be set for the future.

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