If you are having trouble filling your vacant positions, you are not alone.  Many employers are struggling to hire team members in almost every type of business and most types of jobs.  For example, hair stylists have been difficult to recruit over the last few years.

So here’s a surprising way to find a few new hires.  Why not reach out to your former employees?  Yes, that’s right!   An untapped source for finding talent might be the employees who worked in your business in the past.  Quite often, former employees quit and move to a new job thinking perhaps the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.  They soon find that the new job and new employer makes them realize that their prior job working with you was actually a better situation for them overall.  It is natural for people to dwell on one or two negatives and overlook all the positives in their work environment.  For example, the employee might be concerned about longer drive time, but forgets to take into consideration the positive personalities of their team members and the culture of the work environment.  After leaving, they see the full picture more clearly.

Here are some reasons why employees quit:

• Longer drive time
• Personality conflicts with supervisor or co-workers
• Personal problems at home causing them stress
• Perception of pay being too low
• Inflexible schedules or work rules
• Trying a different career path

If you have a phone number or email that still works, you have an easy way to reach out and “check up” on the former employee.  Asking a few key questions might help bring them back onto your team:

• How’s it going for them?  You’ve been thinking about them and checking up to see how they are doing.
• Looking back, how do they feel about having worked on your team?
• What did they like best?
• Have they ever thought about returning to work with you?
• Any issues would need to be solved for them to consider returning?

You might find that the employee’s pride kept them from contacting you.  You making the first move can make all the difference.  Perhaps there were a couple of issues at the time leading for their leaving.  Maybe the situation is different now.  For example, the team culture has changed with a couple of employees leaving and a couple of new employees arriving.  Perhaps you have a new location they could work at.  Perhaps you’ve increased pay rates or bonus potential.  Perhaps the person’s home life has stabilized.  The employee might have forgotten why they quit!  No need to dwell on that.  Just look forward to the great opportunity you have for them now!

So, in conclusion, re-contact your former employees and you are likely to find a few quality candidates to add to your team!

• Please take a moment to read this month’s How to Avoid Unemployment Claims (Part-1) and Using your Personal DNet Online Portal articles, these blog articles are a great source of information.
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