Organization Alumni Endorsement of their Former Employer: “I like you. Do you (still) like me?”

This study investigates the quality of social exchange relationships of former employees, or organizational alumni (OA), with their former employer. An OA’s ‘willingness to endorse’ (OAE) their former organization as proxy for the OA-Organization relationship quality is examined at the organizational, supervisor, and team level. The effect of the OA’s assessment of Perceived Organizational Support (POS), Leader-Member Exchange (LMX), and Team-Member Exchange (TMX) on OAE are examined. Outcomes from current company ratings as well as the type of termination (voluntary or involuntary) from their former employer are considered in order to further contrast differences in the OA’s willingness to endorse. Findings from this study provide insights in to the OA-Organization relationship as a source of sustainable value for the former and current organization.