Alumni Networks

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Goldman Sachs has an interesting tab on the “people” section of the website that clients and employees can access: a link featuring its alumni network.

It seems strange for an investment bank with a cut-throat reputation to celebrate people who left. It doesn’t seem like vampire squid behavior.

And the bank puts editorial muscle into the feature, providing links to press articles about former employees and a place to search for jobs that are posted at Goldman and elsewhere. There are more than 110,000 members of the group.

Goldman isn’t alone. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley host similar pages.

The strategy isn’t crazy when you realize that Goldman has a history of employees leaving for jobs in government and other industries and returning the wiser for the experience.

Bloomberg, where I worked for three decades, has a different philosophy.

The original policy articulated by Mike Bloomberg in the 1980s and 1990s was that employees who quit could not return. It was viewed as a deterrent to leaving.

In the 1990s, Mike would say that he wouldn’t attend any going away party. He said anyone who left for a competitor was taking food out of the mouths of the employees who remained. 

It seemed a bit harsh. But the 1990s were like that. Lots of things were said and done on Wall Street that would never fly today. 

In fact, the policy has since been watered down considerably. Initially there were exceptions made for women who left to have children or people who took care of sick family members. 

Some employees were “rehired” via acquisitions and exceptions were made for a small number of random people. In recent years some individuals were even recruited. 

And yet, the unofficial policy remains essentially intact. Yes, it’s possible to get an exemption, but in practice it is not something most managers would do. 

And no one who leaves -- whether because they quit or were fired -- EVER expects to return. They know that the alumni are not celebrated, much less tapped as a resource. 

By contrast people at Goldman talk openly about leaving so they can return at a higher level later on. 

I don’t think the Bloomberg policy is a good idea, particularly as the company has gotten larger. Many of the alumni have gone on to high-level industry positions elsewhere and could contribute valuable insights.

But I believe companies get to create their own rules and culture. And I think having a strong, clear culture can be a tremendous advantage. 

Several former employees have created an informal alumni network and hosts an annual reunion. It was started a dozen years ago by Jeff Cohen, Samantha Foerster and Stuart Bell.

Next week, the group is meeting again. This year it’s being arranged by Samantha and Kevin Foley and it’s at the Capital Grill, near Grand Central Station.

In 2013, the reunion was held in Bryant Park and Mike unexpectedly showed up. 

It caused a bit of a sensation. He was in his final year as mayor at the time and so technically was an “alumni” because he wasn’t working for the company. 

Mike posed for selfies and had a great time. 

A few months later he left City Hall and returned to run the company. 

He hasn’t made it back to a reunion since. 

But there is always next year.

BRIEF OBSERVATIONS

AIRPORT ART: I wonder what the artists who have art in the airport think. It’s great to have an install a work but painful so many people walk right by.

AIRPORT DOGS: These kind of pet rooms are showing up in airports. It’s wild.

AIRPORT BOOKS: It’s wild how many people want to be in the airport book selling category, me included!

AIRPORT CART SERVICE: Complimentary cart service. 15-minute wait time.

AIRPORT CHAIRS: Airports supply convenient stools but then they cement them to the floor so you cannot move them around.