Accompanies us in everyday life and is, unfortunately, nothing pleasant. Its name already suggests disappearing. The term ghosting is used to describe the behavior of people who disappear from our lives for no reason. The phenomenon originated in dating. It originally refers to the avoidance of contact by one party in a relationship. Friends, acquaintances, but also contractors, co-workers … at some point they suddenly stop answering phone calls, replying to emails and text messages. One day, for reasons known only to themselves, they employ an evasive strategy and finally disappear completely from our personal or professional lives and never return. Anyone who has experienced ghosting knows very well how unpleasant the experience is.
On the professional level, ghosting can seriously damage a company. Contractors, co-workers, employees … disappear. For some time now we have also been dealing with ghosting increasingly appearing at the recruitment stage. Without any explanation, the company stops contacting job applicants causing their frustration and disappointment. This phenomenon not only negatively affects candidates, but can seriously damage the company brand. After all, if job seekers are ghosted and end up working for a competitor, they will certainly not have a good opinion of the company and will not recommend it to friends and colleagues. Therefore, HR leaders should reflect on their hiring practices and make the necessary changes. Ghosting needs immediate attention!
Unfortunately, the phenomenon of ghosting has increased recently. However, both candidates, recruiters and hiring managers can eliminate or counteract its occurrence. We have already written about ghosting in our blog, below you will find some tips how to deal with ghosting on the stage of the hiring process.
Recruiter ghosting and candidate ghosting – negative effects for both sides
As we have already mentioned, ghosting in the hiring process leaves job seekers with negative memories. They can significantly damage an employer’s reputation in the labor market. Every day we share our experiences with family, acquaintances, friends, co-workers …. Not only do we hear the comments in direct conversation, we reach the words of criticism in line at the store, on the street, we read them every day on social networks and Linkedin. Hearing and reading negative reviews, we become discouraged about a person, a company, a potential employer, and we are cautious about the advertisements and job offers they publish. We often look for people who can confirm or deny the negative opinions we have heard.
Imagine a situation in which negative comments reach a highly qualified great candidate considering applying for a position with a particular employer and submitting their resume. They hear or read negative reviews on websites, social media. They intended to apply for a vacant position with a particular company, but found out about the lack of communication occurring at that company. What now? They won’t waste their time recruiting, when they might one day just stop getting any information from the recruiting team. They give up on recruiting for this company, start looking at other opportunities on the job market. Negative experiences can significantly damage the reputation of a prospective employer.
Ghosting in recruitment not only makes it more difficult to attract top talents, it can also affect a company’s ability to retain existing employees. Negative reviews can affect an employer’s brand. Perceived as unreliable, untrustworthy, it often begins to lose its best employees, who move on to competitors.
Why do applicants disappear in the hiring process?
There are many factors that cause ghosting in recruitment. When it comes to disappearing candidates applying for a position, as many as 46% cite an impersonal interview process as the reason for their disappearance. Other reasons include, for example, receiving more attractive job offers (28%), misrepresentation of the role by recruiters or HR staff (27%), negative reviews of a particular company on the Internet (26%) and resentment of the perceived company culture (22%).
On the other hand, recruiters stop responding candidates for a number of reasons. One of them is undoubtedly overburden. Ghosting candidates by recruiters is caused by a large number of simultaneous recruiting processes, a large number of candidates for each position. Ghosting might take place unconsciously. Some recruiters or hiring managers also break off communication in case of negative decisions. If a candidate is rejected at any stage of the recruitment process, they do not inform them of the decision, avoid communicating unfavorable information, communicate only with those who move on to the next stages.
Unfortunately, HR professionals often more or less consciously engage in ghosting, thereby damaging their employer’s brand, contributing to fewer employee referrals and increasing recruitment costs. Only clear, personalized communication with job seekers, providing them with realistic expectations and then meeting them can foster a positive candidate experience, improve the employer brand and attract top 2024 talent to the company.
How to avoid ghosting and keep candidates engaged?
Ghosting can be eliminated or at least reduced. Talent acquisition teams should implement various types of best practices to do so. One is the need for effective, open and transparent communication, which should be maintained throughout the hiring process. Regular updates and clear feedback are essential at its every stage. Every candidate has the right to be informed of their status in the application process. It promotes not only reducing ghosting, but also builds trust in a potential employer. It’s also a good idea to determine what communication with candidates will look like and inform them about it. It will not only reduce uncertainty, anxiety and stress, but also help to effectively plan the job search. In turn, the company will also avoid unsuccessful recruitment.
Personal contacts with prospective colleagues are crucial, too. Modern recruiting means building relationships with candidates. It applies to every stage of recruitment and means building genuine interest in the candidates’ career goals and aspirations. With this approach, candidates will be more likely to communicate honestly. How to achieve this? Using candidate’s or employee’s name in messages, sharing information about the company’s culture, valuing the personal specific skills and experience of the candidate in question. Even if the recruitment process is over or the candidate is rejected, there should be adequate communication from the recruiter.
Some of the correspondence can be automated – send a personalized email, thank the candidate for their time and interest in the offer, provide feedback, i.e. information about the candidacy, the recruitment interview held, or invite them to apply for future offers and take part in the recruitment process again. In this way, you can effectively avoid ghosting in recruitment and ensure that you build a strong relationship with your candidates.
