Former employees who once had been valuable to the company are likely to hold value after the rehire. However, before you rehire a former employee, investigate two important things. One, why did they leave in the first place and secondly, whether they were on of the top performers on their job. It is not very wise to hire back a person who had in the past shown poor job performance. A former employee can prove to be a highly valuable worker because of the following reasons:
Familiarization with the company culture
A former employee is already aware of the company norms and the organizational culture and does not need induction training. This will reduce some of the recruitment costs and increase productivity.
Skills known
All strengths and weaknesses of a former employee are generally known to the managers. This helps in building a quick rapport and does not leave any surprises for the company.
Low cost per hire
The cost of hiring will be reduced considerably by directly contacting the former employees as opposed to the general advertisements for the job post.
Added skills
In all likelihood the former employee who has now gained experience of working in a different company might have learnt new skills and has become more experienced. Sometimes employees leave the job to study further. When they are brought back they are able to add more value to their work.