Should You Return to a Former Employer?

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Last week the sports world was set on fire with the announcement that basketball star Lebron James was returning from a 4-year stint with the Miami Heat to rejoin the Cleveland Cavaliers. That announcement has spawned a plethora of blog posts about “boomerang employees” and the benefits of employees and their former employers reuniting. While most employees and employers will strongly consider the idea of reuniting, most employees won’t receive quite the same fan fare Mr. James experienced after making his announcement. Here are some questions to ask before you reunite with a former employer:
What were the real reasons for your departure? Odds are a better salary isn’t the only reason you left your old employer. Were there issues with the culture, management concerns, or was the hour commute each way impacting work/life balance?
Has senior leadership changed? This question has many aspects that can impact corporate culture. If the same leaders are in place as when you left, there’s a good chance the culture and structure of the company are still the same as before. If new leaders are in place but they have risen through the company there’s a good chance they are continuing in the same path their predecessors took. If new leaders have been brought in from outside the organization there’s a much greater chance that adjustments have been made to the culture and the organization as a whole.
Will the organization be able to understand that you’ve changed? Our experiences play a big part in molding who we become as individuals. If you rejoin an organization after being gone for a substantial period of time, you’ll probably be the same person from a personality and character perspective, but your experience and skills will be much higher. Will your former/future team members have an issue viewing you as a senior member of the team?
These are just a few of the questions that need to be asked when considering a return to a former company. Are there any other questions that should be added to the list?  Let us know in the comment section below.