--- title: "Your Employee Development Program: Why Include Alumni" description: Your corporate alumni are looking to you for career guidance. Don't forget your corporate alumni when creating your employee development program. image: https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/people360-by-insala.png --- [![People360](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/People360.png)](https://www.insala.com) - People360 - [Overview](https://www.people360ai.com/people360) - [Alumni Management Software](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/alumni) - [Coaching Software](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/coaching) - [Mentoring Software](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/mentoring) - [Predictive Analytics](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/predictive-people-analytics) - [Career Transition](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/career-transition) - [Services](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/services) - [Mentoring Readiness](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/corporate-mentoring) - [Coaching Readiness](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/employee-coaching) - [Training](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/training) - [Resources](https://www.people360ai.com/resources) - [Webinars](https://www.people360ai.com/webinars) - [Blog](https://www.people360ai.com/blog) - [Podcasts](https://www.people360ai.com/podcasts) - [ROI Calculator](https://www.people360ai.com/roi-calculator) - [About](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/about) - [Our Team](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/team) - [Security](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/security) - [Contact](https://www.people360ai.com/contact) - [Book a Demo](https://www.people360ai.com/contact) - [Login](https://www.people360ai.com/login) [Book a Demo](https://www.people360ai.com/demo) ![Teams of coworkers reflecting on how and why to include corporate alumni in the development program in the organization ](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/Smaller%20Blog%20Images/iStock-890775054.jpg) July 16, 2019 ### Share: - - - # Include Your Corporate Alumni in Employee Development [Corporate alumni networks](https://www.people360ai.com/alumni) mimic university alumni networks by retaining relationships with former employees. You may be wondering why an organization would do that? The answer is simple. Those former employees can still bring benefits, especially when they are included in employee development.    The benefits alumni networks provide are very well-known. Corporate alumni can facilitate recruitment of new employees or clients, come back as a boomerang employee, and even become brand ambassadors. Not only are they great for your organization, but alumni networks are great for your employees. Remembering your alumni when creating your employee development strategy is a great plan. **Employee Development Business Objectives** Employee development strategies should focus on specific business objectives. These are what your organization wants to accomplish through employee development. Two great objectives your employee development strategy can focus on are career development and leadership development. Your current employees want career and leadership development more than you may think. In fact, 94% of employees would stay with an organization longer if it [invested in their careers](https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/workplace-learning-report-2018). That is a huge portion of the workplace, so investing in development can improve your employee retention immensely. Consider positioning your alumni within your employee development strategy to benefit career and leadership development. **Career Development** Despite its importance, many organizations are still neglecting to implement a career development strategy. This is evident because 40% of exiting employees list [lack of career development](https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/lack-of-career-development-drives-employee-attrition/) as the reason for their departure. **Leadership Development** Additionally, an essential focus for your organization and employees must be leadership development. 84% of executives are anticipating a [shortage of leaders](https://www.infoprolearning.com/blog/13-shocking-leadership-development-statistics-infopro-learning/) in the future. With a weak succession pipeline and a lack of leaders, organizations and employee experience will both decline. The key to [developing leadership and career skills](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/why-is-leadership-development-important) is bridging skill gaps in your employees with knowledge sharing. Corporate alumni are in a good position to enable knowledge sharing because of their previous experience. Of course this means that you have to make them a part of your leadership development programs. **Creating an Employee Development Strategy** An easy way for your organization to give your employees a great employee development strategy is through your alumni. They worked with you for some amount of time before exiting. This means they experienced what the [company culture](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/how-to-improve-your-company-culture) is actually like, and they developed their careers in the same setting. Experience in the organization means your alumni have a grasp of what it takes to be successful. **Types of Employee Development Strategies** The most beneficial programs to implement in your employee development strategy are [coaching and mentoring](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/difference-between-coaching-and-mentoring). Supplementing both of these programs with alumni as coaches and mentors make them even more beneficial. You may think coaching and mentoring are the same thing, and you’re not the only one. However, there are different uses and benefits of coaching vs. mentoring. **Mentoring** Mentoring relationships are long-term, often spanning over 6 months to a year or more. They often focus on slower, more holistic development of the mentees. Mentorships can also address more personal matters for the mentee, such as work-life balance or time management. Employee development focuses on the employee, and this is the goal of mentoring. Mentors guide mentees to become better individuals in and out of the workplace. They also give the mentee first-hand knowledge of the company. The first-hand knowledge of the company is very important, which is why alumni would work well as mentors. They experienced the inner workings of the organization themselves and can talk from experience when guiding their mentees. Alumni as mentors can also pull from their experiences since they left the organization. This allows for knowledge sharing at a higher level than that of current employees. Alumni can act as mentors in many different types of mentoring. You can hold a [speed mentoring](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/4-benefits-of-speed-mentoring-for-mentees) event with alumni as mentors. You can also make your alumni easily available through [software](https://www.people360ai.com/alumni) so they can participate in [flash mentoring](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/what-is-flash-mentoring). Alumni mentors would greatly benefit from the addition of [virtual mentoring](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-virtual-mentoring), especially if they have moved a large distance away. Virtual mentoring can be paired with any other type of mentoring to make it more efficient for all participants. **Coaching** While mentoring relationship are long, coaching relationships are relatively short. They consist of a series of focused sessions to accomplish one or two specific goals. Usually goals include skill sets that the coachee needs to gain or improve. The [benefits of coaching](https://www.people360ai.com/coaching) employees are obvious. The employee can gain skill sets they may otherwise struggle with quickly. Some examples of useful coaching goals are leadership development and decision-making. Some key individuals to target for employee development though coaching include: - C-Suite Executives - Hiring Managers - Frontline Managers - High-potential individuals   With alumni as coaches, you get similar benefits as mentoring with insider experience and elevated knowledge sharing. These experiences with the organization are unavailable in traditional external coaches. Some especially beneficial alumni to recruit as coaches include former leaders and trailblazers. Insala offers top-notch software for corporate alumni, mentoring, and coaching programs. To learn how to implement your own alumni network, [request a demo](https://www.people360ai.com/demo) today.   ![Insala](https://www.people360ai.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Logo/Untitled%20design%20(30).png?width=100&name=Untitled%20design%20(30).png) [Insala](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/author/insala) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/insala) Through innovative web-based SaaS technology, Insala partners with organizations to accelerate performance and drive evidence-based decisions for organizations and their people. ![career transitioning](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/website%20stock%20photos/iStock-945089300.jpg) ### Corporate Alumni Network: The Perfect Home For Your Career Transition Offer [Download the eBook](https://www.people360ai.com/career-transition-for-alumni-network) **Topic:** [Alumni](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/topic/alumni) ### Related Posts [Alumni](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/topic/alumni) ![best_practices_for_corporate_alumni_program_success](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/Stock%20images/iStock_000063171949_Medium_zpspifj8yum-1.jpg) September 20, 2021 ### [Best Practices for Corporate Alumni Program Success](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/best-practices-for-corporate-alumni-program-success) Corporate Alumni Programs: Best Practices for Success [Read more](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/best-practices-for-corporate-alumni-program-success) [Alumni](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/topic/alumni) ![10_software_features_for_corporate_alumni_engagement](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/Stock%20images/iStock-627673256.jpg) July 1, 2021 ### [10 Software Features for Corporate Alumni Engagement](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/features-to-increase-alumni-engagement) Tools for Increasing Corporate Alumni Engagement If you build it… will they come? Creating a corporate alumni network is an important ... [Read more](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/features-to-increase-alumni-engagement) [Alumni](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/topic/alumni) ![how_to_build_and_maintain_a_corporate_alumni_network](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/Alumni%20Pillar%20Page.png) June 17, 2021 ### [How to Build and Maintain a Corporate Alumni Network](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/guide-building-and-maintaining-alumni-network) A Guide to Building and Maintaining a Corporate Alumni Network [Read more](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/guide-building-and-maintaining-alumni-network) [Alumni](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/topic/alumni) ![maintaining_a_relationship_with_temporary_corporate_alumni](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/Smaller%20Blog%20Images/iStock-1092743634.jpg) April 1, 2020 ### [Maintaining a Relationship with Temporary Corporate Alumni](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/how-to-maintain-a-relationship-with-your-temporary-corporate-alumni) How to Maintain a Relationship with Your Temporary Corporate Alumni [Read more](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/how-to-maintain-a-relationship-with-your-temporary-corporate-alumni) [Alumni](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/topic/alumni) ![how_to_build_a_corporate_alumni_network_|_insala_blog](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/Smaller%20Blog%20Images/iStock-478239160.jpg) November 1, 2019 ### [How to Build a Corporate Alumni Network | Insala Blog](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/how-to-build-your-corporate-alumni-network) How to Build a Corporate Alumni Network Did you know that globally successful companies like Uber and Yelp were created from an ... [Read more](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/how-to-build-your-corporate-alumni-network) ### Subscribe to Our Blog ### Popular posts ##### [![Top 10 Tips For Being a Good Mentee](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/Smaller%20Blog%20Images/iStock-1049299246.jpg) Top 10 Tips For Being a Good Mentee](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/how-to-be-a-good-mentee) ##### [![6 Benefits of Coaching for Individuals | Insala Blog](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/Smaller%20Blog%20Images/iStock-951510764.jpg) 6 Benefits of Coaching for Individuals | Insala Blog](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/6-benefits-of-coaching-for-individuals) ##### [![Difference Between Coaching and Mentoring](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/Smaller%20Blog%20Images/iStock-502253454.jpg) Difference Between Coaching and Mentoring](https://www.people360ai.com/blog/difference-between-coaching-and-mentoring) ![People360 is Insala's response for providing the solutions and services for forging the future of workplaces.](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/people360m.jpg) ![People360 is Insala's response for providing the solutions and services for forging the future of workplaces.](https://www.people360ai.com/hubfs/people360d.jpg) People360 is a pioneer and industry leader recognized by Global 1000 and Fortune 500 companies and associations internationally, for 28+ years as a leader in Career Management, Mentoring, Coaching, Career Transition, Alumni Software solutions and People Analytics. - - Software - [Alumni Software](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/alumni) - [Coaching Software](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/coaching) - [Mentoring Software](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/mentoring) - [Predictive Analytics](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/predictive-people-analytics) - [Career Transition Software](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/career-transition) - [Services](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/services) - [Mentoring Readiness](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/corporate-mentoring) - [Coaching Readiness](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/employee-coaching) - [About](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/about) - [Our Team](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/team) - [Security](https://www.people360ai.com/en-us/security) - [Contact](https://www.people360ai.com/contact) - [Resources](https://www.people360ai.com/resources) - [Blog](https://www.people360ai.com/blog) - [ROI Calculator](https://www.people360ai.com/roi-calculator) © 2025 People360. 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