You be the manager!

[kranky]

Situation: A long-time employee turns in her resignation to go to another company doing the same job. The company tries to get her to stay but she says the other company has a more appealing career path and her mind is made up. It takes a long time to train someone for this job so the company is impacted noticeably by her leaving. They immediately hire a replacement and start training.

Three months later, the old employee calls and asks if she can come back. Much of what she was told by the new company was exaggeration and there's really no career path for her there.

The company would benefit by bringing the old employee back but cannot keep the new employee in another position, and the new employee would have to be let go. The new employee has done fine in the first three months, and eventually would learn the job completely.

What do you do, and why?

 

[Kirby]

Keep the new employee. The old one made a decision to leave, and you can't punish the new one for her mistake.

 

[SearchMaster]

I'd say "no dice" unless I was really short-handed. She's already proven she's looking to leave and wouldn't be coming back if the grass were greener at the other place.

 

[Vehemence]

Sorry bitch, you're out of luck.

 

[finite automaton]

Absolutely no question, keep the new employee.

 

[darkxshade]

Originally posted by: nkgreen
Keep the new employee. The old one made a decision to leave, and you can't punish the new one for her mistake.

this

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: Vehemence
Sorry bitch, you're out of luck.

This.

 

[SunnyD]

Depends on what "perks" I'd get as the hiring manager. Also :camera:'s so we can truly make the appropriate call.

 

[KeithTalent]

Keep the new employee. The old employee obviously has no loyalty to the company if she left to do the exact same job elsewhere, so I see no reason to show loyalty to her.

KT

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: nkgreen
Keep the new employee. The old one made a decision to leave, and you can't punish the new one for her mistake.

have to agree

 

[vi edit]

The old employee will likely jump ship again as soon as another rosey looking offer comes along.

If the new one looks like a good fit long term and has a good attitude then she's the one that stays.

 

[Vehemence]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Depends on what "perks" I'd get as the hiring manager. Also :camera:'s so we can truly make the appropriate call.

Absolutely. The phone call would have to be straight from a script to be even considered.

"Well I'd really like to come back and would do anything to get it."

"There is a new employee here that's been doing fine."

"Anything."

"Two in the poop?"

"...Wha--"

"Your re-interview is on Monday."

 

[Feneant2]

She does not deserve her old job back as she left which shows she is not loyal and would be willing to repeat the same move in the future. However, as she is a good employee, if there is room, I would hire her back- but in an entry level position and let her work to earn her way back up. If she isn't happy with that, I would wish her good luck and stop there.

 

[yllus]

It'd be a matter of weighing bringing an experienced person back into the company versus knowing that s/he left for a reason that still exists: S/he is unhappy about the career path possible at the company.

If the new employee has demonstrated a solid ability to learn the company's systems, I think it'd be in the best interests of the company in the long term to keep the new employee around. However, if I had to guess what the company would actually do, it's that they'd fire the new and rehire the old. Companies rarely think in the long term.

 

[KeithTalent]

Really the only reason I could see to take back the old employee would be if the new employee was not working out, which is not the case here.

KT

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Vehemence

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Depends on what "perks" I'd get as the hiring manager. Also :camera:'s so we can truly make the appropriate call.

Absolutely. The phone call would have to be straight from a script to be even considered.

"Well I'd really like to come back and would do anything to get it."

"There is a new employee here that's been doing fine."

"Anything."

"Two in the poop?"

"...Wha--"

"Your re-interview is on Monday."

:laugh:

 

[TallBill]

New employee, unless the old one is crazy hot and invites you to group orgies.

 

[Deviant Grasshopper]

I can't believe you're even asking this.

The old employee will run the next change she gets, she's proven that.

 

[BoomerD]

What is this "loyalty" of which youse speak?

Companies certainly show no loyalties to anything but their bottom line, why should an employee be expected to be loyal to a company?

That being said, the old employee might be allowed to apply for another position, but only if she's a "good fit" for the job. The NEW employee sounds like he/she is doing the job just fine and should NOT be displaced.

 

[krunchykrome]

Use the Green Bay Packers as an example. Brett Favre was toying with them and he finally left. Then he asked to come back. The Packers had already made QB plans with Aaron Rodgers, and whether or not they would be better off with Favre, they made a decision and the team must take ownership of that decision and move forward.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

employ the one that is best at the job, if they are equal or have equal upside, employ whichever one is cheaper

 

[Vehemence]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Use the Green Bay Packers as an example.

Sound advice for countless situations.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: kranky
Situation: A long-time employee turns in her resignation to go to another company doing the same job. The company tries to get her to stay but she says the other company has a more appealing career path and her mind is made up. It takes a long time to train someone for this job so the company is impacted noticeably by her leaving. They immediately hire a replacement and start training.

Three months later, the old employee calls and asks if she can come back. Much of what she was told by the new company was exaggeration and there's really no career path for her there.

The company would benefit by bringing the old employee back but cannot keep the new employee in another position, and the new employee would have to be let go. The new employee has done fine in the first three months, and eventually would learn the job completely.

What do you do, and why?

I would keep the new employee and continue training him/her.

The old employee did not have company loyalty, and was blinded by promises that weren't kept. Sounds like she would jump again if she had the opportunity. Now, I would learn from this and make sure the new employee cross trains with another employee so when he/she is out on vacation or also quits, there isn't such a gap.

 

[CPA]

No way would I fire the new employee to bring back the old employee.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

You keep the new one. Any manager that has even the slightest problem making that decision should be the one that's let go.