MUNICH and SEATTLE, July 8, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The 2021 Corporate Alumni Benchmarking Annual Report, conducted by PeoplePath in partnership with researchers from the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, makes clear that the interest and value of building a community focused on maintaining lifelong relationships with former employees continues to grow.
Corporate alumni programs came to the forefront during a year that caused corporations to restructure and downsize, hoping to rehire in the future as businesses bounce back. Many turnover and retention experts, including those at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), expect to see voluntary exits rise significantly over the course of 2021, which is commonly being referred to as the "Great Resignation."
Key findings of the survey:
- Alumni programs are investing in their teams. Only 2% of programs do not have a full-time employee managing the program (down from 12% in 2016), and 30% have two or more dedicated staff (up from 22% in that same year).
- Consistent communication is a key program element — 70% of alumni programs engage with their community monthly or quarterly in varied ways.
- Introducing an alumni program earlier in the employment relationship is growing as 62% of programs encourage current employees to participate in the corporate alumni program (and 16% more aim to do this in the future).
- Boomerangs are proving to be a strategic source of talent as 68% of companies say that up to 5% of new hires are alumni rehires.
- An opportunity to boost alumni rehires exists as only 26% of companies offer an alumni referral incentive.
- Community health metrics are popular measurement methods as more than 80% track day-to-day actions. However, less than 50% track data related to the top business drivers.
"As corporate alumni programs mature over time, we see them become an integral part of human resources, business development, and marketing departments. This makes them a unique offering that requires resources to manage, but has significant opportunity in the form of tangible benefits from cost savings and increased sales as well as intangible benefits from enhanced brand and culture," said Tony Audino, Co-CEO of PeoplePath. "This 2021 survey confirmed our belief that demonstrating to leadership the return on investment of alumni engagement can lead to an overall increase in program headcount and budget."
"With the rise of layoffs and resignations, we are expecting the size of alumni communities to meet or potentially exceed current employee populations in the coming years. Companies should consider dedicating resources to actively engage former employees in order to harness the value of their alumni," said Dr. Rebecca Paluch, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources at UBC Sauder School of Business. "Our findings suggest corporate alumni programs will become increasingly important as workers across ages, levels, and industries seem to be changing jobs more frequently in a post-pandemic work world."
This report also takes a deep dive into the impact of COVID-19, the frequency of communications within the programs, the integration within human resources and employee engagement, as well as what the return on investment looks like. The data shows that as corporations continue to invest in the employee lifecycle, the returns will only grow, creating value for both the participant and the corporation, especially as companies rethink the world of work. Read the full 2021 Corporate Alumni Benchmarking Report on the PeoplePath website.
PeoplePath will be hosting a webinar entitled, "Corporate Alumni Programs and the Great Resignation," on Thursday July 22nd that is open to the public and will be interviewing Dr. Paluch on the findings as well as taking questions from the audience. A link to register can be found here.
About PeoplePath
PeoplePath helps organizations engage talent throughout the entire career lifecycle. Clients use PeoplePath's cutting-edge software platforms for candidate relationship management and alumni engagement to lower recruiting costs, build brand ambassadors, and generate new business. With locations in Europe and the United States, PeoplePath enables companies across the globe to maintain lifelong relationships with candidates, employees, and alumni.
Media Contact
Jenn Pedde, PeoplePath, +1 646-413-8208, [email protected]
SOURCE PeoplePath
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