Having an Alumni program that’s been put into practice might be one of the greatest ways to strengthen your recruiting and talent brand and to get more customer referrals for your company. The corporate alumni of PayPal are responsible for companies like Yelp, Tesla, and YouTube. Understanding results like these and that a long-term relationship can be very valuable, a lot of companies exploring the Value of Corporate Alumni.
One of the primary ways alumni programs are valuable, and what they’re most known for, is being a leading recruitment tool. However, these programs have the potential to go beyond recruitment, offering much greater possibilities.
Here are 7 key areas where an alumni advocacy program can be of great value to your organization:Diversity
By cultivating and taking advantage of alumni who have different experiences and perspectives, companies can achieve stronger ideas and business growth. Alumni programs that actively engage the members to bridge the gap and bring in suitable candidates for recruitment or alumni who can help you with referrals.
Knowledge and Insight
When your high performing employees leave your company for other work opportunities, they will certainly acquire new skills and insights. If through an active corporate alumni program you’ve maintained solid relationships, you can tap into their new knowledge and skills to help your company grow or you can perhaps hire your top alumni back to help bring innovation into your company.
Business Growth
Alumni not only are aware of the outside world, which the existing employees lack, but they also are well versed with the working of an organization. So, nurturing relationships with alumni builds up great business opportunities since alumni play a vital role in linking their former and current employers.
Brand Advocates
Reputation is highly significant for businesses. Alumni can exert a great deal of power over your brand’s reputation. They are the ones who can refer people to your organization, or they can discourage them from joining your company. You should engage your alumni via an alumni advocacy program. It can prove to be a cost-effective tool for your brand.
Investors
If you’re a publicly-traded company, there’s a high probability that former employees will have options and stock shares. This makes them a viable source for teaming up as an investor especially if they have been engaged enough to maintain interest in your company’s progress. An alumni advocacy program can update and encourage alumni to act as capital assets and invest in your organization.
New Hires
Everyone looks to find a company that is reputable. An employer who can further their career. Having an alumni program that cultivates a network can help screen and refer new hires that are worth investing in and can become solid assets to the company long term.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Besides being brand advocates, corporate alumni can also support your Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) initiatives. While working with your company, these people were actively investing their time in your company. Thanks to their initiatives, these programs reach a successful conclusion. If you provide your alumni the opportunity to play an ongoing role in your company’s CSR campaigns, they will likely come out to publicly encourage and display your efforts to the outside world thus helping with your brand awareness.
As you can see from these seven areas, corporate alumni programs can be a great way to add value to your organization through more than just recruitment but also in core functions, operations, and brand awareness.
