Ghosting―the sudden withdrawal of communication―has been a rapidly growing trend across the job market for the last several years. According to Indeed’s most recent ghosting survey of job seekers and employers, 76% of employers say they’ve been ghosted by job seekers. On the flip side, 77% of job seekers say they’ve been ghosted by employers.
This two-way street of poor job market behavior is frustrating for all involved, but there are solutions for businesses ready for a different approach. Consider the following strategies Volt experts have developed to limit the practices that encourage ghosting (on both sides).
#1: Eliminate Your Ghosting Gaffes
Start by ensuring your recruitment and employment processes are not contributing to the widespread ghosting culture. Does each candidate who contacts your organization get a response? Are those responses quick enough to keep candidates engaged? Are there technologies (automated responses) and processes (emails or calls) that inform candidates of the next steps in their hiring journey? Is there proper and timely follow-up with every applicant who participates in an interview or skills assessment?
Ensure your practices are not fueling poor relations with job seekers. People often treat others the way they are treated.The higher your standards are throughout the candidate engagement process, the more likely they will reflect your good example.
#2: Balance Automation with Human Connection
It’s easier for job seekers to ghost a software program rather than a person. People let their civility slide if they don’t believe there is someone on the other end of the engagement. It feels more like stepping out of an anonymous line rather than purposely inconveniencing or frustrating a real person.
That’s a concern with automation. If your employment process is too robotic, candidates feel distanced rather than connected to your brand — the opposite of what you want to cultivate during the recruitment process.
The secret is to balance automation with human connection. Candidates who advance to the assessment or interview round of the recruiting process should expect personal contact. A five or ten minute phone call or video chat goes a long way for many candidates, and makes it much harder for them to walk away from an opportunity without an explanation.
#3: Employment Branding Works
Where it makes sense to automate communications, such as replies to application submissions or interview reminders, be original and authentic. Use your brand voice and culture in ways that distinguish you from the numerous other employers.
A clever thank you message, pointing candidates to additional materials to learn about company culture, and promoting your organization’s corporate responsibility programs are a few examples. Additional examples include pre-recorded videos of office spaces or welcome messages from business leaders, or other employees provide candidates with a sense of the company and help build stronger connections that are harder to walk away from.
#4: Go Back to Grassroots Recruitment
Because a great deal of recruitment happens online, grassroots, in-person recruiting at job fairs or industry events are wonderfully different ways to connect with talent. Job seekers who take the time to attend career or learning events are less likely to ghost. Why? These candidates are demonstrating an added drive and commitment to their professional career and job search. This commitment often translates to better communication and engagement later in the recruitment process.
#5: Treat Talent Well
There are few secrets in the digital age. From Glassdoor, and The Job Crowd to news reports and your company social media pages, the story of how your business treats candidates is being shared. To maintain a positive reputation as an employer, is to ensure that hiring managers and recruiters uphold high standards, when it comes to candidate communications and interactions.
Remind recruiters of their roles as brand ambassadors. Ensure teams are not overburdened in ways that keep them from being responsive and respectful to job seekers. Monitor employer review sites to quickly identify candidate frustrations. Check in with new hires to learn what worked well in the recruitment process. There may be successful practices used by individual hiring managers or recruiters that should be adopted across the company to encourage strong candidate connections throughout the recruiting process.
With a balance of technology and human touch, and a careful eye on how job seekers are treated throughout the candidate journey, employers can have a significant influence on ghosting. Candidates will make a connection with the real people behind the processes; and employers will build a recruitment lifecycle where candidates feel welcomed and have a vested interest in the job opportunity.