The same river twice
What is a “boomerang employee”?
It’s someone who returns to a previous employer. This is becoming increasingly common, with one study finding that 28 percent of hires across more than 120 enterprise-sized organizations were boomerangs.
As of today, it also includes me.
I’m stepping into a new role at my last company that, I am thrilled to say, includes a designated percentage of work time to devote to Explore Your Career River. I’m eager to hear your ideas for new offerings for this project and community. Naturally, I’ve updated my career map accordingly.
As the saying goes, you can’t step into the same river twice. I’ll be working in a different capacity at a company that has changed since I left three years ago. I’m not the same either, having gained experience and knowledge since I left.
I’ve invited Jenn Brandel, the CEO playing 2024 on ultra hard mode who has now hired me twice, to add her thoughts to mine on what it takes to successfully boomerang.
Invest in relationships
Bridget: Even though I left the company, I stayed in touch with many people there and found ways to serve on projects connected to their work. I certainly didn’t expect to be coming back, but since I cared about the success of their programs and about the friendships I’d made there, that made it easier to plug back in when the opportunity came up.
Jenn: I follow the work of previous employees of Hearken because I genuinely care about them and where they are gravitating toward. Some have pursued traditional and commercial paths, some have left the industries we served entirely, and some have deepened working in ways that are core to Hearken’s principles and what I’m personally curious about to keep exploring. Bridget’s work is the last category. She’s been looking at, building and supporting a more networked and ecosystem approach to news and information, which is the direction we’re headed. It’s been easier to stay plugged in with Bridget’s thinking and goals because she’s been proactive in reaching out and we’ve scheduled the occasional virtual coffee just to catch up.
Know what you value
Bridget: A number of the pros of boomeranging revolve around your familiarity with your former employer and ability to skip all the onboarding and plunge right in. I would add understanding how your unique value fits with the company’s culture, particularly in areas where you’ve grown since leaving. When Jenn first talked to me about this opportunity, she said she had “a Bridget-shaped hole” she was trying to fill. Our conversations revolved around what excited me and where my interests could best contribute to her goals. I asked a number of questions about how the company has changed, and it was great talking to someone who understands what makes me tick and where I contribute best.
Jenn:
A question I keep coming back to in work I do in a variety of spheres is: “why did you get into ____ kind of work and what expectations do you have in doing it?” It’s so easy to be out of alignment with your colleagues, company or industry and it helps to check in from time to time because those answers will naturally evolve.
Knowing more about what animates Bridget and what drives her to do good work helped me see that what I was missing was someone with her dimensions and that I could provide a space for her to grow into her own curiosity and leadership.
Be open to unexpected turns
Bridget: There are a number of reasons to boomerang, including that boomerang employees score pay raises (a 28% increase, according to 2022 data). But I can’t imagine most people leaving a job expecting to return to the company someday, and there are drawbacks to consider (will there be negative reactions from your former colleagues, for instance). It took me some time to wrap my mind around what it would mean to leave the program I was managing to take on this new role. Luckily, I had a group of friends and advisors who helped me talk through what this change would mean and decide whether it made sense to pursue it.
Jenn: I joke that the measure of a successful life for me is whether or not each year brings with it unexpected things I never could have predicted. Another way to put it is: stagnation = death for me. Or in Career River terms: just say no to bogs! (No flow, no oxygen, no new nutrients moving through).
Bridget re-joining Hearken is definitely an unexpected turn, and one that’s firmly in the “good unexpected” category. I was bummed to see Bridget go the first time around, but understood that the direction the company was taking under different leadership at that time (I stepped out as CEO for a couple of years) was no longer totally aligned with her main interests. So I’m delighted that our tributaries are re-joining again!
Your turn: What’s ahead for the Career River community?
This project has been a labor of love. I’ve usually written these newsletters after my kids go to bed or by grabbing slices of time on the weekends. (I drafted the bulk of this post during an early morning session with my one-year-old snoozing on my lap.) It’s been fulfilling to hear how this concept resonates with people, and I keep plugging away because I believe in a more fulfilling approach to our professional lives. I also believe that together we have the power to shape cultural expectations around what careers can be.
Now that I’ll have more time, brainpower and resources to put toward this effort, I’d love to hear your ideas. What would you find helpful as the Career River community evolves?
No idea is too off-the-wall or ambitious. Should we have an annual meetup? What about a way to connect with other subscribers around advice, asks and offers? Would you want to join an advisory board to help steer Career River’s development? Where could we take this idea in the coming years to help people embrace professional exploration?
Thank you for your interest and engagement with this framework. I’m thrilled to be starting a new chapter and eager to see where this journey leads next.
Happy navigating,
Bridget
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🔗 Links:
Boomerang employees:
The Promise (and Risk) of Boomerang Employees (Harvard Business Review)
The Boomerang Dilemma: Pros And Cons of Rejoining A Former Employer (Forbes)
Career river:
Discover hidden themes by mapping your career river
Job Hunt January: Curing interview anxiety
Freeing ourselves from the career ladder
One red paper clip and the Grand Canyon
The Good Project: “Founded by psychologists…The Good Project has two decades of experience carrying out qualitative research and developing practical materials with an emphasis on topics including the meaning of good work, effective collaboration, digital citizenship, and civic participation.”
Playing 2024 on *Ultra* Hard Mode (Jenn Brandel, Medium)
The interstitium: “The interstitium is a body wide system virtually unknown to Western scientists until quite recently. … Beyond setting the stage for a scientific revolution, the interstitium holds a conceptual revolution that needs integration in other spaces, too.”
A new chapter for Hearken, a new chapter for me (Jenn Brandel, Medium)