Why Ex-Employees Matter in a Big Way

Employees are the lifeblood of any organization. They spend months, years, and sometimes decades of their lives in service to an employer, embedded in the culture and building value for clients and shareholders. They develop friendships with colleagues. They meet mentors. They learn. They grow.

And many times, they eventually leave.

Some leave for greener pastures, like a bigger job title or better compensation package. Others jet to escape bad managers. Some quit to pursue major lifestyle changes, such as moving to a different city or starting one’s own business. Most depart with a smile; a few leave in a huff.

But the common thread is that they all leave, and when they do, they shift from being employees to alumni — an important constituency deserving of a strong engagement strategy.

The value proposition for universities to engage their alumni is clear. Alumni support their schools through gifts of money, skill, and time. They fund new buildings. They extend internship opportunities to students. They drum up interest in the school. They’re the living, breathing representation of a degree from their university; it behooves the school to ensure their alumni are on good terms with them and well-informed.

The business case for engaging corporate alumni is remarkably similar. While these people don’t write checks to endow conference rooms or paint their faces in company colors to celebrate earnings calls, their ability to impact the organization is real. 

Here are three key reasons why your company’s alumni are among your most powerful untapped assets:

Brand Ambassadorship
All of your ex-employees are ambassadors for your company’s brand, whether they know it or not. Whenever they share their thoughts — through chit-chat over cocktails at an industry event or through a detailed review on Glassdoor.com — they’re shaping perceptions of your company to the outside world. Their words are given extra weight because they were part of the organization. While you can’t control what their work experience may have been like five or ten years ago, you can ensure that they feel valued, respected, and well-informed as an alumni community today. With a strong alumni communication and engagement strategy, your former employees will have the foundation to serve as advocates on your behalf.  

Business Development
Unless your departing employees change careers entirely when they move on, chances are they’ll be employed by organizations that relate to your business: peers, competitors, clients, and potential clients. This is particularly common in fields like accounting, consulting, and law, which require specialized skill sets. This means that in many cases, your alumni will be in a position to send business your way and vice versa. It’s crucial that you bring them into the inner circle when it comes to news about products and services, so that they can make referrals when appropriate. Likewise, keeping former employees close helps you maintain a pulse on key industry happenings and shake-ups. When alumni are part of a thriving network that provides real value and mutual benefit, they’ll be proud to support their former employer.

Recruiting
Your former employees know your business inside and out, and they also know what it takes to thrive in your company’s culture. For these reasons, they’re well-suited to refer job candidates within their networks for open roles at your company. If you give them special access to job postings (better yet, an alumni referral incentive), they may be helpful with recruiting fresh talent. Plus, your alumni may spot a role that personally interests them — and we all know that returning employees (“boomerangs”) are a win for the employer and employee alike. Boomerangs bring company knowledge and relationships, along with refreshed perspective from the outside, which lets them hit the ground running. Simply keeping an open line of communication with alumni can do wonders for your talent acquisition efforts.

Participating in a corporate alumni network is not a hard sell for the former employees, as these associations typically provide unique and compelling opportunities for networking, professional development, career advancement, and industry knowledge exchange, not to mention concrete benefits and discounts.

Some companies (such as Citi) have grown thriving alumni programs over the last few years, while others (like McKinsey) have had alumni networks, in some form, for decades. As global competition for business and talent heats up — and relationship capital becomes more valuable than ever — expect a surge in corporate alumni networks in 2016. Are you ready?

#BigIdeas2016

This post represents my personal perspective on corporate alumni networks. It is not necessarily a representation of the view of my employers (past or present).