Ghostbusting: Workplace Tips To Avoid Being Ghosted

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The image of a person that you are sure was there…vanishes. Alarmed your heart starts to race. You wonder if what you saw was real or if it’s time to get your eyes checked. Not believing in ghosts you look around to be sure. But whatever it was, it’s gone now.

Sound familiar?

Ghosting

You’ve spent what seems like hours with the candidate explaining the job perks, the great job opportunity and fantastic area to live. You send emails messages and a job offer.

Then poof! The candidate disappears. No return response to email, texts or phone call.

You’ve been ghosted!

The employee is there one day and the next day vanishes. The employee mysteriously disappears from the workplace without a word. Or a new employee just hired never shows up to work.

You’ve been ghosted!

What gives? Let’s look at the data to see if this is a true hauntingly event.

Clues about candidate ghosting can be found in an Indeed survey. The survey indicates that this is a phenomenon that has emerged over the last two years. According to Indeed's survey over 76% of employers surveyed have experienced candidate ghosting. Candidates who have admitted ghosting an employer they cite many reasons.

After applying they felt the job wasn’t the right fit for them, they received another offer, they felt the salary or benefit was a problem. But while those may be all valid reasons why wouldn’t the candidate tell the recruiter? Reasons they cite are that there were general communication problems with the recruiter, didn’t know what to do, or just didn’t feel comfortable telling the employer.

Here are some tips to ghostbusting:

Ensure job posting transparency and accuracy

A real fast turnoff for candidates is applying for something that is not real or accurate. A hot market means there are plenty of opportunities to go around. A candidate will waste no time dropping out in the process if they find the job isn’t what they thought it was.

2. Widen the pool

Cast a wider net and enlarge the applicant pool. There may always be a risk that a candidate will ghost an employer. A wider pool of candidates will enable you to be prepared for the potential ghosting.

3. Get them through the door before they change their minds

Speed up the hiring and onboarding process. Too much lag time will allow the candidate or new hire to float away before they can see the benefits for working for your company.

4. Keep constant and personalized connection

Employers have also been known to ghost job candidates. When the shoe is on the other foot it doesn’t feel good to be ghosted. Treat job candidates as if they are a generic number they may treat you the same way in light of multiple job opportunities. Establishing a warm and personalized connection will help keep and candidate from going cold.

4. Make it a great place to work and encourage employee job referrals

When you have a great reputation as a great place to work that can help minimize ghosting. Candidates may be less likely to abandon the hiring process if they have friends or family who referred them and are waiting for them to start work.

Apply these tips and let’s see if it minimizes mysterious disappearances this ghostly season.

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Tresha Moreland

Tresha Moreland is a 30-year organizational effectiveness and strategic workforce planning expert. She partners with business leaders to develop workplace strategies that achieve best-in-class results. She has held key organizational leadership roles in multiple industries such as manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality, and healthcare. Tresha is the founder and principal consultant of HR C-Suite, LLC (www.hrcsuite.com). HR C-Suite is a results-based HR strategy resource dedicated to connecting HR with business results. She has received a master’s degree in human resource management (MS) and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). She has also earned a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), Six Sigma Black Belt Professional (SSBBP) Certification. She is also recognized as a Fellow with the American College Healthcare Executives with a FACHE designation.