Should You Roll Out the Red Carpet—Again? The Truth About Rehiring Former Executives

[00:00:03] Welcome to the Quick Take Podcast, the show where you get targeted advice and coaching for executives by executives. I'm Susie Tomenchok. And I'm James Capps. Give us 15 minutes and we'll give you three secrets to address the complex topic of issues that are challenging executives like you today. Hey, welcome to Quick Take. I'm your host, Susie, along with James. Hey, James. Good afternoon, Susie. How are you this amazing day?

[00:00:32] We always laugh because we try to get the energy up right before we go on. You mean take it down because it's usually so out of control. We have to bring it home because otherwise we're just silly. And so you have to somewhat be – you have to put coherent sentences together. That's fair. We are silly. All right, so we're going to talk today about do you hire people back? Yeah. What does that all look like and how does that happen and is it good? And we don't even know where this is going to go, so frame it up for us.

[00:01:01] Yeah, I was having a conversation with some folks recently at an event and we were – one of the leaders was talking about an opportunity that presented itself to bring back one of their amazing players. And we were kicking that around and then one of our peers who works in the government area has had some strange situations where they had to let people go and then they had to bring them back and let them go and bring them back. And so the conversation is like how do you do that well? Do you bring people back at all?

[00:01:31] And it's not so much do you fight for people that are leaving. Really, it's – I don't want to talk about that so much because I think that's a different animal. But this person has left and now you have an opportunity to bring them back. What does that look like and what are maybe some of the best practices there? Or, yeah, I mean whether you do it or not I guess is up for debate. And, you know, what are your thoughts on that? Susie, I'm certainly interested in understanding that just – what did you do if that was presented to you? Well, I was going to ask you if we could talk about it from both sides. Oh, yeah.

[00:01:58] Because I faced this when I left. I was asked to come back to one of my – you know, it was Comcast. And I – my coach told me be careful because you may get back into that desk, get back in that seat, and then you'll be like happy for a few days. And then you'll be like, oh, I'm back here again. Right, right. And it was not because I didn't love the company.

[00:02:27] It was the exact same role that I was in that I had outgrown. So that's the context around it. But I just thought it was interesting because it's also how are you going to show up? Are you going to show up differently? Your energy, you know, what is that going to look like? For sure. And the other side of it is I have a client who has the saying, red carpet in, red carpet out.

[00:02:53] And I've seen some people come back to their company after they had left. And they're very – they welcome them with open arms. Yeah. I think that's a huge element to that. I think, you know, that first topic I think is just really a good one to think about is a natural propensity to replace – to put that person back into that role.

[00:03:15] I always think of a high-functioning executive team as a puzzle where each puzzle piece is unique and different. And the puzzle works together in a very specific way. And when you leave or remove one of those puzzle pieces, it's nearly impossible to replace a puzzle piece that looks just like the one that's there.

[00:03:36] And so if that puzzle piece has left and the org has morphed and evolved to then allow for a different puzzle piece there, bringing that previous piece in isn't always going to fit. The muscle memory to assume that they will fit I think is dangerous. And I think it's so important that if you choose to do that, that you are much more proactive in the way that you bring them on board.

[00:04:02] Because I don't think it's as simple as handing them a laptop when assuming that they'll hit the ground running. So I think there's two things here. I think one is as a company or organization, you should decide if this – if you do hire the same people back. Like I think it's worth the dialogue to just talk about that because then you can be really objective of what that means. And I love what you said about – I told you about the MASH documentary that I watched and every time they changed out a character, it wasn't like they were changing that exact character.

[00:04:30] But they were filling a void. And what happened was everybody leveled up. Everybody felt a change. Like the chemistry was different. And so I love that idea of a team has this chemistry and when something changes, it changes the combination and the outcomes. And so I think it's a little bit of setting expectations by that employer about what that's going to look like for that other person coming back.

[00:04:57] And I think there's a huge expectation for that person coming back that they do something different. They level up. Are they really – not recast who they are but really be thoughtful about their contribution when they come back. Yeah, I think that's so important that you remind that employee that, hey, you are the devil we know. We know what we're getting. You're a known quantity. We're not the same company we were when you left. Even if it was six months ago, things have changed. People have changed. Businesses have changed.

[00:05:26] The market has changed. And so we expect you to be able to adapt just like we had to adapt. And if you're not very crystal clear on that, I think you're going to have a problem. To your point, I think it's important that the company tells the person some of the things that has changed. Oh, yeah. What are these expectations? Or really telling them kind of what you've missed while you were gone. This is what has happened.

[00:05:55] And even if it is, we're bringing you back with this intention to shift the way we're looking at things. Sure. Changing our orientation. Whatever that is. Yeah. And really challenging them to take on that role. Well, I'll just throw maybe a little bit of a hot take there on this topic. But, you know, I've often said and when I coach people, I feel like the hardest job you'll ever get is when you're promoted in line.

[00:06:24] And why is that? Yeah. Because if you go from being a peer to a leader, you've got so many challenges. Because the two to keep it brief are obviously the people that used to be your peers are now your direct reports. But also you have muscle memory and you're trying to do your new job and your old job. And being a boomerang employee, coming back in and sitting in an old chair, you're going to have a similar challenge.

[00:06:49] That you need to both try to revisit that or refill that role that you were playing, but also not get overly comfortable or lazy and assuming that it's the same job. And I think this is more challenging than perhaps we might think. So if I'm coaching this person, I would say do things differently and really frame the way you're looking at things to your team.

[00:07:17] So whether it's either way that you say you're boomeranging in or you're leveling up to a new role where now your colleagues are, your direct reports are part of your team is saying, listen, I really want to show up differently. And so I'm going to reset expectations. I'm going to run my meetings like this. This is what I expect you to have your highlights done at 4 p.m. on Fridays or whatever those things are, especially if they got a little bit loose. Yep.

[00:07:44] And really set expectations and say, I'm really challenging myself so that we all level up. No, I like that a lot. Take advantage of this crisis, if you will, as we always say. Don't waste a good crisis. Don't waste. Never let a crisis go to waste. And reinvent yourself and reinvent the role. Let's be fair. You got in because of your boomerang perhaps, but that doesn't mean you have to act like the boomerang, right? You can take advantage of the situation and level up. I also think it's important to think about why did you leave?

[00:08:14] And as a company, why was it okay to let them leave? Like what conditions need to change to satisfy what those are and be really real and honest about what that was? Because some of those things, even when you come back, like my coach said to me, you're going to go back there and you're going to be like, oh, that's right. This was how we had to get things done. That's right.

[00:08:38] Those things are still going to be there, even though the honeymoon will probably wear off a little faster than it would if you were brand new. Totally agree. Totally agree. And you may not have the patience you should or would, and those old wounds may get opened up quickly. So yeah, doing a self-check as the boomerang yourself, really making sure. And I would argue, you know, if we just maintain the position of the hiring manager, first and foremost, don't let them come back in the same role.

[00:09:08] Reinvent it. Secondly, you know, remind yourself of why you let that employee go. What were their shortcomings? Are you prepared to revisit those and relive those? Was there a moment you were happy they were gone and you're going to reintroduce that issue back to the organization? Be thoughtful about that because I do think that what's the story? You know, this is why people or women have more than one baby because they forget the bad parts and remember the good part. If we remember everything, nobody would have more than one kid.

[00:09:37] And so remember or keep in mind that your memory is flawed and maybe forgetting some of the bad stuff. And I would add another challenge, another suggestion to your suggestions there. Boy, that was really well done. Is that people, when you hear that somebody's coming back and you didn't have a great, deeply trusted relationship, and if you're coming back and you're like, oh my gosh, I didn't get along with James,

[00:10:04] is to be proactive about showing up differently for that person. And even schedule time with them and say, listen, I know we've had our things in the past. I'm really wanting to make this a new day. So let's make it a new day and see if you can really strengthen those. That would really show a lot of commitment to the organization. Absolutely. If you were proactive on both sides. No, I think that's key.

[00:10:32] And I think everybody involved needs to kind of be open and honest about those things and communicate that. I think that missing out on that opportunity to reset the terror, if you will, I think is probably the best part of bringing somebody back is to reset the expectation like that. You know what I love about this topic is that people don't normally think about this topic. And this is a good one for people to talk about even when it's not something they're facing. Right.

[00:10:59] Because you should have an opinion on it as an organization, as a part of the business. There are oftentimes, you know, more than once in my career that the door has been, you know, slightly left open. And you have to go through this exercise on whether or not it's a worthy endeavor. Usually it's, you know, it takes a little bit of effort on both parts to kind of do that. But if you haven't thought this through, then I think you're going to be less likely to succeed. Totally. I think this is a good one. Thanks, James. Yep.

[00:11:30] Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Quick Take, where we talk about the questions that are on the minds of executives everywhere. Connect with us and share what's on your mind. You can find us on LinkedIn, YouTube, or whatever nerdy place on the internet you find your podcasts. All the links you really need are in the show notes.