Never-Ending Talent Development Produces Results

When you hire great people, despite your efforts to meet all their career goals, they will eventually move on as new opportunities arise. A new article from Quartz at Work asks, “Who says talent development has to stop when an employee moves on?”

The growth of corporate alumni programs is evidence that companies realize that employees are valuable even after they leave. As the article points out, “[n]ow, former employees are viewed as customers, brand ambassadors, sources of referrals, and even future employees.” By investing in a formal way to engage employees for life, companies will benefit down the road.

Here’s an attention-grabbing statistic about the ROI attributable to alumni relations. Justin Manly, a managing director at BCG who heads the company’s alumni program states “BCG calculates that when an alum is involved in a new client engagement with a guaranteed fee, it’s 40% more lucrative than projects without that connection.”

Corporate alumni programs are good for the participants, too. PeoplePath’s founder and Co-CEO Tony Audino says there are four main reasons ex-employees join alumni programs:

1. advancing their careers via networking and job postings,
2. reconnecting with old friends and colleagues,
3. getting discounts on products and services, and
4. participating in philanthropic programs.

With a small investment, companies that address those objectives can cultivate a community of engaged alumni with an affinity for their former employers.

As the job market grows more competitive, corporate alumni programs can help attract top talent and develop business opportunities with former employees.