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  • From: "saundrakaerubel.com" <saundrakae AT saundrakaerubel.com>
  • To: internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Former Employees May Be Untapped Resource (article)
  • Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2001 21:49:20 -0500


From Internet World New: Wednesday, March 7, 2001 ยท Vol. 3, Issue 44

Former Employees May Be Untapped Resource
By Ruhan Memishi

Even as Internet companies implement massive layoffs, many are still in desperate need of highly skilled technical workers. So it makes sense that executives who aren't nice to those outgoing employees or who take an employee's voluntary departure personally are only hurting themselves in the long run.
As expensive as it is to wage an all-out recruiting effort, companies of all types and sizes are taking a different view of departing employees, and companies like New York-based SelectMinds (http://www.selectminds.com/), an application service provider that allows companies to communicate electronically with different segments of their alumni populations, are capitalizing on the trend.

Even as the nation faces an economic slowdown, the company, founded in late 1999, sees tremendous potential in the market, and so do research firms like Gartner. "Enterprises that scorn the rehiring model will limit their ability to respond to enterprise needs and unwittingly fuel the success of competitors for knowledge, experience and talent," Gartner said in a research paper issued on the topic last year.

A way to maintain healthy relations with outgoing talent is to keep the lines of communications open by doing such things as sending former employees e-mail notices about new job opportunities as they become available, according to Gartner. That's particularly important in a business climate in which all too often an employee leaves to take a job at a dot-com that a short time later goes belly-up. After dealing with the disappointment, many workers return to their previous jobs.

Larger companies, according to Gartner, would do well to create more formal relationships with past employees by forming alumni associations.

Through such alliances, companies may offer a variety of perks to former employees like online training programs, providing the person hasn't gone on to work for a competitor. "The incremental cost to that company is nothing, and I'm getting something valuable out of it" as the former employee, said Cem Sertoglu, managing partner and one of the founders of SelectMinds.

SelectMinds, which has 18 employees, doesn't limit its business opportunity to Internet companies; it has a total of 12 clients, mostly in the advertising, investment banking, law, and management consulting fields. "Since the IT sector is one of the sectors that's feeling the talent crunch, it's the most drastic" in terms of growth, said Sertoglu.

Many employees understand that today's economic realities are forcing executives to lay off workers. Letting them use computers, phones, and faxes for their job search also will go a long way in making sure the relationship ends on a more positive note.

"These are companies that know very well how difficult it was to recruit, locate, and attract talent in the last few years," Sertoglu said. "If you do not maintain a relationship with these people, you're basically taking all that effort and throwing it away."

If you do, however, the payoff will be great. You get to promote your corporate brand with these groups of people who already have an affinity toward your organization. Not only will some come back to work for you in the future, but they also are likely to refer other qualified candidates to your company.

In addition, there are business development benefits that shouldn't be overlooked. "These people can very easily go to positions where they can turn around and become a client of your organization, so it's a very relevant marketing audience for you," Sertoglu said.

Yet, there will be other instances when the former employees won't appear to be doing anything for you. But, Sertoglu noted, "They still remain out there as advocates and ambassadors of your organization."

Bye

Saundra





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