Why building an alumni network could open up a whole new world of recruitment possibilities
Say ‘alumni’ and many people will shudder as they recall a laughably humiliating school reunion complete with ill-fitting uniforms and lashings of social awkwardness. For many, whether in education or the workplace, graduating or leaving means shutting the door and mentally banishing old contacts for good.
This used to be considered healthy ‘closure’. But with the increasingly fluid nature of modern careers and the sheer common sense of leveraging the people you know for your mutual benefit, formal or semi-formal alumni networks are suddenly a must-have.
It’s an idea that works for both business and individuals. And unsurprisingly, it’s the management consultants who are leading the way. “Many professional services firms have long-established, strong alumni networks. They can generate extra revenue, contacts in their marketplace and goodwill as a result,” says Charlie Keeling, global HR director at law firm Clyde & Co, which runs its own network.
At Deloitte, 10,000 former employees are signed up. “It’s something our business is taking very seriously, and we’re increasing investment in what we do with our network,” says Mike Meehan, sponsoring partner for the Deloitte alumni network.
Networks’ most obvious benefits accrue in new business leads – former staff who’ve gone on to better things may be able to open doors – and in projecting a positive employer brand. But they are equally useful in recruitment. “When we get referrals for hires from our alumni network, there’s a much higher probability we’re going to see people who will fit with Deloitte and be a success,” says Meehan.
This can extend to re-hiring former employees – after all, you know what you’re getting. Keeling and his team proactively identify high-performing former staff they were sorry to see leave. “I get my recruitment team to contact the ‘good leavers’ after three and six months to see if they are happy in their new roles. Essentially, is the other man’s grass greener?” says Keeling. “Some people are brave enough to admit it’s not and are happy to talk about re-joining.”
With the growing preponderance of ‘portfolio’ careers, in which people spend shorter stints at a larger number of companies, recruitment is more frenetic and maintaining relationships with alumni just makes sense, adds Meehan: “The people we hire today as graduates have a hugely different outlook for what their careers are going to look like over the course of 30 or 40 years. People will now often spend a shorter time with us. Sometimes they will leave, get another role – perhaps at one of our clients or in another sector – and come back again.”
Building an alumni network that makes the grade involves more than throwing information into a spreadsheet and hoping for the best. Universities run the most complex and effective alumni networks, and Christine Fairchild, director of alumni relations at the University of Oxford, says the process begins with collecting the right sort of data. “You must start with a strong database that’s resilient, robust and has a lot of good fields, so you get to build a real picture of your alumni body,” she says. “Poll and survey your alumni to find out what they want and what would be meaningful. There’s nothing worse than assuming you know everybody’s interests.”
“It’s a terrible idea to just assume you know what your alumni are interested in,” adds Meehan. “It may not be in the DNA of a corporate to let go like that, but asking what they want drives great rewards.”
The internet has made such networks considerably easier to manage. Fairchild abandoned most of Oxford’s traditional print communications – “It’s just the way the world works” – in favour of the web.
Deloitte sends regular email bulletins and owns a LinkedIn group, which is largely operated by members. “We can post messages on LinkedIn and instigate discussion, and the alumni can do that as well.” says Meehan. “It creates an energised and interactive community. That interaction, frankly, is a huge attraction for people who are network members.”
But just because you’ve built it doesn’t mean they’ll come. Fairchild stresses it’s important to explain the value of staying in contact to your alumni. “Everybody’s after everybody else’s time and data for various things,” she says. “You have to provide a strategic argument for why this network is important.”
The attraction of being plugged into a network of well-connected professionals may seem relatively obvious. But it still pays to make approaches to alumni personal, and to allow them to form their own conversations and connections. Being opportunistic is a seriously bad idea: suddenly connecting with a former employee because they are in an attractive new role, having ignored them for several years, is unlikely to yield positive results.
“Most people recognise the value of the personal relationships they build as they go through their career,” says Meehan. “That’s always been true, but the ability to harness that has vastly increased in the past few years.” If you’re not in touch with your former employees, it seems, they’re probably talking to each other anyway. And they might just be talking about you.